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Definition of bilateral
1 : affecting reciprocally two nations or parties a bilateral treaty a bilateral trade agreement
2 : having two sides dealing with a bilateral problem
3 biology a : of, relating to, or affecting the right and left sides of the body or the right and left members of paired organs bilateral nephrectomyb : having bilateral symmetry
bilaterally
adverbIndulge Your Inner Word Nerd
Recent Examples of bilateral from the Web
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Trump wouldn’t detail those considerations in the bilateral meeting, the official added.
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On Friday in Hamburg, Germany, President Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin will sit down for an official bilateral meeting that will be highly scrutinized by citizens and leaders from around the world.
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Bilateral movements are great for building strength, but building stability and balance are necessary, too.
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China's ambassador to Washington said the arms sales to Taiwan and sanctions against Chinese companies would hurt bilateral relations.
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Canada, on the other hand, signed a bilateral trade deal with the U.S. in the late 1980s, so when NAFTA came much of the trade jockeying had already worked itself out.
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President Obama’s top science advisor—was keen on the model and used its results during the negotiations that led to a bilateral agreement with China in 2014.
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Trump’s preference for bilateral, zero-sum deals is at odds with the balance-of-power approach needed with divergent parties like Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia.
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Meltzer said that looking at a bilateral balance of trade doesn't reflect the reality of global supply chains or the complexity of multinational partnerships.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bilateral'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Since the prefix bi- means "two" in Latin, bilateral means essentially "two-sided". In the days when there were two superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union regularly engaged in bilateral arms negotiations; such negotiations are much less common today. Sometimes bilateral refers to two sides of the same thing. A bilateral hip replacement, for instance, replaces both hip bones in the same operation. And bilateral symmetry (a term often used by biologists) refers to the fact that, in many organisms (such as humans), the left side is basically the mirror image of the right side.
First Known Use of bilateral
1751
Other Biology Terms
BILATERAL Defined for English Language Learners
bilateral
playDefinition of bilateral for English Language Learners
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: involving two groups or countries
Medical Dictionary
bilateral
playMedical Definition of bilateral
1: of, relating to, or affecting the right and left sides of the body or the right and left members of paired organs bilateral nephrectomy bilateral tumors of the adrenal glands
2: having bilateral symmetry
Law Dictionary
bilateral
playLegal Definition of bilateral
: affecting, obligating, or shared by both parties
bilaterally
\-rə-lē\ adverbLearn More about bilateral
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Spanish Central: Translation of bilateral Nglish: Translation of bilateral for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of bilateral for Arabic speakers
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