sidebar

noun

side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär 

1

a

: a short news story or graphic accompanying and presenting sidelights of a major story

b

: something incidental : sidelight

a sidebar to the essay's central theme

2

: a conference between the judge, the lawyers, and sometimes the parties to a case that the jury does not hear

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Rather than revisiting highlights of the event’s early years, a 21-title retrospective sidebar will explore the period in Asian cinema that immediately proceeded FEFF’s establishment. —Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Apr. 2023

The sidebar is the most interesting new addition to Android Auto. —Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 6 Jan. 2023

Press Cmd + click a location (in the sidebar below Favorites), then choose Remove from Favorites. —Kim Komando, USA TODAY, 13 Apr. 2023

The app is very much just your sidebar on your phone. —David Pierce, The Verge, 30 Mar. 2023

His second and third features, Involuntary (2008), and Play (2011), screened in the festival’s Un Certain Regard and Directors’ Fortnight sidebars, respectively. —Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2023

The film has been having a strong festival run since its world premiere in Venice’s Horizons Extra and North American premiere in Toronto’s Contemporary World Cinema sidebar, followed by Zurich. —Leo Barraclough, Variety, 7 Feb. 2023

Once toggled off, the conversations will no longer appear in the user's conversation history sidebar. —C Mandler, CBS News, 25 Apr. 2023

Next, click the URL Generator button under OAuth2 in the left sidebar. —WIRED, 22 Mar. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Legal Definition

sidebar

noun

side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär 

: sidebar conference

had failed to request a sidebar before injecting the collateral offense into the trial

—Dockery v. State, 659 So. 2d 219 (1994)

also : the place near or before the bench where a sidebar conference takes place

the judge informed both attorneys…that they…could stand at sidebar while questions were posed

—Commonwealth v. Urena, 632 N.E.2d 1200 (1994)

compare bench, stand

sidebar adjective