sidebar

noun

side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär How to pronounce sidebar (audio)
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

Examples of sidebar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
More than three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, two films premiering in the Venice Days sidebar of the Venice Film Festival explore a different conflict that embroiled the Kremlin decades ago — and, in the process, draw chilling parallels to events unfolding today. Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 31 Aug. 2025 Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee hit the Venice Film Festival this weekend in Kent Jones’ playful drama Late Fame, which world premieres in the Orizzonti sidebar. Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2025 The Claude for Chrome extension allows users to chat with the Claude AI model in a sidebar window that maintains the context of everything happening in their browser. Benj Edwards, ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2025 In the left sidebar, click Trash. Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sidebar

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of sidebar was in 1928

Cite this Entry

“Sidebar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sidebar. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Legal Definition

sidebar

noun
side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär How to pronounce sidebar (audio)
: sidebar conference
had failed to request a sidebar before injecting the collateral offense into the trialDockery 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
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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