sidebar
Americannoun
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a typographically distinct section of a page, as in a book or magazine, that amplifies or highlights the main text.
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a conference between the judge and lawyers out of the presence of the jury.
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a subordinate or incidental issue, remark, activity, etc.
noun
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(in a newspaper, website, etc) a short article placed alongside and providing additional information about a longer one
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any subsidiary or supplementary thing
Etymology
Origin of sidebar
Explanation
A sidebar is a small section of text next to a longer article. A sidebar usually has information that relates to the main story beside it. Sidebar alert: it also means changing the subject in the middle of a conversation. Sidebars began in the printed newspaper world, and they've moved, along with newspapers and other news sources, to the internet. Most professionally-designed web pages include sidebars. In the legal world, a sidebar has a completely different meaning—it's a courtroom conversation between lawyers and the judge that jury members can't hear. The newspaper meaning dates from the mid-20th century.
Vocabulary lists containing sidebar
Journalism
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Reading: Informational - Middle School
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Monster
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The CTU’s foundations are not a financial sidebar.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 2026
OpenAI launched Atlas, an AI browser with an AI chat sidebar and an “agent” feature to automate complex tasks like online shopping.
From Barron's • Oct. 21, 2025
A 2021 report issued by the Equal Justice Initiative titled “Race and the Jury: Illegal Discrimination in Jury Selection” included a sidebar exploring the history of gender-based jury exclusion.
From Slate • Aug. 25, 2025
While immigration enforcement officers have broad powers, their authority is limited by the Fourth Amendment’s prohibitions on unreasonable search and seizure, according to a 2021 legal sidebar from the Congressional Research Service.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2025
I was about to log out when the sidebar ad changed from one that tried to sucker you into thinking that only a 99-inch television was acceptable when watching X-Factor to one about weed killer.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
