Etymology
Origin of edgewise
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.
It was never easy to get a word in edgewise, and there was nothing “safe” about that space—say anything half-stupid and everyone would pile on for the next 25 years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
Kamala Harris could hardly get a word in edgewise during her interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, but when she did she made it count.
From Salon • Oct. 16, 2024
There are moments when you almost wish Castillo would stop talking so you can get a word in edgewise.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 21, 2022
They would have long and winding arguments, he said, where he felt he couldn’t explain himself or get a word in edgewise; he said it sent him into “a tailspin of confusion and depression.”
From Washington Post • Apr. 20, 2022
All 3 billion of us are being connected by telephones, radios, television sets, airplanes, satellites, harangues on public-address systems, newspapers, magazines, leaflets dropped from great heights, words got in edgewise.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
