laterally
Americanadverb
-
from side to side; along a plane.
You can force plants to grow wide and bushy by training the growth tips to grow laterally rather than cutting off the tops of the shoots.
-
in a way that involves a broadly equivalent position, office, etc..
She worked as a nurse for many years and then, moving laterally, was employed as an area supervisor in the social work field.
Etymology
Origin of laterally
Explanation
If you've ever seen a crab walking along the sand at the beach, you may have noticed that it walks laterally, meaning it moves sideways rather than forward. Moving laterally refers to shifting side to side rather than forward, backward, or vertically. This term is common in sports, like when a soccer player moves laterally to avoid an opponent. In the workplace, moving laterally means changing positions or job titles within the same company, without a promotion or demotion. The word comes from the Latin lateralis, meaning "side," and applies to both physical movement and career changes.
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.
Laterally, he’s as quick and elusive as any running back in this and many other draft classes.
From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2018
Laterally the extreme edge of dark drapery held by figure on right that blows towards Venus is Phi proportion with sides of picture.
From The Practice and Science of Drawing by Speed, Harold
Laterally the stapes carries a short, broad process that probably made contact with a dorsally placed tympanic membrane.
From A New Order of Fishlike Amphibia From the Pennsylvanian of Kansas by Eaton, Theodore H. (Theodore Hildreth)
Laterally this bone is deeply emarginate; posteriorly it forms a large part of the otic notch, through which the columella passes.
From A Revision of Snakes of the Genus Conophis (Family Colubridae, from Middle America) by Wellman, John
Laterally it extends on each side of the toe to the commencement of the quarters.
From Diseases of the Horse's Foot by Reeks, Harry Caulton
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.
