on the sidelines

1. Observing rather than taking part, out of the action, as in Bolivia's neighbors remained on the sidelines, waiting to see which faction in the dispute would prevail. This idiom comes from sports. The sidelines are the two lines defining the sides of the court or playing field and the area immediately beyond them where, in such sports as football, the non-playing team members sit. [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

In a statement on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting in South Africa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set out three principles European governments believe a deal should rest on.

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"We need US engagement to help end the war in Ukraine and stop the Russian aggression. That is positive," Store said on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

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He arrived ring rusty from his strike on Tyneside, then picked up a groin injury that put him on the sidelines.

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"We will hold a meeting Tuesday afternoon to coordinate on this point, and to see what progress will be made in the Geneva negotiations in coming days, and to be able to take new initiatives," he told reporters Saturday on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Johannesburg.

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Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an economics conference Saturday, Collins, a voter on the Fed’s policy committee this year, said that the two quarter-point rate cuts the Fed has enacted since August have left the central bank in a position tilted just slightly toward combating inflation.

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