side street

American  

noun

1. a street leading away from a main street; an unimportant street or one carrying but little traffic.

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side street British  

noun

1. a minor or unimportant street, esp one leading off a main thoroughfare

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side street Idioms  

1. A minor thoroughfare that carries little traffic, as in Our favorite hotel is on a quiet little side street. The side in this idiom means “off to one side, away from the main street.” [c. 1600] Also see back street.

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Etymology

Origin of side street

First recorded in 1610–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

side street

“We are going to be looking around, and we are staying with the group, not going on a side street, and not gather unnecessarily.”

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 11, 2026

The shrine was tucked away down a side street on the edge of the city - a low-roofed room crowded with carved figures.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2025

The moment Longoria drives away, agents on both sides of the truck remain in sight of the video, and they then pile into their vehicles and pursue Longoria’s truck down a side street.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2025

His book is, on one level, a relic of a lost moment — a time before the Iranian revolution, when Afghanistan was a place a young traveler could "wander down a dreamy side street."

From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2025

We’ll rent a small bungalow on a side street several blocks from the Nielsens, four rooms downstairs and one up.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline