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.
That way if my husband inadvertently saw my conversation history in my sidebar, there would be no inadvertent spoiler.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
Wherever the bubble is placed, a sidebar appears with an artificial intelligence answer, description, explanation or interpretation of whatever is inside the bubble.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2025
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
They look at each other, eyebrows raised, and then Hope gives me a big smile, leaning over to squint at the sidebar.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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.
