sidestep

[sahyd-step]

verb (used without object)

sidestepped, sidestepping 

1. to step to one side.

2. to evade or avoid a decision, problem, or the like.

verb (used with object)

sidestepped, sidestepping 

1. to avoid or dodge by stepping aside.

2. to evade or avoid (a decision, problem, or the like).

sidestep

/ ˈsaɪdˌstɛp /

verb

1. to step aside from or out of the way of (something)

2. (tr) to dodge or circumvent

noun

1. a movement to one side, as in dancing, boxing, etc

Other Word Forms

• sidestepper noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sidestep¹

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

Example Sentences

And on the flip side, some buyers actively seek out pocket listings as a way to sidestep competition, since these homes are not marketed widely by the seller and hence invite less attention.

Read more on MarketWatch

Over several months, BBC researchers filmed registered professionals across England sidestepping the rules.

Read more on BBC

For more than a decade, Silicon Valley venture capitalists have poured enormous sums of money into newfangled technology companies seeking to disrupt, and even supplant, the traditional financial system and sidestep its burdensome regulations.

Read more on Salon

Meanwhile, China’s leaders hope they can sidestep those costly measures with a narrower bet on technology and industrial advances to lift productivity and ease the country’ ills, much like in the U.S.

Read more on Barron's

Happy to simply show up at the ballpark, handle his taxing job as the starting catcher on baseball’s best team, and sidestep the attention a player of his talent would typically command.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• avoid 
• bypass 
• duck 
• evade 
• fudge 
• skirt