sidle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
sidles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sidled,
past participle, past
-
sidling
present participle
-
to move sideways or obliquely.
-
to edge along furtively.
noun
verb
-
to move in a furtive or stealthy manner; edge along
-
to move along sideways
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sidlesimple
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sidlessimple
-
have sidledperfect
-
has sidledperfect
-
am sidlingprogressive
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are sidlingprogressive
-
is sidlingprogressive
-
have been sidlingperfect progressive
-
has been sidlingperfect progressive
Past
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sidledsimple
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had sidledperfect
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was sidlingprogressive
-
were sidlingprogressive
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had been sidlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sidle
First recorded in 1690–1700; back formation from sideling (earlier spelling sidling misconstrued as present participle of a verb ending in -le )
Explanation
To sidle is to walk, but in a way that's casual, quiet, and a little sneaky. If you want to surprise someone, sidle up to them and say, "Boo!" There’s a TV show where a character’s coworker has a habit of walking so softly that he constantly startles her — she never notices him coming. So of course she buys wrestling shoes and tries to sidle back! Sidling is a type of walking that is super quiet. If you want to leave a party without people noticing, sidle out the door. Sidling is a good way to slip away.
Vocabulary lists containing sidle
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
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"To Build a Fire," Vocabulary from the short story
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Grade 12, List 6
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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.
See Examples For:
Do they sort of sidle up to you in the elevator and say, “Good job”? Or do they ignore you in the cafeteria and hope that this passes?
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
They’re more like trusty gags that sidle in wearing Groucho Marx glasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2025
Apart from enjoying the spectacle, many will appreciate the chance to sidle up to India’s most influential business family at the bar.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2024
She will also sidle up to the fence now and then to take in the latest drama going on with the rest of the colony, which now numbers 42.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2023
What ghosts sidle along the walls right now, trying to overhear?
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
That’s when one satellite sidles up to another and either fixes it or kills it, depending on whose satellite it is and what day of the week it is.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2025
He sidles up, sniffs one of the vehicles, then jumps up and plants two giant paws up on the side of the buggy.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2024
Brian McIntire, owner of Precinct, is less impressed as the group sidles up to the door then heads backstage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2023
The team is sighing with relief when Kendall, of WDC, sidles up to Kowalcyk, quietly telling her the man next to Paul asked whether he could go inside, too.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
These days Molly slips into Vivian’s house, ducks her head with a quick hello to Terry, sidles up the stairs.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
I sidled up to the bar with happy hour in full swing, feeling a little nauseated from the heat and mileage.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
As if on cue, Rudy, my aged Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, gingerly sidled up to him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
Kingsley went back inside and sidled up to the piano where Mercury was practising - it was a new song with the working title Freddie's Thing.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2025
“Hey, handsome,” Blowen called out as he sidled up to his longtime friend that now has only four remaining teeth and spends much of his day napping.
From Seattle Times ● May 1, 2024
Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
Now it has transformed itself into tumbleweed proper, sidling and bouncing wherever the wind chooses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
There are dozens of courtrooms spread across Floors 12 and 14, and observers and petitioners will bustle in and out, sidling past flocks of press and squads of federal officers.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2025
“This is how politics used to be,” Democrat Harvey Englander said after sidling up to Republican Joel Fox.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025
Desperate times call for desperate measures, so you find yourself sidling into a café.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2025
Slowly, the gray dog left the woods, walking with its head cocked to one side, sidling toward Toomer with one eye riveted on Ben.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
