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

It started on a quiet residential side street, then turned left past a giant blue mural before snaking 100m down the main road to the doors of a new dental practice.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

“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

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

They explain that because the operational firearms commander did not know Sgt Blake and his colleagues were parked in the side street, he would also not have known that they were about to intervene.

From BBC • Nov. 4, 2024

Nico and Hazel bolted for the side street.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan