sidle

English

Etymology

1690s, from Middle English sidlyng (early 14th century), as side + -lyng (“(frequentive)”) (modern English side +‎ -le (“(frequentive)”)).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sīd-(ə)l, IPA: /ˈsaɪd(ə)l/, X-SAMPA: /"saId(@)l/
• Rhymes: -aɪd(ə)l

Noun

sidle (plural sidles)

1. A sideways movement.
2. A furtive advance.

Translations

A sideways movement

A furtive advance

Verb

sidle (third-person singular simple present sidles, present participle sidling, simple past and past participle sidled)

1. To move sideways.
2. To advance in a furtive, coy or unobtrusive manner.
   • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VIII:

     At an early point in these exchanges I had started to sidle to the door, and I now sidled through it, rather like a diffident crab on some sandy beach trying to avoid the attentions of a child with a spade.

Translations

To move sideways

To advance in a furtive, coy or unobtrusive manner

• French: faufiler (fr)

• German: schleichen (de)

Derived terms

• sidle up

Related terms

• sideling, sidling
• sidelong

See also

• crablike

Anagrams

• delis, idles, slide