sideways

Etymology

noun

1. plural of sideway
   And he was just taking byways and sideways, travelling in the peripheries of civilization, yeah? 2002, Joseph Brodsky, Cynthia L. Haven, Joseph Brodsky: Conversations, page 169
   In time our way merged into a throng of cars flowing here and there on the highways and sideways of the north side of Los Angeles. 2006, David Haskell, Roundabout the USA, page 103
   Expansion of economic activities resulted in the construction of a so—called fishbone pattern of roads and sideways. 2013, Pitou van Dijck, The Impact of the IIRSA Road Infrastructure Programme on Amazonia, page 81

adj

1. Moving or directed toward one side.
   Giving Mary a sideways glance, he said,[…].
   He gave the ball a sideways kick.
2. (informal) Positioned sideways (with a side to the front).
   There was a stack of papers in front of each seat at the table, but each stack was sideways.
3. (informal) Neither moving upward nor moving downward.
   Once we get out of this sideways economy, our figures will more accurately reflect what we're truly capable of.
4. (usually with "with", informal) In conflict (with); not compatible (with).
   He was constantly getting sideways with his boss till he got fired.

adv

1. With a side to the front.
   He builds houses sideways, with the front door on the side.
2. Towards one side.
   A bishop moves only diagonally; a rook, only sideways, forward, and back.
   He looked sideways at the new arrival, wondering who she was.
3. Askance; sidelong.
4. (informal) Neither upward nor downward.
   The economy has been moving sideways for several months now.
5. (chiefly US, colloquial) Not as planned; towards a worse outcome.
   We realized the project could go sideways very quickly if we didn't get the sales and marketing people on our side.
   As we walked deeper into the darkness, we both knew this could go sideways in a heartbeat. We were sitting ducks. Birds on a wire. Canaries in a coalmine. 2011, D. P. Lyle, chapter 78, in Hot Lights, Cold Steel, page 340
   It feels like the probability of something going sideways here is higher. 2023-05-20, Tabby Kinder, George Hammond, quoting Ivan Matkovic, “So long, San Francisco”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 1