beside
Americanpreposition
-
by or at the side of; near.
Sit down beside me.
-
compared with.
Beside him other writers seem amateurish.
-
apart from; not connected with.
beside the point; beside the question.
adverb
-
along the side of something.
The family rode in the carriage, and the dog ran along beside.
idioms
preposition
-
next to; at, by, or to the side of
-
as compared with
-
away from; wide of
beside the point
-
archaic besides
-
overwhelmed; overwrought
beside oneself with grief
adverb
Commonly Confused
For the prepositional meanings “over and above, in addition to” and “except” besides is preferred, especially in edited writing: Besides these honors he received a sum of money. We heard no other sound besides the breaking surf. However, beside sometimes occurs with these meanings as well.
Etymology
Origin of beside
before 1000; Middle English; earlier bi-siden, Old English bī sīdan, be sīdan; be-, side 1
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.
She tilted her head and motioned to the seat beside her, where I usually sat.
From Literature
I glanced at The World Awakens, sitting on the table beside my breakfast.
From Literature
A boy paused beside me and gazed down at my phone just in time to see the screen turn black.
From Literature
Inside, I could bury myself in wool and park myself beside the woodstove.
From Literature
My whole body tensed as I imagined what that would be like, sitting beside him in the dark, our breaths fogging on the crisp air.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
