Lateral Definition

lătər-əl
laterals
adjective
Of, at, from, on, or toward the side; sideways.
Lateral movement.
Webster's New World
Of or constituting a change within an organization or hierarchy to a position at a similar level, as in salary or responsibility, to the one being left.
Made a lateral move within the company.
American Heritage
Not involving a significant change in prestige, income, etc.; being neither a promotion nor a demotion.
An employee's lateral move to another job within the company.
Webster's New World
Characterized by an unconventional or innovative line of reasoning.
Lateral thinking.
Webster's New World
Growing on the side of a stem or branch.
A lateral bud.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
noun
laterals
A lateral part, projection, passage, or appendage.
American Heritage Medicine
Anything located, done, etc. to the side; lateral part, growth, branch, etc.
Webster's New World
A short pass parallel to the goal line or in a slightly backward direction.
Webster's New World
A lateral pass.
American Heritage
A drift off to the side of and parallel to a main drift.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
verb
To execute a lateral pass.
American Heritage

To pass (the ball) as a lateral.

Webster's New World
To move (oneself or something) in a lateral direction.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Lateral

Noun

Singular:
lateral
Plural:
laterals

Origin of Lateral

  • Middle English from Old French from Latin laterālis from latus later- side

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin laterālis (“belonging to the side"), from latus (“a side")

    From Wiktionary

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