sidling

English

Etymology 1

Adjective

sidling

1. Alternative spelling of sideling

Related terms

• sidelong
• sideward
• sideways
• sidewise

Adverb

sidling

1. Alternative spelling of sideling
   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput):

     I stepped over the great western gate, and passed very gently, and sidling, through the two principal streets, only in my short waistcoat, for fear of damaging the roofs and eaves of the houses with the skirts of my coat.

Etymology 2

Cognate with the above (form of sidle, from Middle English sidlyng, from which also directly sidling, above).

Verb

sidling

1. present participle and gerund of sidle

Noun

sidling (plural sidlings)

1. The motion of one who sidles.
   • 1926, Rudyard Kipling, The Centaurs:

     Starring and shying at straws, with sidlings and plungings.

Anagrams

• idlings, sliding