sideswipe

See also: side-swipe

English

Alternative forms

• side-swipe

Etymology

side +‎ swipe

Noun

sideswipe (plural sideswipes)

1. A blow with the side of something, such as the side of car that is changing lanes incautiously.
2. (figurative) A catty or sarcastic remark.
   • 2007 July 11, Chris Cottingham, “Electroclash was no flash in the pan”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Calvin Harris's number-ten hit Acceptable in the 80s is both a wry sideswipe and a celebration of the scene; […]

Translations

a blow with the side of something

a sarcastic remark

• Galician: zasca
• German: Seitenhieb (de) m
• Italian: frecciata (it) f, frecciatina f

Verb

sideswipe (third-person singular simple present sideswipes, present participle sideswiping, simple past and past participle sideswiped)

1. (transitive) To give a blow with the side, as to strike with the side of a car when turning.
   • 1960, John Updike, Rabbit, Run, page 36:

     As he turns left from Central into Jackson he nearly sideswipes a milk truck idling yards out from the kerb.

   • 2012, Curtis L. Alcutt, Fatal Intentions, page 175:

     In her haste, she sideswiped the 4x4 truck that was ahead of her as well as two other cars. “Help!” she yelled as she sped through the orange construction cones. “They're going to kill me!”