Definition

Adverb 1. In a lateral direction or location: Moving to or positioned at the side, rather than forward, backward, upward, or downward. 2. To, by, or from the side(s): Pertaining to action, movement, or extension toward or from the side.

Usage Examples

• In a lateral direction or location:
  • The roots of the plant spread laterally just beneath the soil surface.
  • The car was hit laterally by a truck running a red light.
• To, by, or from the side(s):
  • The manager decided to move the employee laterally to a different department at the same job level.
  • Think laterally to find creative solutions to the problem.

Advanced Usage

• "Think laterally": To think creatively, using an indirect and innovative approach rather than traditional step-by-step logic. This is synonymous with "thinking outside the box."
  • The workshop is designed to help participants think laterally and generate novel ideas.
• In anatomy and biology, describing position or movement away from the midline of the body or structure.
  • The muscle abducts the arm, moving it laterally.

Variants and Related Words

• Lateral (adjective): Of, at, toward, or from the side or sides.
  • A lateral pass in football.
  • The lateral branches of a tree.
• Lateralization (noun): (Especially in neuropsychology) The localization of a function in one hemisphere of the brain.
• Bilaterally (adverb): In a way that involves or affects two sides equally.
  • The agreement was signed bilaterally.

Synonyms

• Sideways: To, toward, or from the side.
• Sideward(s): Toward the side.
• Edgewise: With the edge forward or uppermost; also used figuratively to mean getting a word in edgewise.

Antonyms

• Longitudinally: In a lengthwise direction.
• Vertically: In an up-and-down direction.
• Centrally: In or toward the center.

Related Phrases

• Lateral move: A transfer to a different job or position at the same level of responsibility or pay within an organization, rather than a promotion.
  • She accepted a lateral move to gain experience in a new field.
• Lateral thinking: A method of solving problems indirectly and creatively, typically through viewing the problem in a new and unusual light.
  • Solving this puzzle requires lateral thinking.

Adverb

1. in a lateral direction or location
   • the body is spindle-shaped and only slightly compressed laterally
2. to or by or from the side
   • such women carry in their heads kinship knowledge of six generations depth and extending laterally among consanguineal kin as far as the grandchildren of second cousin