▪ I. sideling, n.
(ˈsaɪdlɪŋ)
Forms: 4 sydelynge, 5 sydlyng, 6 syd(e)ling; 4 sidelyng, 8– sideling (9 Sc. -lin); 9 sidling, dial. siddlin, etc.
[f. side n.1 + -ling1.]
† 1. A strip or piece of land lying by the side of a larger portion or by a stream. Obs.
| 1399 in Kennett Par. Ant. (1695) 531 Fons de Goldwell..cujus aqua manat..præter dictas buttes, et ideo vocantur Sydelynges. Ibid. 532 Ab hoc furlong procedunt le Sidelyngs de quibus patet superius. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 369 The tythis of ix. buttis I-called Sydlyngis, liyng at the lowsy thorn, bitwene j. acre of lond..and j. pece of lond. 1576 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 387 A bracke betwixte two sydelings called the greate and little sydlings to be dammed uppe. 1726 in W. Wing Ann. Steeple Aston (1875) 54 One sideling of Pasture ground of about an acre. Ibid. 55 One small sideling of ground and Comon of Pasture for one Cow and one Horse. |
2. A slope or declivity, esp. one along the side of which a track or road runs.
| 1808 Jamieson s.v., The sidelins (sidlings) of a hill, i.e. the declivity. 1852 Mundy Antipodes v. (1855) 127 We..got upon a ‘sidling’ on the slope of the hill. 1881 Mrs. C. Praed Policy & P. I. xi. 230 A sideling that afforded no footing for his horse would necessitate a descent into the bed of the creek. 1886 Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk. |
3. U.S. = siding vbl. n. 7.
| 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), Sidling, a place at which to turn off on a railroad to wait for a passing engine. The English term is siding. |
▪ II. sideling, adv. and a.
(ˈsaɪdlɪŋ)
Forms: 4 sidlyng, 5 sydlyng, 6 -ling; 5–6 sydelyng(e, 6– sideling (7 -line; Sc. 8 -lin, 9 -lan); 6–7, 9 sidling (Sc. -lin').
[f. side n.1 + -ling2. Cf. MDu. side-, zidelinge, MLG. syd-, zydeling(e. An OE. comb. sidlingweᵹ occurs in Kemble Cod. Dipl. III. 446.]
A. adv.
1. With a sideward movement; in a sidelong direction; sideways; obliquely.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 10348 Ȝyf any connyng man of þo Standeþ stille, or sidlyng can go. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7320 Prothenor..Set hym a sad dynt Sydlyng by-hynd. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. lxiv. 524 Thenne they lasshed to gyder many sad strokes & tracyd and trauercyd now bakward now sydelyng. 1506 Mem. Hen. VII (Rolls) 290 So the King of Castile went sidling into the closet and drew the King in by the arm. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. (Arb.) 300 Such as retire from the Princes presence..go backward or sideling for a reasonable space. 1609 W. M. Man in Moone (1849) 30 Hee hath the witte yet to enter sideling, like a gentlewoman with an huge farthingall. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 142 Crabs move sideling, Lobsters will swim swiftly backward. 1702 S. Parker tr. Cicero's De Finibus i. 14 If all his Atoms must descend Sideling, they'll never join one another. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 45 Sidelin to the fight They both come on. 1830 W. Phillips Mt. Sinai i. 392 Or east, or west, or sideling to the north, Or south careering, it is follow'd still. |
† 2. a. To or on one side (of a thing). Obs. rare.
| 1543 Recorde Arithm. 132 b, Farthynges..must be set in a voyde space sydelynge beneth the pennes. 1657 Howell Londinop. 349 Worcester House lies sideling of it. 1786 Burns Lord Daer v, I sidling shelter'd in a nook, An' at his lordship steal't a look. |
† b. With an inclination to one side. Obs.
| 1603 Florio Montaigne (1634) 518 All Alexanders followers bare their heads sideling, as he did. 1612 Shelton Quix. i. i. viii, I pray you sit right in your saddle, for you ride sideling, which proceeds, as I suppose, of the bruising you got by your fall. 1718 Motteux Quix. (1733) I. 62 Sit a little more upright in your Saddle; you ride sideling methinks. |
† 3. With the side toward something. Obs.—1
| 1548 Patten Exped. Scotl. G vj, The enemies were in a fallowe felde, wherof the furrowes lay sydelyng towarde our men. |
† 4. On a side-saddle; facing to the side. Obs.
| 1603 Florio Montaigne i. xlviii. (1632) 158 To ride up and downe.., ever sitting sideling, as women use. 1619 Middleton Love & Antiq. Wks. 1885 VII. 326 Queen Anne..being the first that taught women to ride sideling on horseback. 1698 J. Crull Muscovy 299 This Horse..upon which the Patriarch rides sideling. |
† 5. So that the top and bottom are turned to the sides. Obs. rare.
| 1611 Florio, Catagráphi, images or pictures standing biase or sideline. 1712 Swift Public Sp. Whigs Wks. 1751 VIII. 9 A Fellow nailed up Maps in a Gentleman's Closet, some sideling, others upside down. |
B. adj.
† 1. Situated towards or at the side(s). Obs.
| 1548 Vicary Anat. iii. (1888) 27 [The] Parietales..be the bones of the sideling parts of the head. 1552 Udall tr. Germinus' Anat. B iij b/2 The Chekes are the sydelynge parts of the face. |
2. Directed or moving sideways; oblique.
| 1611 Cotgr., Oblique,..sideling, bowed, winding. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Wars 18 Sideling and oblique Accusations were admitted. 1678 Dryden Kind Keeper ii. i. The peaking Creature,..with a sideling Look, as if one Cheek carry'd more byass than the other. 1763 Dodsley Leasowes in Shenstone's Wks. (1777) II. 304 The eye is carried by a sideling view down a length of lawn. 1771 Foote Penseroso v. 237 The sideling glance Of bigot malice. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxiii, Henry struck him a sideling blow on the steel head-piece. 1845 G. Oliver Coll. Biogr. Soc. Jesus p. iii, They cast no sideling glance to interest. 1890 Hall Caine Bondman ii. v, ‘We know you are watching him,’ he added, with a sideling motion of the head towards Government House. |
b. fig. Of speech, etc.: Indirect.
| 1789 Ross Helenore (ed. 3) 105 For Nory's sake, this sideling hint he gae. |
3. Having an inclination; sloping, steep.
| 1611 Cotgr., Callate,..a sideling, or sloping peece of ground. 1808 in Jamieson. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 44 The green hill's sideling slope. 1854 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XV. ii. 246 It is a good plan to plough sidling ground in a circle. 1894 Harper's Mag. Feb. 356/2 Never have I seen hills as sideling as these. |
Hence † ˈsidelingwise adv. Obs.—1
| 1587 Holinshed Chron., Hist. Scotl. 102/2 Two Pictish horssemen running at Colgerme sidelingwise, bare him quite through. |