lateraladj.n.

Brit.

/ˈlat(ə)rəl/,

/ˈlat(ə)rl̩/, U.S.

/ˈlædərəl/,

/ˈlætrəl/

Forms: late Middle English laterale, late Middle English– lateral, 1500s–1600s laterall.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin laterālis.

Etymology: < classical Latin laterālis of or on the side of the body, in post-classical Latin also alongside, adjoining (from 12th cent. in British sources), of minor importance, peripheral (14th cent. in British sources) < later- , latus side (of unknown origin) + -ālis -al suffix¹. Compare Middle French, French latéral (1315), Catalan lateral (15th cent.), Spanish lateral, Portuguese lateral (1679), Italian laterale (1490).

A. adj.

I. General uses.

1. Of or relating to the side or sides; situated at or issuing from the side or sides (of a person or thing); towards the side, directed sideways. Also (figurative) occurring as a side issue; indirectly related.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > quality of having sides or being a side > [adjective]

lateral?a1425

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 104 Signez forsoþ of sich dislocacioun, ouer þe comon of eminence & concauite, ar laterale arcuacioun [L. arcuacio lateralis], i. crokyng or bowyng of side.

c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 139 If þerbi sum oþir such lateral myscheef schulde falle.

?1562 W. Ward tr. R. Roussat Most Excellent Bk. Doctour & Astrologien Arcandam sig. Q.iiii The nostrelles crooked are ascribed to men of a good hart. The Nose tending to the laterall partes of the man..betokeneth some hurt.

1600 B. Jonson In Authorem in N. Breton Melancholike Humours facing sig. B One comming with a laterall viewe, Vnto a cunning piece wrought perspectiue, Wants facultie to make a censure true.

1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis vii. 83 Midwives..are wont to compresse the lateral parts of the Nose, that this simity of children may be the sooner abolished.

1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 287 The four lateral Arches at the two greatest Gates.

1793 J. Bell Anat. Bones, Muscles, & Joints ii. iii. 278 Besides these muscles which bend and extend the fingers, there are other smaller ones..for the lateral motions of the thumb and little finger.

1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xxxi. 261 There is produced the appearance of two persons moving in opposite directions, constituting what has been termed a lateral mirage.

1850 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire I. vii. 322 By a lateral movement they reached the banks of the river.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. xviii. 325 In virtue of the quicker central flow the lateral ice is subject to an oblique strain.

1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Parish Churches 23 All the main entrances, whether western or lateral.

1908 E. M. Forster Room with View x. 175 The further one descended the garden, the more glorious was this lateral view.

1957 J. Grodinsky J. Gould, Business Career ii. 28 The lateral tributary roads, except for the three most eastwardly ones, converged from north or south.

1979 P. de Man in H. Bloom Deconstruction & Crit. 44 A process that..repeats itself in the main sequences as well as in what seem to be lateral episodes.

2011 R. Reitherman Earthquakes & Engineers xi. 518 It [sc. a tower] had to withstand either a lateral wind or seismic load.

2. Existing or moving side by side; esp. (of winds) coming from the same half of the compass. Now rare.First attested in lateral-sited.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > state or position of being parallel > [adjective]

concurrent1495

gemew1523

collaterala1527

parallelc1550

equidistant1570

lateral1598

non-concurring1705

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective] > coming from same half of horizon

lateral1598

1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades v. 75 As when two laterall-sited windes (the westwinde and the North) Meete at the Thracian seas blalk [read black] brest.

1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 183 Eurus on the one side, and Cæcias on the other side, being two laterall windes pertinent to the East.

1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 221 The Commons Charge and the Earls Defence run lateral and in pale each with other.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 705 Eurus and Zephir with thir lateral noise, Sirocco, and Libecchio.

a1679 T. Hobbes Seven Philos. Probl. (1682) vi. 49 It must needs move the Air before it, even to the Earth, and the Earth repel it, and to make lateral Winds every way.

1825 R. Taylor Key to Knowl. Nature vi. 139 As this semicircle goes westward with the sun, the lateral winds will partake a good deal of the same direction.

1870 T. B. Butler Conc. Devel. Atmospheric Syst. iii. 68 The N.E. wind set in and blew beneath the lateral winds.

1912 Monthly Weather Rev. (U.S.) 40 541/2 The evidences of these lateral winds from the northwest and southwest are very clear.

2002 F. M. López-Morillas tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Moral Hist. of Indies iii. v.112 If a south wind is blowing, which is directly contrary, the ship cannot sail in a southerly direction, nor can it do so with the two lateral winds, which are southwest and southeast.

3. Of or relating to the recruitment or transfer of an employee into a position which is of an equivalent level to his or her current role; (also) designating such a position.Cf. sideways adj. 3, although unlike sideways, lateral is often used without pejorative connotations.

ΚΠ

1941 P. E. Holden et al. Top-managem. Organization 116 They try to find a suitable promotion or arrange a lateral exchange (‘swap’) of jobs.

1978 D. J. Levinson Seasons of Man's Life xix. 306 The apparent promotion was in many respects a lateral move.

1990 W. A. W. Neilson Getting Pink Slip 6 The employer..will try to reassign the employee to a lateral position as a first preference. The second choice is to offer a downgraded position.

2002 L. A. Chappell Gendering Govt. iv. 112 The introduction of lateral recruitment enabled women to gain entry to senior bureaucratic positions without needing to work their way up through the gender-biased career service.

4. Of, relating to, or characterized by lateral thinking (cf. lateral thinking n. at Compounds).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > [adjective] > using unorthodox methods

lateral thinking1966

lateral1969

1969 Irish Times 2 Dec. 11/7 The other morsel of food for lateral thought..is the possibility of reinstatement of the Harcourt street/Bray railway line.

1988 Leonardo 21 185/3 Use a lateral approach to thinking as well as a vertical one.

1990 F. Smith To Think i. 7 Some theorists have..adopted the notion that there are particular kinds of thinking that are creative and critical, while others have posited special kinds of thinking that are lateral or divergent.

2003 L. Bennett in S. Brown Moving on Up 268 She also encouraged her children to think in a lateral way: the best solution to a tricky problem is not always the most obvious one.

II. Technical uses.

5. Anatomy and Zoology. Located on the side of the body or a part of the body; located to the side of (another structure); located beside or further from the median plane or midline. Frequently opposed to medial.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > positions or directions in body > [adjective] > specific

rightOE

lefta1200

lowera1400

furtherc1400

lateral?a1425

sinistera1500

upper1528

anterior?1541

inferior1563

superior1566

oblique1578

high1588

ascendant1611

prone1646

peripherial1653

internal1657

supine1661

peripherical1690

gawk1703

ascending1713

adducent1722

submental1722

adductory1752

subdorsal1783

syntropic18..

atlantal1803

mesiad1803

mesial1803

proximal1803

sternal1803

distal1808

peripheral1808

peripheric1818

ventripetal1819

submedial1825

anteriormostc1826

subvertebral1827

afferent1828

sinistral1828

rostral1834

interganglionic1835

submedian1836

mesian1837

haemal1839

supravaginal1844

neural1846

symmetrical1851

suprameatal1853

paraxial1861

posterial1866

hypaxial1873

postaxial1873

preaxial1873

transmedial1876

transmedian1876

mediad1878

horizontal1881

mesal1881

prosomatic1882

dextrad1883

paramedian1890

prorsal1890

ventro-dorsal1895

midsagittal1898

ventro-axial1902

ventro-posterior1903

ipsilateral1907

parasagittal1907

ventromedial1908

homolateral1910

suprasellar1912

supratemporal1975

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 74 (MED) Wondez in þe necke, som beþ in..þe ligamentez lateralez [?c1425 Paris on þe sides; L. lateralibus].

1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 19^v (margin) The lateral Processes of the first Vertebre.

1638 A. Read Man. Anat. Body of Man (new ed.) 522 Those which are seated betweene the head bones, and rumpe bone, are either anterior, laterall, or posterior.

1722 J. Quincy Lexicon Physico-medicum (ed. 2) 50 This Plexus reaches from one lateral Ventricle to the other, passing under the Fornix, above the third Ventricle.

1840 E. Wilson Anatomist's Vade Mecum (1842) 340 The lateral sinuses are often unequal in size.

1880 A. Günther Introd. Study of Fishes 68 The articulation with the vertebral column is effected by a pair of lateral condyles.

1913 Gray's Anat. (ed. 18) 242 Lateral to the foramen ovale is the foramen spinosum.

1965 T. J. Parker & W. A. Haswell Text-bk. Zool. (ed. 6) I. 563 In some forms, such as the Sea-hares.., the foot develops a pair of lateral lobes—the parapodia—which act as fins; and in the Pteropods..these constitute the largest part of the foot.

1972 Nature 31 Mar. 233/1 Electrodes..were placed at bilaterally symmetrical points over the left and right hemispheres,..2 mm lateral to the sagittal suture and 1 mm posterior to bregma.

2001 Y. Martel Life of Pi (2002) lxvi. 194 With large fish I aimed for the ventral area beneath their gills and their lateral fins.

6. Physics and Mechanics. Occurring, acting, or placed horizontally or at right angles to a line of motion or of strain.See also lateral pressure n., lateral strength n., lateral stress n. at Compounds.

ΚΠ

1599 T. Hill Schoole of Skil i. 10 To the nether region of the same, consist the laterall motions, as wee dayly see by the blowing of the windes.

1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 175 Their motion is a laterall or sidelong motion.

1729 A. Motte tr. I. Newton Math. Princ. Nat. Philos. II. i. 7 Distinguish the motion of the body into two others, one of ascent, the other lateral.

1803 J. Wood Princ. Mech. (ed. 3) vii. 154 When the lateral motion is entirely prevented by the adhesion of the body to the plane.

1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §441. 193 We must now proceed to the method of forming lateral joints.

1962 G. S. H. Lock Introd. Exper. Stress Anal. § i. 8 In particular, experiments show that a stress is capable of producing a strain perpendicular to itself and this strain is often referred to as a lateral strain.

2003 T. L. Koglin Movable Bridge Engin. xii. 186 The centering devices may assist in resisting lateral forces during an earthquake.

7. Botany. Growing from or situated upon the side of a stem, branch, or other part of a plant, or upon a side branch; axillary (axillary adj. 2); as lateral bud, lateral flower, lateral petal, etc.See also lateral root n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > (defined by) distribution, arrangement, or position > [adjective] > at or on the side

lateral1665

1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 90 There is a Vegetable which does exceedingly imitate these branches..where the main stem may be observ'd to shoot out branches, and the stems of each of these lateral branches, to send forth collateral.

1776 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. I. x. 260 Campion. The lateral flowers hanging down on every side.

1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. Families of Plants I. 5 The lateral divisions of the exterior corol.

1830 J. Lindley Introd. Nat. Syst. Bot. 216 The two carpellary leaves of which the fruit is formed are lateral, or right and left with respect to the common axis of the inflorescence.

1882 Forest & Stream 5 Jan. 449/2 Beneath the roots a lateral stem (a rhizoma) shoots out..on the end of which grows a bulb.

1907 Times 19 Oct. 15/2 On feeble lateral stems, the foxglove throws up small clusters of its purple-spotted throats.

1952 P. Mann Systematics Flowering Plants ii. 71 In Delphinium, humble bees are attracted..partly by the nectar guides in the form of yellow hairs on the front surface of the two lateral petals.

1974 Physiologia Plantarum 32 369 (heading) Effect of abscisic acid and other plant hormones on growth of apical and lateral buds of seedlings.

2005 C. Tudge Secret Life Trees xii. 307 The overall form of the aspen—lateral roots with suckers—is reminiscent of the calamite trees.

8. Medicine. Of a pathological condition: affecting one or both sides of the body or a body part; confined to one side of the body (= unilateral adj. 2b); affecting a lateral part or structure. [In quot. 1665 after post-classical Latin morbus lateralis (1513 or earlier).]

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > characteristics > [adjective]

lateral1665

1665 R. Lovell Παμβοτανολογια (ed. 2) 625 Lateral disease, see Pleuresie.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Palsy The Palsy is either Universal, Lateral, or Particular... The second, call'd Hemiplegia is the same Disease with the Paraplegia; only that it affects but one Side of the Body.

1825–6 Philadelphia Jrnl. Med. & Physical Sci. 2 211 I have also detailed some pectoral complaints, which have almost always been associated with this apparent lateral disease.

1878 tr. H. W. von Ziemssen et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. XIII. 453 That form of chronic myelitis called lateral sclerosis.

1900 A. Church & F. Peterson Nerv. & Mental Dis. (ed. 2) 232 The apoplectic coma may be punctuated by Jacksonian fits, marked by conjugate deviation of head and eyes and some lateral weakness.

1925 N. Amer. Veterinarian Mar. 35 The head is sometimes drawn toward the tail on account of lateral paralysis.

1970 E. Kübler-Ross On Death & Dying (1973) ii. 16 Mr. P. was a fifty-one-year-old patient who was hospitalized with rapidly progressing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with bulbar involvement.

2004 D. R. Thompson & R. Webster Caring for Coronary Patient (ed. 2) vii. 218/1 Signs of lateral weakness, dysphasia and other features associated with a stroke may become apparent during assessment.

†9. Mathematics. Of an equation: linear. Of a quantity, variable, etc.: having an exponent equal to one. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > algebra > [adjective] > relating to expressions > relating to equations

algebraic1657

lateral1670

explicable1706

unreduced1762

homogeneous1815

resolvent1860

Pellian1862

equational1864

canonizant1879

variational1879

unilateral1884

non-dimensional1904

open1937

inhomogeneous1943

stiff1952

1670 J. Gregory Let. 23 Nov. in I. Newton Corr. (1959) I. 46 I can doe the same thing, but not easilie, for I tak away the second term by a lateral equation, the third by a quadratick, the fourth by a cubic, the fift by a biquadratick equation, and so forth in infinitum.

a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) iv. 645 If 170 304 782 be divided..by 1250, the Quotient shall be Quadratical; and if by 6480, the Quotient shall be Lateral.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Lateral Equation (in Algebra), such an Equation as has but one Root.

1870 Spons' Dict. Engin. II. 665 Sometimes, in mathematics, an equation of the first degree is designated as a lateral equation.

10. Crystallography. Designating an axis perpendicular to the principal or vertical axis of a crystal system, or a plane through which such an axis passes; relating to or associated with such an axis or plane.The term is not generally used in reference to the cubic system (in which all axes are equivalent) or the triclinic system (in which no axes are perpendicular).

ΚΠ

1816 R. Jameson Treat. External Characters Minerals (ed. 2) 102 Lateral edges..are the edges of the lateral faces of the table, so that there are eight lateral edges in a prism.

1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 207 Class g. Lateral solid angles replaced by single planes inclining on the superior edges.

1868 J. D. Dana Syst. Mineral. (ed. 5) Introd. 21 [The Hexagonal] system differs from the Tetragonal in having three equal lateral axes..instead of two; the vertical..is at right angles to the lateral.

1966 R. Webster Pract. Gemmol. (ed. 4) iii. 26 Form of a crystal... Prism faces have three or more similar faces meeting in parallel edges. These may be first order where each face cuts two lateral axes and is parallel to the vertical axis, or the second order where each face cuts only one lateral axis and is parallel to the other two.

1999 P. G. Read Gemmology (ed. 2) xvi. 193 Straight colour zoning (usually following the pattern of the lateral crystal axes) can be seen in many natural stones, including quartz, ruby, sapphire and emerald.

11. Phonetics. Involving partial closure of the air passage by placing the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth so as to allow the breath to flow on one or both sides of the point of contact; (of a consonant) formed or articulated in this way.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by manner > [adjective] > sonant > liquid > lateral

lateral1867

unilateral1867

lateralized1934

1867 Jrnl. Anat. & Physiol. 1 174 The l consonants, with lateral constriction, also belong to this group.

1891 L. Soames Introd. Phonetics 34 Some persons..let the breath escape on one side only, so it seems better to call it [l] a lateral or side consonant.

1903 W. Scholle & G. Smith Elem. Phonetics 75. §148 In the articulation of ‘l’ both sides (or only one side) of the tongue form a narrow passage with the molars and side gums, hence the term lateral articulation.

1957 Ess. in Crit. 7 128 ‘Woolly’ is composed of two vowels, a semi-vowel and a voiced lateral consonant.

2003 M. Abley Spoken Here i. 10 An ‘ingressive lateral fricative’, and a ‘duplicated bilabial trill’..—consonants that are found nowhere else in the world [outside New Guinea].

12. Designating a lateral cut gramophone record (see lateral cut adj. and n. at Compounds); relating to or involving such records. Now chiefly historical.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > [adjective] > type of cutting by stylus

hill and dale1929

lateral1942

1942 Proc. IRE 30 356/2 (heading) Frequency characteristics for lateral recording.

1958 Audio Aug. 90/3 A simple reversing switch on one of the coils will cause the pickup to reproduce either vertical or lateral records.

1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) IV. 240/1 Modern lateral pickups are of the crystal, ceramic, magnetic, or dynamic type.

2013 R. Kennedy Jelly Roll, Bix, & Hoagy (rev. ed.) i. 19 During the court case, Johnson had stayed on good terms with Berliner and paid royalties for Berliner's patent for lateral disc recording.

B. n.

a. A lateral part, member, or object; something situated at or issuing from the side; esp. a side road or channel.In quot. 1594: = lateral branch n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > shoot, sprout, or branch > [noun] > sucker or side-shoot

scourgea1382

by-sprouting1562

sucker1577

lateral1578

offset1642

spiney1649

side shoot1658

appendix1664

by-shoot1669

water sprout1688

turion1725

tiller1733

surculus1775

suckler1796

suckling1798

offshoot1814

stool1818

base shoot1835

side-tiller1903

toe1952

the world > space > relative position > quality of having sides or being a side > [noun] > something at the side

lateral1578

side piece1592

flanker1631

the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > specific areas or structures > [noun] > side part

lateral1578

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > wind with reference to direction > winds from intermediate points

collateral windsc1550

lateral1578

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > minor road or side road

lateral1578

by-road1673

vicinal way or road1677

side road1691

cross-road1719

branch-road1831

feeder1855

secondary road1903

feeder road1959

1578 J. Banister Hist. Man sig. Hi The neither part of ye superiour [sc. vertebra in the neck] sitteth in ye vpper part of ye inferiour, like as in a sided stoole: ij. ascendentes, and ij. descendentes, ij. transuerse or laterals, & one backwardes, beyng the spine or ridge.

1594 W. Clerke Triall of Bastardie ii. 14 His prohibition goeth beyond the prohibition of the Canons, in the laterals that be not equal.

1681 S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Anat. Brain in Five Treat. iv. 73 The passages of the Veins, destinated for the returning of the blood from thence, seem also to be disposed with a wonderful artifice. For when the anterior bosoms transfer their load into the two Laterals, which are the posterior [etc.].

1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 298 In the Walls of these Laterals are two Hollows.

1787 Edinb. Mag. Aug. 107/2 Prof. And what are the external parts of a salt-box? Stu. One fundamental, four laterals, and one super-lateral.

1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 366 From this trunk [road] there are many laterals.

1874 J. Muir in Overland Monthly July 72/2 The right lateral of the tributary which took its rise between Red and Black mountains is a magnificent piece of ice-work.

1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 22 June 5/2 Ilissus..would not make a lateral for an irrigating ditch in Colorado.

1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze vi. 145 Neither roads nor rails would be of any use to the enemy once we had cut them, but the roads, as laterals, would be invaluable to us.

1991 Public Wks. Nov. 59/2 The Ranney intake consists of an onshore large-diameter caisson with laterals that project into the adjacent surface water supply.

2009 M. Norman & E. M. Norman Tears in Darkness xii. 319 Picking and shoveling and hauling and loading in a labyrinth of damp laterals, long diagonals, and cramped coal drifts.

b. Botany. A branch, leaf, bud, etc., that grows from or is situated upon the side of a stem, root, etc.; a lateral root; a side shoot.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > (defined by) distribution, arrangement, or position > [noun] > side part

lateral1727

1727 S. Hales Veg. Staticks 119 ln order to get an estimate of the length of all the roots, I took one of the main roots with its laterals, and measured and weighed them.

1778 J. Abercrombie Universal Gardener & Botanist at Trained trees This work of pruning short to obtain laterals may also be performed occasionally in summer.

1835 Genesee (Rochester, N.Y.) Farmer 16 May 155/2 By thus continually stopping the upper laterals, as often as they were produced,..the shoots acquired greater strength and size.

1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 177 Look over tomatoes, and suppress all useless laterals.

1914 F. E. Fritsch & E. J. Salisbury Introd. Study Plants vii. 88 Most commonly a single midrib is predominant and from it laterals of smaller size arise on each side.

1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. viii. 193 When ripe the fat, fruitful, terminal spikelets [of barley] are in two distinct rows up the axis, and the laterals appear as thin, almost bristle-like structures.

2006 Gardens Monthly Apr. 88/3 The fruiting laterals display the berries well.

c. Zoology and Palaeontology. = lateral tooth n. at Compounds (in either sense).

ΚΠ

1796 C. W. Peale Sci. & Descriptive Catal. Peale's Mus. 41 Six upper fore-teeth, hollowed within; six under, two laterals longer and lobed; canines solitary; from five to six grinders.

1851 S. P. Woodward Man. Mollusca i. 157 C[hiton] squamosus..lingual teeth 3; median small, laterals large.

1896 H. Woods Elem. Palæontol.: Invertebr. (ed. 2) 241 Some [teeth] are placed immediately under the umbo and are known as the cardinal teeth; others, termed laterals, are placed in front of and behind the umbo.

1958 J. E. Morton Molluscs x. 188 The..families are members of the order Heterodonta. The hinge teeth are well developed and important in classification, forming well-marked sets of cardinals and laterals.

2005 Horse June 72/3 The next incisor teeth along the jaw, the laterals, will erupt between three and four years of age, while the corner incisor adult teeth will come through when the horse is between the ages of four and five.

†2. A lateral wind (see sense A. 2). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > wind with reference to direction

windc725

lateral1635

headwind1709

1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 183 These windes..if at any time they blow up rain..then continue it by the space of a whole day... The reason of which I take to be, because (perhaps) their lateralls, not being absolutely of the same qualitie, may arise together with them, and so bring Rain.

1671 R. Bohun Disc. Wind 86 Not being able to return back against the stream..it [sc. the Tropicall Wind] must needs bee diverted toward the Poles, and sometimes produces the West, and otherwhile the Laterals, North and South West.

1704 W. Leybourn Math. Inst. 170 Now these Laterals being 16, make, together with the 8 Principals, 24; and just in the midst, between every Two Principals, there are the Eight Residual Winds, bearing the same Name with the Means they are next unto.

†3. Any positive whole number. Obsolete. rare.So named owing to the fact that any such number may be represented by an equal number of dots arranged in a straight line. Cf. figural adj. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > particular qualities > whole

unitya1398

integer1571

integrum1594

roundnessa1654

unit1679

lateral1706

natural number1763

natural1971

1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos viii. 162 In a Series of Laterals beginning with 1.

1798 N. Vilant Elem. Math. Anal. 107 (table) Units... Laterals... Triangulars.

4. Phonetics. A lateral consonant (see sense A. 11).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by manner > [noun] > sonant > liquid > lateral

lateral1854

1854 tr. K. R. Lepsius in C. C. J. Bunsen Outl. Philos. Universal Hist. II. App. d ii. 424 (table) Laterals..ǁ ǁg ǁṅ.

1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. vi. 97 In unvoiced laterals, which occur in Welsh and in many American languages, the friction-noise of the breath-stream is more audible than in unvoiced nasals.

1992 H. J. Giegerich Eng. Phonol. ii. 29 How many different laterals, then, does English really have?

5. American Football. = lateral pass n. at Compounds. Cf. lateral v.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > actions or manoeuvres

rush1857

punt-out1861

goal-kicking1871

safety1879

safety touchdown1879

scrimmage1880

rushing1882

safety touch1884

touchback1884

forward pass1890

run1890

blocking1891

signal1891

fake1893

onside kick1895

tandem-play1895

pass play1896

spiral1896

shift1901

end run1902

straight-arm1903

quarterback sneak1904

runback1905

roughing1906

Minnesota shift1910

quarterbacking1910

snap-back1910

pickoff1912

punt return1914

screen forward pass1915

screen pass1920

power play1921

sneak1921

passback1922

snap1922

defence1923

reverse1924

carry1927

lateral1927

stiff-arm1927

zone1927

zone defence1927

submarine charge1928

squib1929

block1931

pass rushing1933

safetying1933

trap play1933

end-around1934

straight-arming1934

trap1935

mousetrap1936

buttonhook1938

blitzing1940

hand-off1940

pitchout1946

slant1947

strike1947

draw play1948

shovel pass1948

bootleg1949

option1950

red dog1950

red-dogging1951

rollout1951

submarine1952

sleeper pass1954

draw1956

bomb1960

swing pass1960

pass rush1962

blitz1963

spearing1964

onsides kick1965

takeaway1967

quarterback sack1968

smash-mouth1968

veer1968

turn-over1969

bump-and-run1970

scramble1971

sack1972

nose tackle1975

nickel1979

pressure1981

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > play American football [verb (intransitive)] > actions or manoeuvres

rush1873

return1884

block1889

goal1900

drive1902

interfere1920

submarine1925

lateral1927

lateral1930

pull1933

to hand off1937

shovel pass1948

bootleg1951

scramble1964

spear1964

blitz1965

convert1970

1927 Princeton Alumni Weekly 11 Nov. 206/1 The average gain on the 8 completions was less than 6 yards, showing that they were fairly well covered laterals.

1949 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 10 Oct. 13/2 The last carried 27 yards as Quarterback Ben Raimondi threw a lateral to his left to End Cotton Howell.

1974 C. I. Coombs Be Winner in Football vi. 92 You or other ballcarriers can attempt a lateral, unlike other passes, anywhere on the playing field.

1998 H. Long & J. Czarnecki Football for Dummies iii. 41 He assists the referee with calls regarding false starts and forward laterals behind the line of scrimmage.

6. Weightlifting and Bodybuilding. Chiefly in plural. Short for lateral raise n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > exercise > [noun] > specific exercises

breathing1605

breather1802

arm swing1859

setting-up drill1862

grasshopper march1884

lunge1889

push-up1897

sit-up1900

pull-up1901

deep-breathing1904

bag-punching1927

press-up1928

setting-up exercise1935

pullover1936

bear crawl1937

burpee1939

knee-bend1941

leg raise1944

dip1945

uddiyana1949

squat thrust1950

lateral1954

pull-down1956

aquacise1968

step-up1973

abdominal crunch1981

power walking1982

crunch1983

gut-buster1983

stomach crunch1986

1954 Bakersfield Californian 24 Mar. The course calls for ten repetitions of the following exercises: standing presses,..bench laterals, standing laterals, curls, [etc.].

1984 Sears Catal. 1985 (Spring-Summer) 511 You'll do bench and shoulder presses, squats, overhead pulls, curls and laterals.

1993 Flex Feb. 39/1 If I'm doing seated laterals, I'll do 75 pounds for 8 to 10.

2003 Muscle & Fitness Jan. 101/2 Isolation of the deltoid muscles using laterals and raises requires that the elbow joints be effectively removed from the movement.

Compounds

lateral branch n. (with reference to a family) a branch descended from a brother or sister of a person in the direct line of descent; cf. collateral adj. 4a.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinship group > stock, race, or family > [noun] > branch > collateral branch

by-channel1628

offshoot1710

offset1711

lateral branch1869

1869 Putnam's Mag. Apr. 505/1 Why give us a labored history of the Halleck, Hallock, or Holyoke pedigree, with all the lateral branches?

1888 W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life & Corr. M. Cutler I. vii. 289 He has but one son, whose name is Jesse, which has been much of a family name in the lateral branches.

2002 Evening Standard (Nexis) 24 Oct. 47 Maud herself is a relative of LaMotte by some vague lateral branch of the family.

lateral control n. control of side-to-side or sideways movement; (Aeronautics) control of the movement of an aircraft about its long axis or its vertical axis (in roll and in yaw respectively); a control for achieving this, such as an aileron.

ΚΠ

1874 U.S. Patent 148,450 1/2 The saws..present them in the proper position to the fracturing-disks, the teeth of which..seize the bars before they have left the lateral control of the saw-blades.

1916 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2 282 Frequent accidents to stalled aeroplanes indicate that the pilot's lateral control by ailerons also becomes operative.

1936 Jrnl. Higher Educ. 7 360/1 Lack of lateral control in the movements of the left eye.

1950 Pop. Sci. Sept. 137/1 Tabs located under the nose..are connected to the craft's lateral controls.

2013 W. Johnson Rotorcraft Aeromechanics viii. 278 Longitudinal and lateral control is generally obtained using cyclic pitch to tilt the tip-path plane of the main rotor [of a helicopter].

lateral cut adj. and n. now chiefly historical (a) adj. designating gramophone records in which the undulations are cut by the side-to-side movement of the recording stylus, or equipment and techniques using this method; opposed to hill and dale at hill n. 1b; (b) n. this method of recording; a gramophone record so made.

ΚΠ

1913 T. A. Edison U.S. Patent 1,078,266 1/1 My invention relates to sound boxes particularly of the type adapted for use in connection with disk records having vertically undulating grooves, although its use is not limited to that type, as it may be applied to lateral cut records.

1935 H. C. Bryson Gramophone Rec. i. 16 From 1900 onwards there existed three types of record: (a) Discs with hill and dale cut... (b) Discs with a lateral cut... (c) Wax cylinders with hill and dale cut.

1975 Hi-Fi Answers Feb. 59/2 Modulation levels..which upset it at 8 kHz (for both vertical and lateral cuts) and 18 kHz (for lateral cuts only).

2013 R. Kennedy Jelly Roll, Bix, & Hoagy (rev. ed.) i. 27 With lateral-cut recording technology securely in the public domain, smaller recording labels switched to this process.

lateral flow adj. designating a simple and rapid method of screening body and other fluids for target substances that involves capillary flow of the fluid across a porous membrane containing a series of reagents (usually antibodies or antigens), typically resulting in a visible line as an end point; of, relating to, or utilizing this method.The most commonly used over-the-counter pregnancy tests are based on this method, but it is employed for wide variety of other purposes, including the diagnosis of infectious diseases.

ΚΠ

1989 European Patent 0306772 A1 1 Lateral flow chromatographic binding assay device.

1997 Jrnl. Urol. 158 2098/2 A lateral flow immunoassay device using monoclonal antibodies.

2011 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 1 Aug. a3/1 Few lateral flow tests, however, have proven reliable across multiple settings and types of infection.

2021 Scotsman (Nexis) 22 Apr. Rapid lateral flow tests are for people who do not have symptoms of coronavirus but may be infected with it.

lateral judge n. (also judge lateral) now historical and rare an assistant judge; = assessor n. 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > administration of justice > one who administers justice > judge > [noun] > assessor

beside-sitter1340

assessorc1380

affeeror1523

lateral judge1611

co-assessor1644

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Assessoriat Th' office..of a Judge Laterall, Assistant, or Assesseur.

1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) at Judge Lateral Judge is one who assists and sits on the bench with another judge.

1806 tr. F. de Pons Voy. Eastern Part Terra Firma III. ix. 8 A gentleman of the law, who enjoys the title of associate or lateral judge of the royal estates, or finances.

1896 New Rev. June 661 In a recent criminal case, a Judge Lateral, having declared that the three accused [etc.].

1980 J. W. Singer Singer Family Tree 169-a Son, Jerg Singer, vinedresser and lateral judge in Korb, born March 25, 1633.

2000 J. C. Laursen & J. van der Zande in K. F. Bahrdt Edict of Relig. 128 Carl Friedrich von Zepernick (1751-1839), judge lateral to the court of judicature.

† lateral legate n. (also legate lateral) Obsolete (historical in later use) a papal envoy or ambassador.

ΚΠ

1565 A. Nowell Reproufe f. 48 No sailyng ouer the Sea with controuersies, nor appellations to the Bishop of Rome, nor sendyng of his Legates laterall into their countries, as iudges, should bee vsed.

1866 Sat. Reader 31 Mar. 58/2 I, Gratien Florent, by the grace of God and the holy Apostolic See, bishop of Orvieto, lateral legate of his holiness our Father, Pope Innocent the Third.

lateral line n. Zoology in fishes (and some aquatic amphibians), a sensory system that is often visible as a longitudinal line running along each side of the body.Typically equipped with epithelial cells that detect motion and vibration in the water, the lateral line is sometimes modified to detect electrical impulses.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > fish > parts of fish > [noun] > organs of sensory perception

lateral line1740

the world > animals > amphibians > [noun] > member of (amphibian) > parts of

tarsus1676

lateral line1740

sideline1769

fat-body1868

pylangium1874

urostyle1875

supracoracoid1897

hedonic gland1901

supracleithrum1903

prepubis1931

1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling i. ix. 34 The Lateral Lines, common to all Fish, are nearer the Back than the Belly.

1870 G. Rolleston Forms Animal Life Introd. 62 The sensory organs developed in Fish, in connection with the ‘lateral line’.

1926 J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. xvii. 191 The special sense-organs for perceiving low-frequency vibrations in water which, like a herring or any other fish, it [sc. the tadpole] carries on a ‘lateral line’ along its flank.

1959 A. Hardy Fish & Fisheries ii. 24 We may not yet know all the functions of the lateral line system.

2010 Trop. Fish Feb. 53/1 The ventrolateral scutes are described as being light tan in colour interspersed with gold coloured speckling mainly around the lateral line.

lateral lithotomy n. Surgery (now chiefly historical) lithotomy performed with an initial incision on one side of the perineum; an instance of this; cf. lateral operation n.

ΚΠ

1786 J. Aitken Princ. Anat. & Physiol. I. 112 The incision in the lateral lithotomy is directed between this and the former muscle, to the membranous part of the urethra.

1870 T. Holmes Syst. Surg. (ed. 2) IV. 1059 The causes of death after lateral lithotomy are the following.

1931 Lancet 12 Dec. 1332/1 No surgeon undertook his first lateral lithotomy without anxiety, or even trepidation.

2007 L. Payne With Words & Knives iv. 88 In 1738 he [sc. William Cheselden] proudly published statistics demonstrating his success in lateral lithotomy, which he performed in under 30 seconds.

lateral malleolus n. Anatomy and Zoology a rounded process on the lateral side of the distal end of the fibula, forming the prominence of the outer aspect of the ankle; contrasted with medial malleolus n. at medial adj. and n. Compounds.

ΚΠ

1901 J. Reighard & H. S. Jennings Anat. Cat 82 The distal end [of the fibula] is expanded to form the lateral malleolus.

1998 T. McHale Casualty (BBC TV rehearsal script) (O.E.D. Archive) 13th Ser. Episode 2. 52 Sean. (Looking at an X-ray) Lateral malleolus, plus anterior rib fractures on the right.

2007 R. A. Coria in Z. Gasparini et al. Patagonian Mesozoic Reptiles ix. 249 Lateral malleolus twice the size of medial, asymmetrical distal end.

lateral meristem n. a meristem located parallel to the sides of a stem or root, responsible for the thickening of the stem or root by the addition of secondary growth.

ΚΠ

1905 I. B. Balfour tr. C. E. von Goebel Organogr. Plants II. 205 Lygodium terminale has terminal, Schizaea and Mohria have lateral meristem.

1960 K. Esau Anat. Seed Plants i. 4 The vascular cambium and the phellogen are referred to as lateral meristems because of their position parallel with the sides of stem and root.

2011 Florida Entomologist Dec. 1011/2 Terpenoids..are secondary plant metabolites..located within the cambium layers (defined as the lateral meristem including the vascular cambium and cork cambium in vascular plants).

lateral moraine n. Geology a moraine deposit along the side of a glacier (cf. terminal moraine n. at terminal adj. and n. Compounds 1).

ΚΠ

1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 239/2 The glacier progressively slipping down upon the inclined bottom of the valley, recedes from the sides, carrying part of the lateral moraine along with and upon it.

1952 J. A. Steers et al. Lake's Physical Geogr. (ed. 3) iii. x. 349 When two glaciers meet, a lateral moraine of one glacier unites with a lateral moraine of the other forming a medial moraine.

2003 R. MacFarlane Mountains of Mind (2004) viii. 246 He soon realizes that progress is best to be made away from this weird scape of icy stalactites, up on the lateral moraines of the glaciers.

lateral operation n. Surgery (now historical) = lateral lithotomy n.

ΚΠ

1725 Daily Post 2 Sept. Speedily will be publish'd, The History of Lateral Operation.

1730 A. Bower Historia Litteraria (1731) 1 No. 5. 416 The lateral Operation for the Extraction of the Stone.

1822 S. Cooper Dict. Pract. Surg. (ed. 4) 979 When a patient is to be sounded, he is usually put into a posture very similar to that adopted in the lateral operation for the stone.

1900 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 13 Jan. 63/2 At the present time, in England at least, the perineal operation has fallen into disuse, and I know that students in the London hospitals now hardly ever, if ever, see the old lateral operation performed.

2003 P. Stanley For Fear of Pain iii. 85 The lateral operation—the ‘English operation’—began by restraining the patient, often ‘tied up’ by the ankles and held by up to five assistants.

lateral pass n. American Football a side or backward pass to a teammate (cf. forward pass n. at forward adj., adv., and n. Additions).

ΚΠ

1916 N.Y. Tribune 12 Dec. 9/1 He neglected to select some good press agent as a quarterback..to distribute the lateral pass.

1925 St. Nicholas Nov. 71/2 The ball went to Barry and he swung his leg. But not until he had made a lateral pass to Larry Smythe.

1976 Whig-Standard (Kingston, Ont.) 12 Aug. 13/2 Archie Thomas..threw a lateral pass to Gordon Thom who went the rest of the distance for the winning touchdown.

2000 Times 11 Jan. 43/6 He threw a lateral pass to Kevin Dyson, the wide receiver.

lateral plate n. Embryology the thickened lateral part of the mesoderm in a vertebrate embryo.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > embryo or fetus > embryo parts > [noun] > regions

segment1826

lateral plate1859

protovertebra1869

mesomere1902

organizator1924

organizer1925

field1927

organization centre1928

inductor1929

1859 T. H. Huxley in Proc. Royal Soc. 9 450 The primitive vertebræ (Urwirbel, somatomes) first appear in the dorsal part of the embryo, as opaque portions of the substance of the primitive vertebral plates, which extend from the sides of the chorda into the lateral plate, or that thickened part of the motor layer with which the primitive vertebral plates are immediately continuous.

1914 W. E. Kellicott Outl. Chordate Devel. iv. 278 The lateral plate [of the chick] is separated into somatic and splanchnic layers by the extra-embryonic cœlom.

1964 H. W. Manner Elem. Compar. Vertebr. Embryol. ix. 150 The mesoderm..was in three distinct, potentially different, portions: a medially located somite, an intermediate mesoderm, and a lateral plate mesoderm.

2010 T. W. Sadler Langman's Med. Embryol. (ed. 11) vi. 74/1 More laterally, the mesoderm layer remains thin and is known as the lateral plate.

lateral pressure n. Mechanics and Geology pressure exerted horizontally or at right angles to a length (as in a beam or a bridge).

ΚΠ

1662 R. Boyle Def. Doctr. Spring & Weight of Air i. iv. 11 The Air being a fluid as well as a heavy body, it does not..press only against the upper part of the Finger, but pressing as much of the finger as is expos'd to it..it does by its lateral pressure on every side thrust in the Pulp of the Finger into the hole.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. iii. 26 In many places..the mass showed manifest signs of lateral pressure.

2004 C. Ng et al. Short Course Soil-struct. Engin. xvii. 198 (heading) Lateral pressure of wet concrete in diaphragm walls.

lateral raise n. Weightlifting and Bodybuilding an exercise in which a weight is raised from the side to a position no higher than the shoulder.

ΚΠ

1932 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 2 June 15/1 The veteran..then delighted the spectators with a Lateral Raise standing of 56½ lbs.

1942 Life 20 Apr. 92 (caption) Crowd watches Bradley do lateral raise with kettle bells.

1985 Backpacker May 35/1 Try the bent-arm lateral raise where..you..hoist the weights straight out from your shoulders.

2012 Men's Health Apr. 137 Move through bicep curls, lateral raises and rotator cuff exercises to get everything loosened up.

lateral root n. (in a plant) a root branching off from a larger root.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] > rootlet, fibre, or subsidiary root

string1398

by-root1578

fillet1601

taw1615

tapon1641

fibre1656

fang1664

fibril1664

rootlinga1706

lateral root1724

rootlet1783

radicle1793

radicel1819

viver1877

branch-root1884

sprangle1896

thong1927

1724 P. Miller Gardeners & Florists Dict. II. sig. Bb/2 The lateral Roots do bunch out a little.

1860 C. Dresser Unity in Variety iii. 43 A lateral root may be regarded as a bundle of fibres, and the tap-root as a bundle of lateral roots.

2005 Times 5 Nov. (Books section) 12/3 When the redwoods' roots are drowned they send up new roots vertically, which sprout new lateral roots.

lateral strength n. Mechanics strength to resist lateral forces.

ΚΠ

1754 W. Emerson Princ. Mech. viii. 117 The lateral strength of any piece of timber, in any place whose section is a rectangle; is directly as the breadth and square of the depth.

1865 B. Silliman Princ. Physics (ed. 2) ii. ii. 136 If a rectangular beam has two or three times the breadth of another, the depth and length being the same, it will have two or three times the lateral strength.

2000 What Mountain Bike Winter 75/3 Massive lateral and twist strength gives maximum precision feedback for point and shoot tracking.

lateral stress n. Mechanics and Geology stress exerted horizontally or at right angles to a length (as of a beam or a shaft).

ΚΠ

1814 R. Buchanan Ess. Shafts of Mills i. 25 There are two kinds of stress to which shafts are liable: first, lateral stress, by which they may be broken across.

1924 Jrnl. Text. Inst. 15 T. 383 The formation of dislocation marks can be ascribed to a process of twinning or gliding caused by lateral stresses in the fibre.

2010 C. Tang & J. A. Hudson Rock Failure Mechanisms xvi. 243 We can see that the lateral stress magnitude has a distinct effect on the failure mode of the tunnel.

lateral thinker n. a person who engages in lateral thinking.

ΚΠ

1967 E. de Bono Use of Lateral Thinking i. 12 Lateral thinkers tend to explore all the different ways of looking at something.

1985 New Scientist 13 June 80/2 (advt.) Candidates must..be self-motivated and good lateral thinkers.

2009 S. Everingham G. Barton ix. 139 A creative lateral thinker, Shann had the ability to come up with thirty ways of tackling an issue.

lateral thinking n. a way of thinking which seeks the solution to intractable problems through unconventional or seemingly illogical methods.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > [adjective] > using unorthodox methods

lateral thinking1966

lateral1969

1966 London Life 22 Oct. 20/3 He [sc. Dr. Edward De Bono] divides thinking into two methods. One he calls ‘vertical thinking’—that is, using the processes of logic, the traditional-historical method... The other type he calls ‘lateral thinking’, which involves disrupting an apparent sequence and arriving at the solution from another angle.

1967 E. de Bono (title) The use of lateral thinking.

1972 Observer 5 Nov. 20/6 Women have special qualities (intuition, perception, lateral thinking, or what have you) which are denied to men.

1990 Amiga Computing Dec. 64/4 It requires far more lateral thinking and puzzle solving.

2004 R. Dawkins Ancestor's Tale 167/2 A piece of lateral thinking by an individual who discovers a new and useful trick.

lateral tooth n. (a) chiefly Zoology a tooth situated at or on the side of a structure or object; (b) Conchology and Palaeontology (in the shells of some bivalve molluscs) a projection, often flattened and elongated, towards either end of the hinge plate.

ΚΠ

1764 B. Martin New & Comprehensive Syst. Math. Inst. II. vi. viii. 396 The Spring, as a Regulator, is applied in Watches, with one End fixed to the Verge of the Balance, and being coiled several Times round.., it has its other End fastened to a Part towards the Extremity of the Watch-plate, which has lateral Teeth.

1769 J. Berkenhout Outl. Nat. Hist. Great Brit. & Ireland I. 198 Cardium. Bivalve. Valves equal. Hinge with middle teeth alternate, lateral teeth remote, and let into a groove in the opposite valve.

1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. II. 106 Shell regular, inequivalve, inequilateral; a single primary tooth in each valve..no lateral teeth.

1898 A. Sedgwick Student's Text-bk. Zool. I. 401 The Heteropoda... When the tongue is protruded, the lateral teeth fly apart from one another like the limbs of a pair of forceps.

1961 J. Stubblefield Davies's Introd. Palaeontol. (ed. 3) ii. 43 In the anterior and posterior regions of the hinge-plates there are long teeth, more or less horizontal, parallel to the shell-margin—these are called (inaccurately) the lateral teeth.

1996 D. J. Long & R. E. Jones in A. P. Klimley & D. G. Ainley Great White Sharks xxvii. 300/2 Mako sharks have unserrated, long, and thin anterior teeth, and shorter lateral teeth.

2000 C. D. Michener Bees of World lxxix. 462/1 Clypeal margin with strong lateral tooth.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	lateral
释义	lateraladj.n. Brit. /ˈlat(ə)rəl/, /ˈlat(ə)rl̩/, U.S. /ˈlædərəl/, /ˈlætrəl/ Forms: late Middle English laterale, late Middle English– lateral, 1500s–1600s laterall. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin laterālis. Etymology: < classical Latin laterālis of or on the side of the body, in post-classical Latin also alongside, adjoining (from 12th cent. in British sources), of minor importance, peripheral (14th cent. in British sources) < later- , latus side (of unknown origin) + -ālis -al suffix¹. Compare Middle French, French latéral (1315), Catalan lateral (15th cent.), Spanish lateral, Portuguese lateral (1679), Italian laterale (1490). A. adj. I. General uses. 1. Of or relating to the side or sides; situated at or issuing from the side or sides (of a person or thing); towards the side, directed sideways. Also (figurative) occurring as a side issue; indirectly related. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > quality of having sides or being a side > [adjective] lateral?a1425 ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 104 Signez forsoþ of sich dislocacioun, ouer þe comon of eminence & concauite, ar laterale arcuacioun [L. arcuacio lateralis], i. crokyng or bowyng of side. c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 139 If þerbi sum oþir such lateral myscheef schulde falle. ?1562 W. Ward tr. R. Roussat Most Excellent Bk. Doctour & Astrologien Arcandam sig. Q.iiii The nostrelles crooked are ascribed to men of a good hart. The Nose tending to the laterall partes of the man..betokeneth some hurt. 1600 B. Jonson In Authorem in N. Breton Melancholike Humours facing sig. B One comming with a laterall viewe, Vnto a cunning piece wrought perspectiue, Wants facultie to make a censure true. 1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis vii. 83 Midwives..are wont to compresse the lateral parts of the Nose, that this simity of children may be the sooner abolished. 1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 287 The four lateral Arches at the two greatest Gates. 1793 J. Bell Anat. Bones, Muscles, & Joints ii. iii. 278 Besides these muscles which bend and extend the fingers, there are other smaller ones..for the lateral motions of the thumb and little finger. 1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xxxi. 261 There is produced the appearance of two persons moving in opposite directions, constituting what has been termed a lateral mirage. 1850 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire I. vii. 322 By a lateral movement they reached the banks of the river. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. xviii. 325 In virtue of the quicker central flow the lateral ice is subject to an oblique strain. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Parish Churches 23 All the main entrances, whether western or lateral. 1908 E. M. Forster Room with View x. 175 The further one descended the garden, the more glorious was this lateral view. 1957 J. Grodinsky J. Gould, Business Career ii. 28 The lateral tributary roads, except for the three most eastwardly ones, converged from north or south. 1979 P. de Man in H. Bloom Deconstruction & Crit. 44 A process that..repeats itself in the main sequences as well as in what seem to be lateral episodes. 2011 R. Reitherman Earthquakes & Engineers xi. 518 It [sc. a tower] had to withstand either a lateral wind or seismic load. 2. Existing or moving side by side; esp. (of winds) coming from the same half of the compass. Now rare.First attested in lateral-sited. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > state or position of being parallel > [adjective] concurrent1495 gemew1523 collaterala1527 parallelc1550 equidistant1570 lateral1598 non-concurring1705 the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective] > coming from same half of horizon lateral1598 1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades v. 75 As when two laterall-sited windes (the westwinde and the North) Meete at the Thracian seas blalk [read black] brest. 1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 183 Eurus on the one side, and Cæcias on the other side, being two laterall windes pertinent to the East. 1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 221 The Commons Charge and the Earls Defence run lateral and in pale each with other. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 705 Eurus and Zephir with thir lateral noise, Sirocco, and Libecchio. View more context for this quotation a1679 T. Hobbes Seven Philos. Probl. (1682) vi. 49 It must needs move the Air before it, even to the Earth, and the Earth repel it, and to make lateral Winds every way. 1825 R. Taylor Key to Knowl. Nature vi. 139 As this semicircle goes westward with the sun, the lateral winds will partake a good deal of the same direction. 1870 T. B. Butler Conc. Devel. Atmospheric Syst. iii. 68 The N.E. wind set in and blew beneath the lateral winds. 1912 Monthly Weather Rev. (U.S.) 40 541/2 The evidences of these lateral winds from the northwest and southwest are very clear. 2002 F. M. López-Morillas tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Moral Hist. of Indies iii. v.112 If a south wind is blowing, which is directly contrary, the ship cannot sail in a southerly direction, nor can it do so with the two lateral winds, which are southwest and southeast. 3. Of or relating to the recruitment or transfer of an employee into a position which is of an equivalent level to his or her current role; (also) designating such a position.Cf. sideways adj. 3, although unlike sideways, lateral is often used without pejorative connotations. ΚΠ 1941 P. E. Holden et al. Top-managem. Organization 116 They try to find a suitable promotion or arrange a lateral exchange (‘swap’) of jobs. 1978 D. J. Levinson Seasons of Man's Life xix. 306 The apparent promotion was in many respects a lateral move. 1990 W. A. W. Neilson Getting Pink Slip 6 The employer..will try to reassign the employee to a lateral position as a first preference. The second choice is to offer a downgraded position. 2002 L. A. Chappell Gendering Govt. iv. 112 The introduction of lateral recruitment enabled women to gain entry to senior bureaucratic positions without needing to work their way up through the gender-biased career service. 4. Of, relating to, or characterized by lateral thinking (cf. lateral thinking n. at Compounds). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > [adjective] > using unorthodox methods lateral thinking1966 lateral1969 1969 Irish Times 2 Dec. 11/7 The other morsel of food for lateral thought..is the possibility of reinstatement of the Harcourt street/Bray railway line. 1988 Leonardo 21 185/3 Use a lateral approach to thinking as well as a vertical one. 1990 F. Smith To Think i. 7 Some theorists have..adopted the notion that there are particular kinds of thinking that are creative and critical, while others have posited special kinds of thinking that are lateral or divergent. 2003 L. Bennett in S. Brown Moving on Up 268 She also encouraged her children to think in a lateral way: the best solution to a tricky problem is not always the most obvious one. II. Technical uses. 5. Anatomy and Zoology. Located on the side of the body or a part of the body; located to the side of (another structure); located beside or further from the median plane or midline. Frequently opposed to medial. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > positions or directions in body > [adjective] > specific rightOE lefta1200 lowera1400 furtherc1400 lateral?a1425 sinistera1500 upper1528 anterior?1541 inferior1563 superior1566 oblique1578 high1588 ascendant1611 prone1646 peripherial1653 internal1657 supine1661 peripherical1690 gawk1703 ascending1713 adducent1722 submental1722 adductory1752 subdorsal1783 syntropic18.. atlantal1803 mesiad1803 mesial1803 proximal1803 sternal1803 distal1808 peripheral1808 peripheric1818 ventripetal1819 submedial1825 anteriormostc1826 subvertebral1827 afferent1828 sinistral1828 rostral1834 interganglionic1835 submedian1836 mesian1837 haemal1839 supravaginal1844 neural1846 symmetrical1851 suprameatal1853 paraxial1861 posterial1866 hypaxial1873 postaxial1873 preaxial1873 transmedial1876 transmedian1876 mediad1878 horizontal1881 mesal1881 prosomatic1882 dextrad1883 paramedian1890 prorsal1890 ventro-dorsal1895 midsagittal1898 ventro-axial1902 ventro-posterior1903 ipsilateral1907 parasagittal1907 ventromedial1908 homolateral1910 suprasellar1912 supratemporal1975 ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 74 (MED) Wondez in þe necke, som beþ in..þe ligamentez lateralez [?c1425 Paris on þe sides; L. lateralibus]. 1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 19^v (margin) The lateral Processes of the first Vertebre. 1638 A. Read Man. Anat. Body of Man (new ed.) 522 Those which are seated betweene the head bones, and rumpe bone, are either anterior, laterall, or posterior. 1722 J. Quincy Lexicon Physico-medicum (ed. 2) 50 This Plexus reaches from one lateral Ventricle to the other, passing under the Fornix, above the third Ventricle. 1840 E. Wilson Anatomist's Vade Mecum (1842) 340 The lateral sinuses are often unequal in size. 1880 A. Günther Introd. Study of Fishes 68 The articulation with the vertebral column is effected by a pair of lateral condyles. 1913 Gray's Anat. (ed. 18) 242 Lateral to the foramen ovale is the foramen spinosum. 1965 T. J. Parker & W. A. Haswell Text-bk. Zool. (ed. 6) I. 563 In some forms, such as the Sea-hares.., the foot develops a pair of lateral lobes—the parapodia—which act as fins; and in the Pteropods..these constitute the largest part of the foot. 1972 Nature 31 Mar. 233/1 Electrodes..were placed at bilaterally symmetrical points over the left and right hemispheres,..2 mm lateral to the sagittal suture and 1 mm posterior to bregma. 2001 Y. Martel Life of Pi (2002) lxvi. 194 With large fish I aimed for the ventral area beneath their gills and their lateral fins. 6. Physics and Mechanics. Occurring, acting, or placed horizontally or at right angles to a line of motion or of strain.See also lateral pressure n., lateral strength n., lateral stress n. at Compounds. ΚΠ 1599 T. Hill Schoole of Skil i. 10 To the nether region of the same, consist the laterall motions, as wee dayly see by the blowing of the windes. 1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 175 Their motion is a laterall or sidelong motion. 1729 A. Motte tr. I. Newton Math. Princ. Nat. Philos. II. i. 7 Distinguish the motion of the body into two others, one of ascent, the other lateral. 1803 J. Wood Princ. Mech. (ed. 3) vii. 154 When the lateral motion is entirely prevented by the adhesion of the body to the plane. 1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §441. 193 We must now proceed to the method of forming lateral joints. 1962 G. S. H. Lock Introd. Exper. Stress Anal. § i. 8 In particular, experiments show that a stress is capable of producing a strain perpendicular to itself and this strain is often referred to as a lateral strain. 2003 T. L. Koglin Movable Bridge Engin. xii. 186 The centering devices may assist in resisting lateral forces during an earthquake. 7. Botany. Growing from or situated upon the side of a stem, branch, or other part of a plant, or upon a side branch; axillary (axillary adj. 2); as lateral bud, lateral flower, lateral petal, etc.See also lateral root n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > (defined by) distribution, arrangement, or position > [adjective] > at or on the side lateral1665 1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 90 There is a Vegetable which does exceedingly imitate these branches..where the main stem may be observ'd to shoot out branches, and the stems of each of these lateral branches, to send forth collateral. 1776 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. I. x. 260 Campion. The lateral flowers hanging down on every side. 1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. Families of Plants I. 5 The lateral divisions of the exterior corol. 1830 J. Lindley Introd. Nat. Syst. Bot. 216 The two carpellary leaves of which the fruit is formed are lateral, or right and left with respect to the common axis of the inflorescence. 1882 Forest & Stream 5 Jan. 449/2 Beneath the roots a lateral stem (a rhizoma) shoots out..on the end of which grows a bulb. 1907 Times 19 Oct. 15/2 On feeble lateral stems, the foxglove throws up small clusters of its purple-spotted throats. 1952 P. Mann Systematics Flowering Plants ii. 71 In Delphinium, humble bees are attracted..partly by the nectar guides in the form of yellow hairs on the front surface of the two lateral petals. 1974 Physiologia Plantarum 32 369 (heading) Effect of abscisic acid and other plant hormones on growth of apical and lateral buds of seedlings. 2005 C. Tudge Secret Life Trees xii. 307 The overall form of the aspen—lateral roots with suckers—is reminiscent of the calamite trees. 8. Medicine. Of a pathological condition: affecting one or both sides of the body or a body part; confined to one side of the body (= unilateral adj. 2b); affecting a lateral part or structure. [In quot. 1665 after post-classical Latin morbus lateralis (1513 or earlier).] ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > characteristics > [adjective] lateral1665 1665 R. Lovell Παμβοτανολογια (ed. 2) 625 Lateral disease, see Pleuresie. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Palsy The Palsy is either Universal, Lateral, or Particular... The second, call'd Hemiplegia is the same Disease with the Paraplegia; only that it affects but one Side of the Body. 1825–6 Philadelphia Jrnl. Med. & Physical Sci. 2 211 I have also detailed some pectoral complaints, which have almost always been associated with this apparent lateral disease. 1878 tr. H. W. von Ziemssen et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. XIII. 453 That form of chronic myelitis called lateral sclerosis. 1900 A. Church & F. Peterson Nerv. & Mental Dis. (ed. 2) 232 The apoplectic coma may be punctuated by Jacksonian fits, marked by conjugate deviation of head and eyes and some lateral weakness. 1925 N. Amer. Veterinarian Mar. 35 The head is sometimes drawn toward the tail on account of lateral paralysis. 1970 E. Kübler-Ross On Death & Dying (1973) ii. 16 Mr. P. was a fifty-one-year-old patient who was hospitalized with rapidly progressing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with bulbar involvement. 2004 D. R. Thompson & R. Webster Caring for Coronary Patient (ed. 2) vii. 218/1 Signs of lateral weakness, dysphasia and other features associated with a stroke may become apparent during assessment. †9. Mathematics. Of an equation: linear. Of a quantity, variable, etc.: having an exponent equal to one. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > algebra > [adjective] > relating to expressions > relating to equations algebraic1657 lateral1670 explicable1706 unreduced1762 homogeneous1815 resolvent1860 Pellian1862 equational1864 canonizant1879 variational1879 unilateral1884 non-dimensional1904 open1937 inhomogeneous1943 stiff1952 1670 J. Gregory Let. 23 Nov. in I. Newton Corr. (1959) I. 46 I can doe the same thing, but not easilie, for I tak away the second term by a lateral equation, the third by a quadratick, the fourth by a cubic, the fift by a biquadratick equation, and so forth in infinitum. a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) iv. 645 If 170 304 782 be divided..by 1250, the Quotient shall be Quadratical; and if by 6480, the Quotient shall be Lateral. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Lateral Equation (in Algebra), such an Equation as has but one Root. 1870 Spons' Dict. Engin. II. 665 Sometimes, in mathematics, an equation of the first degree is designated as a lateral equation. 10. Crystallography. Designating an axis perpendicular to the principal or vertical axis of a crystal system, or a plane through which such an axis passes; relating to or associated with such an axis or plane.The term is not generally used in reference to the cubic system (in which all axes are equivalent) or the triclinic system (in which no axes are perpendicular). ΚΠ 1816 R. Jameson Treat. External Characters Minerals (ed. 2) 102 Lateral edges..are the edges of the lateral faces of the table, so that there are eight lateral edges in a prism. 1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 207 Class g. Lateral solid angles replaced by single planes inclining on the superior edges. 1868 J. D. Dana Syst. Mineral. (ed. 5) Introd. 21 [The Hexagonal] system differs from the Tetragonal in having three equal lateral axes..instead of two; the vertical..is at right angles to the lateral. 1966 R. Webster Pract. Gemmol. (ed. 4) iii. 26 Form of a crystal... Prism faces have three or more similar faces meeting in parallel edges. These may be first order where each face cuts two lateral axes and is parallel to the vertical axis, or the second order where each face cuts only one lateral axis and is parallel to the other two. 1999 P. G. Read Gemmology (ed. 2) xvi. 193 Straight colour zoning (usually following the pattern of the lateral crystal axes) can be seen in many natural stones, including quartz, ruby, sapphire and emerald. 11. Phonetics. Involving partial closure of the air passage by placing the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth so as to allow the breath to flow on one or both sides of the point of contact; (of a consonant) formed or articulated in this way. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by manner > [adjective] > sonant > liquid > lateral lateral1867 unilateral1867 lateralized1934 1867 Jrnl. Anat. & Physiol. 1 174 The l consonants, with lateral constriction, also belong to this group. 1891 L. Soames Introd. Phonetics 34 Some persons..let the breath escape on one side only, so it seems better to call it [l] a lateral or side consonant. 1903 W. Scholle & G. Smith Elem. Phonetics 75. §148 In the articulation of ‘l’ both sides (or only one side) of the tongue form a narrow passage with the molars and side gums, hence the term lateral articulation. 1957 Ess. in Crit. 7 128 ‘Woolly’ is composed of two vowels, a semi-vowel and a voiced lateral consonant. 2003 M. Abley Spoken Here i. 10 An ‘ingressive lateral fricative’, and a ‘duplicated bilabial trill’..—consonants that are found nowhere else in the world [outside New Guinea]. 12. Designating a lateral cut gramophone record (see lateral cut adj. and n. at Compounds); relating to or involving such records. Now chiefly historical. ΘΚΠ society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > [adjective] > type of cutting by stylus hill and dale1929 lateral1942 1942 Proc. IRE 30 356/2 (heading) Frequency characteristics for lateral recording. 1958 Audio Aug. 90/3 A simple reversing switch on one of the coils will cause the pickup to reproduce either vertical or lateral records. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) IV. 240/1 Modern lateral pickups are of the crystal, ceramic, magnetic, or dynamic type. 2013 R. Kennedy Jelly Roll, Bix, & Hoagy (rev. ed.) i. 19 During the court case, Johnson had stayed on good terms with Berliner and paid royalties for Berliner's patent for lateral disc recording. B. n. 1. a. A lateral part, member, or object; something situated at or issuing from the side; esp. a side road or channel.In quot. 1594: = lateral branch n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > shoot, sprout, or branch > [noun] > sucker or side-shoot scourgea1382 by-sprouting1562 sucker1577 lateral1578 offset1642 spiney1649 side shoot1658 appendix1664 by-shoot1669 water sprout1688 turion1725 tiller1733 surculus1775 suckler1796 suckling1798 offshoot1814 stool1818 base shoot1835 side-tiller1903 toe1952 the world > space > relative position > quality of having sides or being a side > [noun] > something at the side lateral1578 side piece1592 flanker1631 the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > specific areas or structures > [noun] > side part lateral1578 the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > wind with reference to direction > winds from intermediate points collateral windsc1550 lateral1578 society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > minor road or side road lateral1578 by-road1673 vicinal way or road1677 side road1691 cross-road1719 branch-road1831 feeder1855 secondary road1903 feeder road1959 1578 J. Banister Hist. Man sig. Hi The neither part of ye superiour [sc. vertebra in the neck] sitteth in ye vpper part of ye inferiour, like as in a sided stoole: ij. ascendentes, and ij. descendentes, ij. transuerse or laterals, & one backwardes, beyng the spine or ridge. 1594 W. Clerke Triall of Bastardie ii. 14 His prohibition goeth beyond the prohibition of the Canons, in the laterals that be not equal. 1681 S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Anat. Brain in Five Treat. iv. 73 The passages of the Veins, destinated for the returning of the blood from thence, seem also to be disposed with a wonderful artifice. For when the anterior bosoms transfer their load into the two Laterals, which are the posterior [etc.]. 1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 298 In the Walls of these Laterals are two Hollows. 1787 Edinb. Mag. Aug. 107/2 Prof. And what are the external parts of a salt-box? Stu. One fundamental, four laterals, and one super-lateral. 1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 366 From this trunk [road] there are many laterals. 1874 J. Muir in Overland Monthly July 72/2 The right lateral of the tributary which took its rise between Red and Black mountains is a magnificent piece of ice-work. 1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 22 June 5/2 Ilissus..would not make a lateral for an irrigating ditch in Colorado. 1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze vi. 145 Neither roads nor rails would be of any use to the enemy once we had cut them, but the roads, as laterals, would be invaluable to us. 1991 Public Wks. Nov. 59/2 The Ranney intake consists of an onshore large-diameter caisson with laterals that project into the adjacent surface water supply. 2009 M. Norman & E. M. Norman Tears in Darkness xii. 319 Picking and shoveling and hauling and loading in a labyrinth of damp laterals, long diagonals, and cramped coal drifts. b. Botany. A branch, leaf, bud, etc., that grows from or is situated upon the side of a stem, root, etc.; a lateral root; a side shoot. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > (defined by) distribution, arrangement, or position > [noun] > side part lateral1727 1727 S. Hales Veg. Staticks 119 ln order to get an estimate of the length of all the roots, I took one of the main roots with its laterals, and measured and weighed them. 1778 J. Abercrombie Universal Gardener & Botanist at Trained trees This work of pruning short to obtain laterals may also be performed occasionally in summer. 1835 Genesee (Rochester, N.Y.) Farmer 16 May 155/2 By thus continually stopping the upper laterals, as often as they were produced,..the shoots acquired greater strength and size. 1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 177 Look over tomatoes, and suppress all useless laterals. 1914 F. E. Fritsch & E. J. Salisbury Introd. Study Plants vii. 88 Most commonly a single midrib is predominant and from it laterals of smaller size arise on each side. 1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. viii. 193 When ripe the fat, fruitful, terminal spikelets [of barley] are in two distinct rows up the axis, and the laterals appear as thin, almost bristle-like structures. 2006 Gardens Monthly Apr. 88/3 The fruiting laterals display the berries well. c. Zoology and Palaeontology. = lateral tooth n. at Compounds (in either sense). ΚΠ 1796 C. W. Peale Sci. & Descriptive Catal. Peale's Mus. 41 Six upper fore-teeth, hollowed within; six under, two laterals longer and lobed; canines solitary; from five to six grinders. 1851 S. P. Woodward Man. Mollusca i. 157 C[hiton] squamosus..lingual teeth 3; median small, laterals large. 1896 H. Woods Elem. Palæontol.: Invertebr. (ed. 2) 241 Some [teeth] are placed immediately under the umbo and are known as the cardinal teeth; others, termed laterals, are placed in front of and behind the umbo. 1958 J. E. Morton Molluscs x. 188 The..families are members of the order Heterodonta. The hinge teeth are well developed and important in classification, forming well-marked sets of cardinals and laterals. 2005 Horse June 72/3 The next incisor teeth along the jaw, the laterals, will erupt between three and four years of age, while the corner incisor adult teeth will come through when the horse is between the ages of four and five. †2. A lateral wind (see sense A. 2). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > wind with reference to direction windc725 lateral1635 headwind1709 1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 183 These windes..if at any time they blow up rain..then continue it by the space of a whole day... The reason of which I take to be, because (perhaps) their lateralls, not being absolutely of the same qualitie, may arise together with them, and so bring Rain. 1671 R. Bohun Disc. Wind 86 Not being able to return back against the stream..it [sc. the Tropicall Wind] must needs bee diverted toward the Poles, and sometimes produces the West, and otherwhile the Laterals, North and South West. 1704 W. Leybourn Math. Inst. 170 Now these Laterals being 16, make, together with the 8 Principals, 24; and just in the midst, between every Two Principals, there are the Eight Residual Winds, bearing the same Name with the Means they are next unto. †3. Any positive whole number. Obsolete. rare.So named owing to the fact that any such number may be represented by an equal number of dots arranged in a straight line. Cf. figural adj. 2. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > particular qualities > whole unitya1398 integer1571 integrum1594 roundnessa1654 unit1679 lateral1706 natural number1763 natural1971 1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos viii. 162 In a Series of Laterals beginning with 1. 1798 N. Vilant Elem. Math. Anal. 107 (table) Units... Laterals... Triangulars. 4. Phonetics. A lateral consonant (see sense A. 11). ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by manner > [noun] > sonant > liquid > lateral lateral1854 1854 tr. K. R. Lepsius in C. C. J. Bunsen Outl. Philos. Universal Hist. II. App. d ii. 424 (table) Laterals..ǁ ǁg ǁṅ. 1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. vi. 97 In unvoiced laterals, which occur in Welsh and in many American languages, the friction-noise of the breath-stream is more audible than in unvoiced nasals. 1992 H. J. Giegerich Eng. Phonol. ii. 29 How many different laterals, then, does English really have? 5. American Football. = lateral pass n. at Compounds. Cf. lateral v. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > actions or manoeuvres rush1857 punt-out1861 goal-kicking1871 safety1879 safety touchdown1879 scrimmage1880 rushing1882 safety touch1884 touchback1884 forward pass1890 run1890 blocking1891 signal1891 fake1893 onside kick1895 tandem-play1895 pass play1896 spiral1896 shift1901 end run1902 straight-arm1903 quarterback sneak1904 runback1905 roughing1906 Minnesota shift1910 quarterbacking1910 snap-back1910 pickoff1912 punt return1914 screen forward pass1915 screen pass1920 power play1921 sneak1921 passback1922 snap1922 defence1923 reverse1924 carry1927 lateral1927 stiff-arm1927 zone1927 zone defence1927 submarine charge1928 squib1929 block1931 pass rushing1933 safetying1933 trap play1933 end-around1934 straight-arming1934 trap1935 mousetrap1936 buttonhook1938 blitzing1940 hand-off1940 pitchout1946 slant1947 strike1947 draw play1948 shovel pass1948 bootleg1949 option1950 red dog1950 red-dogging1951 rollout1951 submarine1952 sleeper pass1954 draw1956 bomb1960 swing pass1960 pass rush1962 blitz1963 spearing1964 onsides kick1965 takeaway1967 quarterback sack1968 smash-mouth1968 veer1968 turn-over1969 bump-and-run1970 scramble1971 sack1972 nose tackle1975 nickel1979 pressure1981 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > play American football [verb (intransitive)] > actions or manoeuvres rush1873 return1884 block1889 goal1900 drive1902 interfere1920 submarine1925 lateral1927 lateral1930 pull1933 to hand off1937 shovel pass1948 bootleg1951 scramble1964 spear1964 blitz1965 convert1970 1927 Princeton Alumni Weekly 11 Nov. 206/1 The average gain on the 8 completions was less than 6 yards, showing that they were fairly well covered laterals. 1949 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 10 Oct. 13/2 The last carried 27 yards as Quarterback Ben Raimondi threw a lateral to his left to End Cotton Howell. 1974 C. I. Coombs Be Winner in Football vi. 92 You or other ballcarriers can attempt a lateral, unlike other passes, anywhere on the playing field. 1998 H. Long & J. Czarnecki Football for Dummies iii. 41 He assists the referee with calls regarding false starts and forward laterals behind the line of scrimmage. 6. Weightlifting and Bodybuilding. Chiefly in plural. Short for lateral raise n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > exercise > [noun] > specific exercises breathing1605 breather1802 arm swing1859 setting-up drill1862 grasshopper march1884 lunge1889 push-up1897 sit-up1900 pull-up1901 deep-breathing1904 bag-punching1927 press-up1928 setting-up exercise1935 pullover1936 bear crawl1937 burpee1939 knee-bend1941 leg raise1944 dip1945 uddiyana1949 squat thrust1950 lateral1954 pull-down1956 aquacise1968 step-up1973 abdominal crunch1981 power walking1982 crunch1983 gut-buster1983 stomach crunch1986 1954 Bakersfield Californian 24 Mar. The course calls for ten repetitions of the following exercises: standing presses,..bench laterals, standing laterals, curls, [etc.]. 1984 Sears Catal. 1985 (Spring-Summer) 511 You'll do bench and shoulder presses, squats, overhead pulls, curls and laterals. 1993 Flex Feb. 39/1 If I'm doing seated laterals, I'll do 75 pounds for 8 to 10. 2003 Muscle & Fitness Jan. 101/2 Isolation of the deltoid muscles using laterals and raises requires that the elbow joints be effectively removed from the movement. Compounds lateral branch n. (with reference to a family) a branch descended from a brother or sister of a person in the direct line of descent; cf. collateral adj. 4a. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinship group > stock, race, or family > [noun] > branch > collateral branch by-channel1628 offshoot1710 offset1711 lateral branch1869 1869 Putnam's Mag. Apr. 505/1 Why give us a labored history of the Halleck, Hallock, or Holyoke pedigree, with all the lateral branches? 1888 W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life & Corr. M. Cutler I. vii. 289 He has but one son, whose name is Jesse, which has been much of a family name in the lateral branches. 2002 Evening Standard (Nexis) 24 Oct. 47 Maud herself is a relative of LaMotte by some vague lateral branch of the family. lateral control n. control of side-to-side or sideways movement; (Aeronautics) control of the movement of an aircraft about its long axis or its vertical axis (in roll and in yaw respectively); a control for achieving this, such as an aileron. ΚΠ 1874 U.S. Patent 148,450 1/2 The saws..present them in the proper position to the fracturing-disks, the teeth of which..seize the bars before they have left the lateral control of the saw-blades. 1916 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2 282 Frequent accidents to stalled aeroplanes indicate that the pilot's lateral control by ailerons also becomes operative. 1936 Jrnl. Higher Educ. 7 360/1 Lack of lateral control in the movements of the left eye. 1950 Pop. Sci. Sept. 137/1 Tabs located under the nose..are connected to the craft's lateral controls. 2013 W. Johnson Rotorcraft Aeromechanics viii. 278 Longitudinal and lateral control is generally obtained using cyclic pitch to tilt the tip-path plane of the main rotor [of a helicopter]. lateral cut adj. and n. now chiefly historical (a) adj. designating gramophone records in which the undulations are cut by the side-to-side movement of the recording stylus, or equipment and techniques using this method; opposed to hill and dale at hill n. 1b; (b) n. this method of recording; a gramophone record so made. ΚΠ 1913 T. A. Edison U.S. Patent 1,078,266 1/1 My invention relates to sound boxes particularly of the type adapted for use in connection with disk records having vertically undulating grooves, although its use is not limited to that type, as it may be applied to lateral cut records. 1935 H. C. Bryson Gramophone Rec. i. 16 From 1900 onwards there existed three types of record: (a) Discs with hill and dale cut... (b) Discs with a lateral cut... (c) Wax cylinders with hill and dale cut. 1975 Hi-Fi Answers Feb. 59/2 Modulation levels..which upset it at 8 kHz (for both vertical and lateral cuts) and 18 kHz (for lateral cuts only). 2013 R. Kennedy Jelly Roll, Bix, & Hoagy (rev. ed.) i. 27 With lateral-cut recording technology securely in the public domain, smaller recording labels switched to this process. lateral flow adj. designating a simple and rapid method of screening body and other fluids for target substances that involves capillary flow of the fluid across a porous membrane containing a series of reagents (usually antibodies or antigens), typically resulting in a visible line as an end point; of, relating to, or utilizing this method.The most commonly used over-the-counter pregnancy tests are based on this method, but it is employed for wide variety of other purposes, including the diagnosis of infectious diseases. ΚΠ 1989 European Patent 0306772 A1 1 Lateral flow chromatographic binding assay device. 1997 Jrnl. Urol. 158 2098/2 A lateral flow immunoassay device using monoclonal antibodies. 2011 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 1 Aug. a3/1 Few lateral flow tests, however, have proven reliable across multiple settings and types of infection. 2021 Scotsman (Nexis) 22 Apr. Rapid lateral flow tests are for people who do not have symptoms of coronavirus but may be infected with it. lateral judge n. (also judge lateral) now historical and rare an assistant judge; = assessor n. 2. ΘΚΠ society > law > administration of justice > one who administers justice > judge > [noun] > assessor beside-sitter1340 assessorc1380 affeeror1523 lateral judge1611 co-assessor1644 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Assessoriat Th' office..of a Judge Laterall, Assistant, or Assesseur. 1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) at Judge Lateral Judge is one who assists and sits on the bench with another judge. 1806 tr. F. de Pons Voy. Eastern Part Terra Firma III. ix. 8 A gentleman of the law, who enjoys the title of associate or lateral judge of the royal estates, or finances. 1896 New Rev. June 661 In a recent criminal case, a Judge Lateral, having declared that the three accused [etc.]. 1980 J. W. Singer Singer Family Tree 169-a Son, Jerg Singer, vinedresser and lateral judge in Korb, born March 25, 1633. 2000 J. C. Laursen & J. van der Zande in K. F. Bahrdt Edict of Relig. 128 Carl Friedrich von Zepernick (1751-1839), judge lateral to the court of judicature. † lateral legate n. (also legate lateral) Obsolete (historical in later use) a papal envoy or ambassador. ΚΠ 1565 A. Nowell Reproufe f. 48 No sailyng ouer the Sea with controuersies, nor appellations to the Bishop of Rome, nor sendyng of his Legates laterall into their countries, as iudges, should bee vsed. 1866 Sat. Reader 31 Mar. 58/2 I, Gratien Florent, by the grace of God and the holy Apostolic See, bishop of Orvieto, lateral legate of his holiness our Father, Pope Innocent the Third. lateral line n. Zoology in fishes (and some aquatic amphibians), a sensory system that is often visible as a longitudinal line running along each side of the body.Typically equipped with epithelial cells that detect motion and vibration in the water, the lateral line is sometimes modified to detect electrical impulses. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > parts of fish > [noun] > organs of sensory perception lateral line1740 the world > animals > amphibians > [noun] > member of (amphibian) > parts of tarsus1676 lateral line1740 sideline1769 fat-body1868 pylangium1874 urostyle1875 supracoracoid1897 hedonic gland1901 supracleithrum1903 prepubis1931 1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling i. ix. 34 The Lateral Lines, common to all Fish, are nearer the Back than the Belly. 1870 G. Rolleston Forms Animal Life Introd. 62 The sensory organs developed in Fish, in connection with the ‘lateral line’. 1926 J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. xvii. 191 The special sense-organs for perceiving low-frequency vibrations in water which, like a herring or any other fish, it [sc. the tadpole] carries on a ‘lateral line’ along its flank. 1959 A. Hardy Fish & Fisheries ii. 24 We may not yet know all the functions of the lateral line system. 2010 Trop. Fish Feb. 53/1 The ventrolateral scutes are described as being light tan in colour interspersed with gold coloured speckling mainly around the lateral line. lateral lithotomy n. Surgery (now chiefly historical) lithotomy performed with an initial incision on one side of the perineum; an instance of this; cf. lateral operation n. ΚΠ 1786 J. Aitken Princ. Anat. & Physiol. I. 112 The incision in the lateral lithotomy is directed between this and the former muscle, to the membranous part of the urethra. 1870 T. Holmes Syst. Surg. (ed. 2) IV. 1059 The causes of death after lateral lithotomy are the following. 1931 Lancet 12 Dec. 1332/1 No surgeon undertook his first lateral lithotomy without anxiety, or even trepidation. 2007 L. Payne With Words & Knives iv. 88 In 1738 he [sc. William Cheselden] proudly published statistics demonstrating his success in lateral lithotomy, which he performed in under 30 seconds. lateral malleolus n. Anatomy and Zoology a rounded process on the lateral side of the distal end of the fibula, forming the prominence of the outer aspect of the ankle; contrasted with medial malleolus n. at medial adj. and n. Compounds. ΚΠ 1901 J. Reighard & H. S. Jennings Anat. Cat 82 The distal end [of the fibula] is expanded to form the lateral malleolus. 1998 T. McHale Casualty (BBC TV rehearsal script) (O.E.D. Archive) 13th Ser. Episode 2. 52 Sean. (Looking at an X-ray) Lateral malleolus, plus anterior rib fractures on the right. 2007 R. A. Coria in Z. Gasparini et al. Patagonian Mesozoic Reptiles ix. 249 Lateral malleolus twice the size of medial, asymmetrical distal end. lateral meristem n. a meristem located parallel to the sides of a stem or root, responsible for the thickening of the stem or root by the addition of secondary growth. ΚΠ 1905 I. B. Balfour tr. C. E. von Goebel Organogr. Plants II. 205 Lygodium terminale has terminal, Schizaea and Mohria have lateral meristem. 1960 K. Esau Anat. Seed Plants i. 4 The vascular cambium and the phellogen are referred to as lateral meristems because of their position parallel with the sides of stem and root. 2011 Florida Entomologist Dec. 1011/2 Terpenoids..are secondary plant metabolites..located within the cambium layers (defined as the lateral meristem including the vascular cambium and cork cambium in vascular plants). lateral moraine n. Geology a moraine deposit along the side of a glacier (cf. terminal moraine n. at terminal adj. and n. Compounds 1). ΚΠ 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 239/2 The glacier progressively slipping down upon the inclined bottom of the valley, recedes from the sides, carrying part of the lateral moraine along with and upon it. 1952 J. A. Steers et al. Lake's Physical Geogr. (ed. 3) iii. x. 349 When two glaciers meet, a lateral moraine of one glacier unites with a lateral moraine of the other forming a medial moraine. 2003 R. MacFarlane Mountains of Mind (2004) viii. 246 He soon realizes that progress is best to be made away from this weird scape of icy stalactites, up on the lateral moraines of the glaciers. lateral operation n. Surgery (now historical) = lateral lithotomy n. ΚΠ 1725 Daily Post 2 Sept. Speedily will be publish'd, The History of Lateral Operation. 1730 A. Bower Historia Litteraria (1731) 1 No. 5. 416 The lateral Operation for the Extraction of the Stone. 1822 S. Cooper Dict. Pract. Surg. (ed. 4) 979 When a patient is to be sounded, he is usually put into a posture very similar to that adopted in the lateral operation for the stone. 1900 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 13 Jan. 63/2 At the present time, in England at least, the perineal operation has fallen into disuse, and I know that students in the London hospitals now hardly ever, if ever, see the old lateral operation performed. 2003 P. Stanley For Fear of Pain iii. 85 The lateral operation—the ‘English operation’—began by restraining the patient, often ‘tied up’ by the ankles and held by up to five assistants. lateral pass n. American Football a side or backward pass to a teammate (cf. forward pass n. at forward adj., adv., and n. Additions). ΚΠ 1916 N.Y. Tribune 12 Dec. 9/1 He neglected to select some good press agent as a quarterback..to distribute the lateral pass. 1925 St. Nicholas Nov. 71/2 The ball went to Barry and he swung his leg. But not until he had made a lateral pass to Larry Smythe. 1976 Whig-Standard (Kingston, Ont.) 12 Aug. 13/2 Archie Thomas..threw a lateral pass to Gordon Thom who went the rest of the distance for the winning touchdown. 2000 Times 11 Jan. 43/6 He threw a lateral pass to Kevin Dyson, the wide receiver. lateral plate n. Embryology the thickened lateral part of the mesoderm in a vertebrate embryo. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > embryo or fetus > embryo parts > [noun] > regions segment1826 lateral plate1859 protovertebra1869 mesomere1902 organizator1924 organizer1925 field1927 organization centre1928 inductor1929 1859 T. H. Huxley in Proc. Royal Soc. 9 450 The primitive vertebræ (Urwirbel, somatomes) first appear in the dorsal part of the embryo, as opaque portions of the substance of the primitive vertebral plates, which extend from the sides of the chorda into the lateral plate, or that thickened part of the motor layer with which the primitive vertebral plates are immediately continuous. 1914 W. E. Kellicott Outl. Chordate Devel. iv. 278 The lateral plate [of the chick] is separated into somatic and splanchnic layers by the extra-embryonic cœlom. 1964 H. W. Manner Elem. Compar. Vertebr. Embryol. ix. 150 The mesoderm..was in three distinct, potentially different, portions: a medially located somite, an intermediate mesoderm, and a lateral plate mesoderm. 2010 T. W. Sadler Langman's Med. Embryol. (ed. 11) vi. 74/1 More laterally, the mesoderm layer remains thin and is known as the lateral plate. lateral pressure n. Mechanics and Geology pressure exerted horizontally or at right angles to a length (as in a beam or a bridge). ΚΠ 1662 R. Boyle Def. Doctr. Spring & Weight of Air i. iv. 11 The Air being a fluid as well as a heavy body, it does not..press only against the upper part of the Finger, but pressing as much of the finger as is expos'd to it..it does by its lateral pressure on every side thrust in the Pulp of the Finger into the hole. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. iii. 26 In many places..the mass showed manifest signs of lateral pressure. 2004 C. Ng et al. Short Course Soil-struct. Engin. xvii. 198 (heading) Lateral pressure of wet concrete in diaphragm walls. lateral raise n. Weightlifting and Bodybuilding an exercise in which a weight is raised from the side to a position no higher than the shoulder. ΚΠ 1932 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 2 June 15/1 The veteran..then delighted the spectators with a Lateral Raise standing of 56½ lbs. 1942 Life 20 Apr. 92 (caption) Crowd watches Bradley do lateral raise with kettle bells. 1985 Backpacker May 35/1 Try the bent-arm lateral raise where..you..hoist the weights straight out from your shoulders. 2012 Men's Health Apr. 137 Move through bicep curls, lateral raises and rotator cuff exercises to get everything loosened up. lateral root n. (in a plant) a root branching off from a larger root. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] > rootlet, fibre, or subsidiary root string1398 by-root1578 fillet1601 taw1615 tapon1641 fibre1656 fang1664 fibril1664 rootlinga1706 lateral root1724 rootlet1783 radicle1793 radicel1819 viver1877 branch-root1884 sprangle1896 thong1927 1724 P. Miller Gardeners & Florists Dict. II. sig. Bb/2 The lateral Roots do bunch out a little. 1860 C. Dresser Unity in Variety iii. 43 A lateral root may be regarded as a bundle of fibres, and the tap-root as a bundle of lateral roots. 2005 Times 5 Nov. (Books section) 12/3 When the redwoods' roots are drowned they send up new roots vertically, which sprout new lateral roots. lateral strength n. Mechanics strength to resist lateral forces. ΚΠ 1754 W. Emerson Princ. Mech. viii. 117 The lateral strength of any piece of timber, in any place whose section is a rectangle; is directly as the breadth and square of the depth. 1865 B. Silliman Princ. Physics (ed. 2) ii. ii. 136 If a rectangular beam has two or three times the breadth of another, the depth and length being the same, it will have two or three times the lateral strength. 2000 What Mountain Bike Winter 75/3 Massive lateral and twist strength gives maximum precision feedback for point and shoot tracking. lateral stress n. Mechanics and Geology stress exerted horizontally or at right angles to a length (as of a beam or a shaft). ΚΠ 1814 R. Buchanan Ess. Shafts of Mills i. 25 There are two kinds of stress to which shafts are liable: first, lateral stress, by which they may be broken across. 1924 Jrnl. Text. Inst. 15 T. 383 The formation of dislocation marks can be ascribed to a process of twinning or gliding caused by lateral stresses in the fibre. 2010 C. Tang & J. A. Hudson Rock Failure Mechanisms xvi. 243 We can see that the lateral stress magnitude has a distinct effect on the failure mode of the tunnel. lateral thinker n. a person who engages in lateral thinking. ΚΠ 1967 E. de Bono Use of Lateral Thinking i. 12 Lateral thinkers tend to explore all the different ways of looking at something. 1985 New Scientist 13 June 80/2 (advt.) Candidates must..be self-motivated and good lateral thinkers. 2009 S. Everingham G. Barton ix. 139 A creative lateral thinker, Shann had the ability to come up with thirty ways of tackling an issue. lateral thinking n. a way of thinking which seeks the solution to intractable problems through unconventional or seemingly illogical methods. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > [adjective] > using unorthodox methods lateral thinking1966 lateral1969 1966 London Life 22 Oct. 20/3 He [sc. Dr. Edward De Bono] divides thinking into two methods. One he calls ‘vertical thinking’—that is, using the processes of logic, the traditional-historical method... The other type he calls ‘lateral thinking’, which involves disrupting an apparent sequence and arriving at the solution from another angle. 1967 E. de Bono (title) The use of lateral thinking. 1972 Observer 5 Nov. 20/6 Women have special qualities (intuition, perception, lateral thinking, or what have you) which are denied to men. 1990 Amiga Computing Dec. 64/4 It requires far more lateral thinking and puzzle solving. 2004 R. Dawkins Ancestor's Tale 167/2 A piece of lateral thinking by an individual who discovers a new and useful trick. lateral tooth n. (a) chiefly Zoology a tooth situated at or on the side of a structure or object; (b) Conchology and Palaeontology (in the shells of some bivalve molluscs) a projection, often flattened and elongated, towards either end of the hinge plate. ΚΠ 1764 B. Martin New & Comprehensive Syst. Math. Inst. II. vi. viii. 396 The Spring, as a Regulator, is applied in Watches, with one End fixed to the Verge of the Balance, and being coiled several Times round.., it has its other End fastened to a Part towards the Extremity of the Watch-plate, which has lateral Teeth. 1769 J. Berkenhout Outl. Nat. Hist. Great Brit. & Ireland I. 198 Cardium. Bivalve. Valves equal. Hinge with middle teeth alternate, lateral teeth remote, and let into a groove in the opposite valve. 1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. II. 106 Shell regular, inequivalve, inequilateral; a single primary tooth in each valve..no lateral teeth. 1898 A. Sedgwick Student's Text-bk. Zool. I. 401 The Heteropoda... When the tongue is protruded, the lateral teeth fly apart from one another like the limbs of a pair of forceps. 1961 J. Stubblefield Davies's Introd. Palaeontol. (ed. 3) ii. 43 In the anterior and posterior regions of the hinge-plates there are long teeth, more or less horizontal, parallel to the shell-margin—these are called (inaccurately) the lateral teeth. 1996 D. J. Long & R. E. Jones in A. P. Klimley & D. G. Ainley Great White Sharks xxvii. 300/2 Mako sharks have unserrated, long, and thin anterior teeth, and shorter lateral teeth. 2000 C. D. Michener Bees of World lxxix. 462/1 Clypeal margin with strong lateral tooth. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022). lateralv. Brit. /ˈlat(ə)rəl/, /ˈlat(ə)rl̩/, U.S. /ˈlædər(ə)l/, /ˈlætr(ə)l/ Inflections: Present participle lateralling, (chiefly U.S.) lateraling; past tense and past participle lateralled, (chiefly U.S.) lateraled; Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: lateral adj. Etymology: < lateral adj. American Football. 1. intransitive. To make a lateral pass to a player. See lateral pass n. at lateral adj. and n. Compounds. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > play American football [verb (intransitive)] > actions or manoeuvres rush1873 return1884 block1889 goal1900 drive1902 interfere1920 submarine1925 lateral1927 lateral1930 pull1933 to hand off1937 shovel pass1948 bootleg1951 scramble1964 spear1964 blitz1965 convert1970 1930 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 16 Nov. 84 Stennett lateraled to Preston for a loss of three yards. 1952 R. Samuelsen Rose Bowl Game xv. 116 In two plays Sparling and Warburton took the ball to the 10, from which point Clark, after a spinner, lateraled to Cotton for another tally. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 18/4 He lateralled to Joe Hernandez, who ran the last 45 yards of a 59-yard touchdown play. 1996 USA Today 15 Nov. c2/1 James Willis picked off Aikman and returned the ball 14 yards before lateraling to Troy Vincent, who sprinted free. 2. transitive. To pass (the ball) backwards or to the side. Also (in extended use): to throw (an object) in the manner of a lateral pass. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > play American football [verb (transitive)] > actions to ball return1884 snap1887 drive1889 centre1895 to turn over1921 convert1932 lateral1932 snag1942 shovel pass1948 bootleg1951 squib1966 to take a (also the) knee1972 spike1976 1932 Arcadia Trib. 4 Nov. 5 As the Wild cat dove for him, Sims spun and lateraled the ball to Alexander, who stood far back of the line. 1962 K. Kesey One Flew over Cuckoo's Nest i. 84 Two of his buddies running by grab him up and lateral him into a furnace as they pass. 1988 D. O'Brien Rites of Autumn iii. 83 Sometimes a halfback..would lateral the ball back and forth a couple of times. 2003 R. F. Randall Grand Tour x. 174 The towel..splattered against Draylund who promptly lateraled the soaking cloth to the yeoman. 2011 T. W. Robins Requiem for Classic vi. 39 The ball was lateraled to the fullback, who plunged into the line of scrimmage for no gain. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.?a1425v.1930
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lateraladj.n.

Compounds

lateralv.