beside

[ bih-sahyd ]

preposition

1. by or at the side of; near:

   Sit down beside me.

2. compared with:

   Beside him other writers seem amateurish.

3. apart from; not connected with:

   beside the point; beside the question.

4. besides ( defs 4, 5 ).

adverb

1. along the side of something:

   The family rode in the carriage, and the dog ran along beside.

2. besides ( def 2 ).

beside

/ bɪˈsaɪd /

preposition

1. next to; at, by, or to the side of
2. as compared with
3. away from; wide of

   beside the point

4. archaic.
   besides
5. beside oneself
   postpositiveoften foll bywith overwhelmed; overwrought

   beside oneself with grief

adverb

1. at, by, to, or along the side of something or someone

Confusables Note

For the prepositional meanings “over and above, in addition to” and “except” besides is preferred, especially in edited writing: Besides these honors he received a sum of money. We heard no other sound besides the breaking surf. However, beside sometimes occurs with these meanings as well.

Word History and Origins

Origin of beside¹

before 1000; Middle English; earlier bi-siden, Old English bī sīdan, be sīdan; be-, side ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of beside¹

Old English be sīdan ; see by , side

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. beside oneself, almost out of one's senses from a strong emotion, as from joy, delight, anger, fear, or grief:

   He was beside himself with rage when the train left without him.

Example Sentences

The farmers' demonstration was best summed up in two images: real tractors being driven by farmers around Parliament Square, and beside them a collection of toy tractors being peddled around by their children.

From BBC

When the door opened, the dog, Belle, sniffed politely before trotting deeper into the house, neon-green-painted nails flashing, to pause briefly beside her owner: Eric Vetro, perhaps the leading vocal teacher and trainer of bold-faced names on stage and screen, including several of the leads in the upcoming film adaptation of “Wicked.”

From Los Angeles Times

As Yulia Navalnaya was whisked away by police, for security, the crowd gathered beside a memorial for those killed in Ukraine - chatting quietly and singing along with a young man playing guitar.

From BBC

But thanks to Anne Rice, Louis or the red wine I was drinking out of a huge plastic tumbler at the time, it ended up being exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it and I grabbed onto that hope again both figuratively and literally, as it was loudly snoring on the couch beside me.

From Salon

I can know what it’s like for me to see a red wheelbarrow, as in William Carlos Williams’ famous poem in which, “so much depends/upon//a red wheel/barrow//glazed with rain/water//beside the white/chickens.”

From Salon