sideboard
Americannoun
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a piece of furniture, as in a dining room, often with shelves, drawers, etc., for holding articles of table service.
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Slang. sideboards, side whiskers.
noun
Etymology
Origin of sideboard
Compare meaning
How does sideboard compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A sideboard is a piece of furniture that can be used for storing tableware and table linens, or for serving platters of food. That flat-topped cabinet in your dining room with a drawer full of cloth napkins? That's a sideboard. Another word for a sideboard is a buffet. Not every dining room has one, but if your house has space, a sideboard can be a handy place to display your prettiest serving dishes or set out food at Thanksgiving so your guests can serve themselves. Sideboard gets its name from its traditional place, at one side of a dining room. This piece of furniture became popular in wealthy 18th and 19th century households.
Vocabulary lists containing sideboard
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A massive Ruhlmann sideboard, first made in 1920, is inlaid with an ivory marquetry pattern that suggests—to me, least—soap bubbles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
Both of the babies were born at home and stored in a sideboard drawer before being collected for the cemetery.
From BBC • Jul. 23, 2024
But as so often happens, a tipple that initially made matrons clutch their pearls quickly became a regular feature on the society sideboard, and this John Collins-Tom Collins became a classic.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 6, 2023
He specializes in restoring midcentury items, such as a sideboard by the Danish designer Ib Kofod-Larsen and a dressing table by the British design company Archie Shine.
From New York Times • Jul. 12, 2023
Even though I tiptoe, the dishes in the sideboard jangle, the floorboards groan.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
