sidestep definitions

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a step to one side (as in boxing or dancing) v
1: avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully" [syn: hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep]

Merriam Webster's

Date: 1900 transitive verb 1. bypass, evade <sidestep a question> 2. to move out of the way of ; avoid <sidestep a blow> intransitive verb 1. to take a side step 2. to avoid an issue or decision • sidestepper noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. a step taken sideways. --v.tr. (-stepped, -stepping) 1 esp. Football avoid (esp. a tackle) by stepping sideways. 2 evade. Derivatives: sidestepper n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

also side-step(sidesteps, sidestepping, sidestepped) 1. If you sidestep a problem, you avoid discussing it or dealing with it. Rarely, if ever, does he sidestep a question... He was trying to sidestep responsibility. = avoid VERB: V n, V n 2. If you sidestep, you step sideways in order to avoid something or someone that is coming towards you or going to hit you. As I sidestepped, the bottle hit me on the left hip... He made a grab for her but she sidestepped him. VERB: V, V n

Moby Thesaurus

about the bush, around the bush, avert, avoid, back and fill, bear off, beat about, beat around, beg the question, bicker, blench, blink, boggle, burke, bypass, cavil, choplogic, circumvent, cringe, dodge, draw aside, draw back, duck, ease off, edge, edge off, equivocate, evade, evade the issue, fade, fall back, fence, flinch, fly off, gee, glance, glance off, go crabwise, go off, go sideways, hang back, haw, head off, hedge, hem and haw, hum and haw, jib, lateral, lateralize, make leeway, make way for, mince the truth, mince words, move aside, mystify, nitpick, obscure, palter, parry, pick nits, prevaricate, pull away, pull back, pussyfoot, put off, quail, quibble, recoil, reel back, retreat, sheer off, shift, shift off, shirk, shove aside, shrink, shrink back, shuffle, shun, shunt, shy, shy away, shy off, side, sideslip, sidetrack, sidle, skew, skid, skirt, split hairs, start aside, start back, steer clear of, step aside, swerve, switch, tergiversate, turn aside, turn away, turn back, veer, veer off, waffle, ward off, weasel, weasel out, wince