Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary

side noun

¹ flat surface of sth thin

ADJ. flip, reverse The reverse side of the coin has a picture of a flower.

² either of the two parts of a place/object

ADJ. far, opposite, other At the other side of the room, a group of people were clustered around the fire. | near | right, wrong A car came rushing towards them on the wrong side of the road. | left-hand, right-hand the left-hand side of the page | east, west, etc.

PREP. at one/the ~ Some people were standing at one side of the room. | down one/the ~ A path leads down one side of the garden. | from ~ to ~ The cat sat with its tail twitching from side to side. | on/to one ~ (= not in the middle) She put her head to one side as she talked.

³ right/left part of your body

ADJ. left-hand, left, right-hand, right the right-hand side of the brain

PREP. down your ~ He is paralysed down his left side as a result of polio. | in the/your ~ I've got an awful pain in my side. | on your ~ I always sleep on my side because I'm not comfortable on my back.

⁴ aspect/quality of sb/sth

ADJ. positive | bad, dark, negative, ugly The scandal has shown us the ugly side of politics. | caring, creative, feminine She likes men who do not hide their feminine side. | business, commercial, financial, management, marketing, etc. I had nothing to do with the financial side of the firm.

VERB + SIDE have He's usually very kind and gentle, but he has his less positive side too. | show | hide

PREP. ~ to There are several sides to most problems.

PHRASES look on the bright side Even when things go badly, try to look on the bright side. | on the credit/debit side On the credit side, we played well, although we lost the match. | see the funny side (of sth) Fortunately, Julie saw the funny side when I spilled coffee on her.

⁵ team

ADJ. good, strong | losing, winning | away, home As the home side, they were expected to play an attacking game. | League, Test

VERB + SIDE captain | field Sussex are likely to field a strong side.