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Lateral shows up in all kinds of contexts. A lateral job change is one that keeps you at about the same job level and salary. A coach might have special drills to improve his players' lateral speed and agility. The British speak of "lateral thinking", thinking that grabs ideas that may not seem to be relevant but turn out to work well—what we might call "thinking outside the box". But we know lateral best from football. A lateral pass is a pass of the ball between teammates that usually goes to the side and slightly backward from the direction in which they're advancing; unlike a forward pass, a lateral may be made from any position, and any number may be made in a single play.
Synonyms
Examples of lateral in a Sentence
Nancy Adams, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024
Collecting 30 per level will commence a boss battle game — something very new that gives Mario Party the feeling of purpose, the classic gamification of busywork to make progress in an otherwise lateral game.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2024
Nate Taylor, The Athletic, 24 July 2024
His first play on offense was a 35-yard touchdown pass to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt after getting a lateral from Davison.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2024
Evan Dudley, al, 1 Nov. 2020
By all accounts, there were no orders from Bill Belichick or Matt Patricia to lateral the ball and try to create a scoring play.
—Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Dec. 2022
See all Example Sentences for lateral 
Dictionary Entries Near lateral
Cite this Entry
“Lateral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lateral. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
lateral
1 of 2 adjective
lateral
2 of 2 nounMedical Definition
lateral
adjective
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