Meaning & use
siding
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Meanings
noununcountableAmerican
The material, such as wood, vinyl or metal strips, that covers the outer walls of a building.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: new siding, vinyl siding.
Patterns
- siding on something
- replace the siding
They painted the wood siding bright blue.
Vinyl siding needs very little care.
Hail damaged the siding on the north wall.
nouncountableBritish
A short railway track beside the main line, where trains or wagons can be stored or wait.
Grammar: A normal countable noun: a siding, two sidings.
Patterns
- on a siding
- siding for something
The empty carriages waited on a siding.
A freight wagon had been left in the siding for weeks.
The old station has a siding for storing engines.
noununcountablerare
The act of taking someone's side in an argument; here from side with.
Grammar: Rare and mostly appears in the phrase siding with.
Patterns
- siding with someone
His siding with the manager upset the staff.
Her siding against her sister surprised everyone.
The judge's siding with the plaintiff was no surprise.
Word forms
| plural | sidings |
|---|
Common combinations
- vinyl siding
- The house has white vinyl siding.
- wood siding
- Wood siding needs painting every few years.
- replace the siding
- We plan to replace the siding in spring.
- railway siding
- The train was shunted into a railway siding.
- siding with someone
- He was criticized for siding with the owners.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cladding
- This is the usual British word for outer wall covering and can include stone or metal.
- weatherboarding
- This is the British word for overlapping wooden boards, so it is narrower.
- spur
- For railways, this is a short branch track, but siding usually means a place to park rolling stock.
- shed
- This is a building, not a covering.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: siding or sighting?
siding vs sighting
Sighting is seeing something, and is pronounced differently.
Practice
Which context fits siding on a house?
Choose one answer.
Siding covers a building's outer walls, so replacing damaged siding on a wall makes sense. The other options do not match.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “siding”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.