sidestreamn.adj.
/ˈsʌɪdstriːm/, U.S. /ˈsaɪdˌstrim/ A. n.
1. Usually as two words or with hyphen. A tributary stream or subsidiary current. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > tributary > [noun]
succour1596
creek1622
kill1669
sidestream1715
feeder1795
tribute-river1820
tributary1822
affluent1829
confluent1849
sub-river1849
influent1859
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > current > [noun] > subsidiary
sidestream1715
back channel1744
subgyre1966
1715 E. Barlow Meteorol. Ess. ii. v. 186 The Side Streams, sometimes exceed the speed of the Middle Current.
1793 R. Mylne Rep. Surv. Thames improving Navigation 27 Both the side Streams should be shut up, with low planked Weirs.
1868 Law Rep.: Queen's Bench 3 289 In this side-stream..the said salmon-hutch or hutches are situated.
1895 Speaker 13 July 51/2 We cannot, or rather we ought not, to escape from the general European movement into a side-stream.
1939 John o' London's Weekly 9 June (Suppl.) p. ii/2 The cliffs of Norfolk and Suffolk are menaced by the sidestream of a tidal current that flows westwards into the Wash.
1960 Times 29 Sept. 15/7 His writings are in the stimulating side-stream of scholarly diaries.
2004 M. White Backpacking Nevada xvi. 174 You cross the river, hop across a side stream, and enter open slopes.
2. Oil Industry. A fraction drawn off at an intermediate level in a fractionating column; = sidecut n. 2.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > distilled or refined mineral oils > fraction drawn off at intermediate tray
sidestream1928
sidecut1931
1928 Refiner & Nat. Gasoline Manufacturer Oct. 65 A side stream of varnish makers and painters naphtha is taken from the next higher series of bubble plates.
1973 R. Priestley in G. D. Hobson Mod. Petroleum Technol. (ed. 4) viii. 271 Products of a volatility intermediate between the overhead and bottoms products are withdrawn as sidestreams.
2007 New Scientist 7 July 31/1 Most corn ethanol refineries make use of their sidestreams to generate animal feed.
3. A stream of smoke emitted by a cigarette, cigar, etc., which passes into the surrounding air rather than being directly inhaled by the smoker. Cf. mainstream n. 3.
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1935 Jrnl. Agric. Res. 51 274 Cigarettes with a moisture content of 11.13 percent contained more nicotine in the side stream than in the main stream.
1945 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 31 390 The innocent bystander receives the sidestream rich in ammonia and other alkaline substances quite irritating to the eye and nasal passages.
2005 South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 28 Jan. 3 The sidestream made up 85 per cent of the entire stream of smoke taken in by the passive smoker.
B. adj.
Designating smoke emitted by a cigarette, cigar, etc., which passes into the surrounding air rather than being directly inhaled by the smoker; of or relating to such smoke. Cf. mainstream adj. 1.
ΚΠ
1958 Science 28 Nov. 1345/3 The same polycyclic fraction was obtained from this solution and from the main- and sidestream smoke by the methods used with the previous samples.
1989 Hobart (Tasmania) Mercury (Nexis) 6 Jan. Smoking should be banned at work to protect non-smokers from inhaling cancer-inducing agents caused by side-stream and passive smoking.
2007 Times 29 June (Times2 section) 6/5 Hookahs, the petition argues, produce no sidestream smoke.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1715