SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

1

besides

preposition be·sides \ bi-ˈsīdz , bē- \

Updated on: 8 Dec 2017

Definition of besides

1 : other than, except

no one besides us

Nothing besides a miracle could help them.

2 : together with

a decision that, besides being practical, is morally right

See besides defined for English-language learners

See besides defined for kids

Examples of besides in a Sentence

She wants to learn other languages besides English and French.
Besides its famous cakes, the bakery also makes delicious breads and cookies.
These salads are delicious besides being healthy.
I'm not ready to get married yet. Besides which, I enjoy living alone.

Recent Examples of besides from the Web

One of the biggest national programs (besides VA loans for veterans) is Good Neighbor Next Door from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

— susan shain, USA TODAY, "Millennial mortgage problem: Down payments and expensive cities," 9 Oct. 2017
But Hart also partnered with a number of young musicians besides the aforementioned Ball.

— joel selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, "Dead’s Hart releases long-in-making album," 2 Nov. 2017
Honda has so far kept to itself details about the Sports EV’s interior and electronics, besides noting that artificial intelligence (AI) technology is somehow involved.

— alexander stoklosa, Car and Driver, "Honda Sports EV Concept: Retro-Electric Futurism," 25 Oct. 2017
This is important—Jamie couldn't even admit it to his sister, who is the most important person in his life besides Claire.

— julie kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Outlander Season 3 Episode 6 Provided the Perfect Reunion for Jamie & Claire," 23 Oct. 2017
The shots typically contain little else besides the allergen protein, says Dr. Fineman, so the only real side effects of the shots are bad allergic reactions.

— nina bahadur, SELF, "Everything You Need to Know About Allergy Shots," 18 Oct. 2017
For Brawls, Ostrar is working with a label besides his own for the first time since 2007, when Catbird Records released Manishevitz's swan song, East to East.

— bill meyer, Chicago Reader, "Do This / Music Former Manishevitz front man Adam Busch debuts as Adam Ostrar with a lovely but uneasy new album," 12 Oct. 2017
There are other emotional symptoms of depression besides sleepiness but successive waking up during the night is common.

— lori keong, Marie Claire, "14 Sneaky Reasons You're Tired All the Time," 6 Oct. 2017
But besides the fact that hanging out in the parking lot means being really, really cold (anybody been outside this week?), our sadness is near-assuaged by a wonderful new concept called homegating.

— ava feuer, Redbook, "9 Ways to Homegate the Hell Out of the Super Bowl," 23 Jan. 2014

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'besides.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of besides

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

besides Synonyms

Synonyms

as well as, beside, beyond, over and above, along with, at that, together with

Related Words

plus; including

Near Antonyms

except (also excepting); less, minus, wanting

2

besides

adverb

Definition of besides

1 : as well : also

serves pizza, pasta, and many other foods besides

2 : moreover, furthermore

I can't go, and besides, I wouldn't go if I could.

See besides defined for English-language learners

Examples of besides in a Sentence

They serve pasta and many other foods besides.
I'm not ready to get married yet. Besides, I enjoy living alone.

Recent Examples of besides from the Web

Besides, there are a lot worse ways to spend a Saturday night than laughing and grieving together.

— alexis soloski, New York Times, "Review: ‘Me the People,’ a Spangled Satire of a President Beyond Parody," 29 June 2017
Besides, an improv talent like Miller is a terrible thing to waste.

— laura bradley, VanityFair.com, "Silicon Valley: Could Erlich Bachman Come Back?," 25 June 2017
Besides, there's no real reason children should have smartphones.

— the tylt, AL.com, "Should kids under the age of 13 be allowed to have smartphones?," 24 June 2017
Um, what?! Besides including classic SpongeBob reference die-hard fans will love, Narmak turned Bikini Bottom into a type of mini Battle Royale bloodbath.

— stacey grant, Seventeen, "This "SpongeBob SquarePants" Anime Opening Is Low-Key Nightmare Fuel," 24 Aug. 2017
At some point she was told that Rogers had died in the West Indies, but proving his death—which would have freed Deborah to remarry formally—was impractically expensive and a long shot besides.

— stephen coss, Smithsonian, "What Led Benjamin Franklin to Live Estranged From His Wife for Nearly Two Decades?," 24 Aug. 2017
Besides, lot of us wouldn't know how to live anywhere else.

— amanda walker, AL.com, "How to keep living in a county that is dying," 22 Aug. 2017
At some point she was told that Rogers had died in the West Indies, but proving his death—which would have freed Deborah to remarry formally—was impractically expensive and a long shot besides.

— stephen coss, Smithsonian, "What Led Benjamin Franklin to Live Estranged From His Wife for Nearly Two Decades?," 30 Sep. 2017
And besides, that argument misses the essence of this spectacular failure.

— jonah goldberg, Alaska Dispatch News, "Health care fight shows Washington at its worst," 23 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'besides.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of besides

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1577

See Words from the same year

besides Synonyms

Synonyms

additionally, again, also, more, either, further, furthermore, likewise, moreover, then, too, withal, yet

3

besides

adjective

Definition of besides

: else

knows a lot about pop culture but very little besides

Origin and Etymology of besides

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1597

See Words from the same year

BESIDES Defined for English Language Learners

besides

preposition

Definition of besides for English Language Learners

: other than (someone or something)
: in addition to (something)

besides

adverb

Definition of besides for English Language Learners

: as well
: in addition to what has been said

BESIDES Defined for Kids

1

besides

preposition be·sides \ bi-ˈsīdz \

Definition of besides for Students

1 : in addition to

Besides cookies, they also baked a cake.

2 : other than

There's no one here besides me.

2

besides

adverb

Definition of besides for Students

: in addition : also

We had pretzels and fruit and juice besides.

Learn More about besides

See words that rhyme with besides Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for besides Spanish Central: Translation of besides Nglish: Translation of besides for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of besides for Arabic speakers

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BROWSE DICTIONARY

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beside

besides

besiege

besiegingly

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Examples: besides in a Sentence