bilateral
adjective
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Since the prefix bi- means "two" in Latin, bilateral means essentially "two-sided". In the days when there were two superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union regularly engaged in bilateral arms negotiations; such negotiations are much less common today. Sometimes bilateral refers to two sides of the same thing. A bilateral hip replacement, for instance, replaces both hip bones in the same operation. And bilateral symmetry (a term often used by biologists) refers to the fact that, in many organisms (such as humans), the left side is basically the mirror image of the right side.
Examples of bilateral in a Sentence
Taylor Luck, Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2025
The president told reporters on Thursday that China has been in regular contact with the White House to hash out an end to the ever-escalating tariff war disrupting bilateral trade.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 18 Apr. 2025
President Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will hold a bilateral meeting at the White House Thursday afternoon amid a brewing global trade war.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 17 Apr. 2025
Munn was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer in April 2023.
—Marc Malkin, Variety, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bilateral
Cite this Entry
“Bilateral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bilateral. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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