Definition of "aside"

But soft! but soft! aside: here comes the king.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i]

[…] and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 2 Kings 4:4

The storm rush'd in, and Arcite stood aghast; / The flames were blown aside, yet shone they bright, / Fann'd by the wind, and gave a ruffled light.

1700, John Dryden, Palamon and Arcite, book 3, translation of The Knight's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer

Here was my chance. I took the old man aside, and two or three glasses of Old Crow launched him into reminiscence.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.

An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.

1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part I, London: Collins

Her figure was slight; but the cruel accident—a fall in her childhood, which had laid the foundation of her ill health—had made her a little aside, and caused a degree of lameness, which rendered it difficult for her to move without assistance.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Difficulties”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 123

But musical ancestry aside, the influence to which [Justin] Bieber is most beholden is the current trends in pop music, which means Believe is loaded up with EDM [electronic dance music] accouterments, seeking a comfortable middle ground where Bieber’s impressively refined pop-R&B croon can rub up on techno blasts and garish dubstep drops (and occasionally grind on some AutoTune, not necessarily because it needs it, but because a certain amount of robo-voice is expected these days).

2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 6 August 2020

All scandals aside, Jewish establishment donors and leaders obsessed not only with Jewish continuity but the right kind of continuity—ardently pro-Israel children of two Jewish parents—have failed on their own terms.

2019 August 7, Marissa Brostoff, Noah Kulwin, “The Right Kind of Continuity”, in Jewish Currents‎

This, then, is what we have done up to now in this book. (As I have been doing right along) may I make an aside? (An aside is a part in an old-time play or movie in which an actor steps out of character to say something to the audience of a semi-private or semi-confidential nature about the play.) I am confounded, and somewhat appalled when I read over the scholarly works referred to

2004 Ophiel, The Art and Practice of Caballa Magic, page 130

In addition, an analogy was only classified as significant if it appeared to be part of a serious attempt to generate or evaluate a solution, and as nonsignificant if it was simply mentioned as an aside or commentary. As an example of a nonsignificant analogy, one subject was reminded of another problem he had seen involving the deflection of piano strings of different lengths, but apparently mentioned this as an aside without the intention of applying findings back to the spring problem.

2008, John Clement, Creative Model Construction in Scientists and Students: The Role of Imagery, Analogy, and Mental Simulation‎, page 36

As an aside, and for consideration, the great religions of the world seem to be jealously guarded, run and administered by the men-folk.

2010, Alexander Barrie, Alexander's Guide to Harmonising Gender Discordance: The Forgotten but Complementary Division Between the Masculine & the Feminine Phenomenon in Divergent Realms of Life‎, page 17