roundabout vs sidelong

roundabout

adj
  • Indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary. 

  • Encircling; enveloping; comprehensive. 

noun
  • A horizontal wheel which rotates around a central axis when pushed and on which children ride, often found in parks as a children's play apparatus. 

  • A fairground carousel. 

  • A detour. 

  • A short, close-fitting coat or jacket worn by men or boys, especially in the 19th century. 

  • A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island. 

verb
  • To play on a roundabout (carousel) 

  • To travel round roundabouts 

  • To talk in a roundabout, indirect manner 

sidelong

adj
  • Indirect; suggestive; not straightforward. 

  • Slanting or sloping; oblique. 

  • Directed to the side; sideways. 

  • Along the side of something. 

adv
  • obliquely 

  • Towards the side; sideways. 

How often have the words roundabout and sidelong occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )