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"Sides" can be used to describe positioning relative to the left or right of an object. Is there a corresponding word that has the same meaning for the top or bottom of an object?

For example, if I say "side padding," it's pretty clear that I'm talking about padding from the left and right edge. I want to be able to say the same thing about the top and bottom edge.

tchrist
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  • http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/58950/right-and-left-and-top-and-bottom is related, but not a dupe as it talks about personal orientation rather than that of an object from an external point of view. – coleopterist Sep 28 '12 at 04:57
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    I think you are stuck with "top and bottom padding". You might be able to talk about "horizontal faces" but that might not be applicable to all objects or orientations and it certainly doesn't work well as "horizontal face padding". – Jim Sep 28 '12 at 05:27
  • I'm not sure if you will get an appropriate answer here in case you are working on the CSS of a web-page. Just a thought. Otherwise, @Varagrawal has made a point in his answer. Think about "perpendicular padding". – Fr0zenFyr Sep 28 '12 at 06:01
  • Reminds me of an interview with the TimeCube guy. "How can you call the top and bottom sides of a cube sides?" – RegDwigнt Sep 28 '12 at 14:10
  • @Fr0zenFyr: Actually I'm working on iOS, but I get your point. :) –  Sep 28 '12 at 20:18
  • Say what you mean: top and bottom padding. – Fuhrmanator Oct 17 '12 at 14:18
  • Seems inconsistent to use "side padding" and "top and bottom padding." I settled on "vertical padding" and "horizontal padding." –  Oct 17 '12 at 19:13
  • One field that draws clear distinctions in orientations is anatomy. But even there the terms used are multi-word, for example superior-inferior for top and bottom; dextro-sinistro for the sides; dorso-ventral for the front and back. See WIkipedia – Al Maki Jul 09 '17 at 14:46

2 Answers2

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A box has sides, and it has ends.

But saying top and bottom doesn’t seem so onerous. English is versatile like that.

tchrist
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I believe you can use the phrase "Vertical padding" to analogize the meaning with respect to top and bottom.

Another way to think about it is that the padding on the side can be referenced as Lateral padding, so you could even use "Non-lateral padding" as a reference.

VarunAgrawal
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    If I saw "vertical padding" I would think of padding that was oriented vertically. – Jim Sep 28 '12 at 05:28
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    So it does make sense right, according to the context of the question? – VarunAgrawal Sep 28 '12 at 05:31
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    No, it doesn't. Vertical padding would be padding affixed to the sides of an object. – Jim Sep 28 '12 at 06:01
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    I am speaking here, about physical objects with spongy material on the sides. IF we are talking about web pages and extra space at the top and bottom of a table or cell in a table, then that's a completely different thing. – Jim Sep 28 '12 at 06:04
  • Then in that case, the padding on the sides would be called "Lateral padding". :) – VarunAgrawal Sep 28 '12 at 06:14
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    Since there is an alignment for TDs called "valign" (Verticle Align) that accepts positions "Top","Bottom" or "Middle", then I think that "Verticle Padding" makes sence in this context if you mean padding-top and padding-bottom. – TecBrat Sep 28 '12 at 12:43
  • This is pretty much what I was looking for. Not sure why it didn't dawn on me. To be consistent, I'll use "vertical padding" and "horizontal padding". –  Sep 28 '12 at 20:20