Verb
take sides (third-person singular simple present takes sides, present participle taking sides, simple past took sides, past participle taken sides)
(idiomatic) To ally oneself with a given opinion, agenda or group; to support one side or viewpoint in a competition or confrontation.
I am not going to argue with you, and I am not going to take sides in this discussion.
Synonyms: pick sides, choose sides
An alliance could have meant the loss of its liberty so a prudent course of action was taken: not to take sides until it became inevitable. Source: Internet
General Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst turned down an appointment as commander in chief due to an unwillingness to take sides in the conflict. Source: Internet
Cagney, page 183 However, the emerging labor movement of the 1920s and 1930s soon forced him to take sides. Source: Internet
"Abadi has also reiterated that Iraq wants good ties with all its neighbours and was not looking to take sides between Saudi Arabia and Iran." Source: Internet
He does not refuse to take sides in this confrontation, but he is extraordinarily perceptive and eloquent on the mutuality that exists between both sides. Source: Internet
Erasmus, at the height of his literary fame, was inevitably called upon to take sides, but partisanship was foreign to his nature and his habits. Source: Internet