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Glite Dictionary
astride

astride

9 6.1
Sitting or standing with one leg on each side of something like a horse
  • adverb
  • /əˈstraɪd/
: a horcajadas
  • They wore sombreros and sat astride sad-looking burros.
  • ride astride
  • sit astride
  • stand astride

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame with conquering limbs astride from land to land.

Examples

  • I saw that three people rode astride, one sandwiched between the other two.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • I had thought I was the weariest man there, having jogged while they rode astride.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Which do you ride, sidesaddle or astride?

    Rebecca (1940)

  • "There are people riding them!" Lenora ran toward a young man sitting astride one of the ponies.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The cowboy sat astride his horse, ready to ride into the sunset.

  • She learned to ride astride for better balance and control over the bike.

  • The knight was astride his steed, preparing for the jousting tournament.

Synonyms

astraddle
vsastride
1 9.9

To sit with one leg on each side of something

has identical meaning but differs as an alternate word form

Surface Forms

astride positive

Morphology

astride = stride (semi-transparent) = a + stride

The spatial meaning follows the locative 'a-' + 'stride' structure, but the prefix 'a-' is archaic/non-productive and may not be obvious to learners.

Etymology

Astride comes from the old part a- meaning 'on' or 'in' and the word stride meaning 'a long step'. So to sit or stand astride is like taking a long step over something, with one leg on each side.