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to straddle

to straddle

19 4.4
To sit or stand with a leg on each side of something
  • verb
  • /ˈstrædəl/
translation icon : sentarse a horcajadas
  • He carefully straddled the bike to ride down the steep hill.

Or you're laying down on the bed on his back and I'm straddling him and he's from behind doing that.

Examples

  • Bertha herself, a flat-faced, manly woman, was straddling her tractor in the field.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The same boy still straddled the log to keep it steady.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Try and straddle the truck.

    From Russia with Love (1963)

  • The human body wasn't made to straddle something that big for that long.

    Wild Hogs (2007)

  • We're not gonna be able to outrun the storm unless you straddle the horse.

    Austenland (2013)

  • Walk straight forward, so you are straddling the toilet, and sit down that way.

    Blog text (8)

  • The first man is dressed in leather and straddles a Harley.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Lucia carried them around, baby legs straddling both her hips.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Straddled that greyhound and rode him into Raleigh

    This Is Elvis (1981)

  • After splitting the snake open from top to bottom, he straddled it, his knees sunk into the black dirt floor.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

to bestride
vsto straddle
1 8.8

To sit or stand with a leg on each side of something like a horse

is used without the sense of mounting or getting onto something
to spraddle
vsto straddle
  • Archaic
8.3

To sit, stand, or move with legs spread wide

focuses on a leg on each side of a thing rather than wide spacing

How Formal

to bestride
1 8.8
to straddle
19 4.4
to mount
49 3.0
to get on
37 1.0

Surface Forms

straddle infinitive
straddled past
straddled past participle
straddling present participle
straddles third person singular

Etymology

To straddle is to take a wide stride and place a leg on each side of an object, like a bicycle or a fence. So to straddle something is to sit or stand with a leg on each side of it.