to ride herd on
1
8.9
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
supervisar
- The executive was hired to ride herd on the various departments and streamline company operations.
- try to ride herd on
Examples
-
In his role as a teacher, he needs to ride herd on the students to keep them focused during class.
-
A majority of the Senate could ride herd on a rogue Judiciary Committee chair who refused to hold a hearing on some nominee; it can't do so with respect to a filibuster.
Academic text (2003) -
She's been riding herd on you for two years now.
-
The main point of the job, it turned out, was to ride herd on the drones to keep them from blundering into each other on turns.
Fiction book (1994) -
Although the attorney general defends the cases in court, Brunner has hired an outside lawyer to manage the mess and ride herd on the fees.
Academic text (2008) -
Every summer, her courageous mother would pack the station wagon and bravely set forth to the summer house, where she would ride herd on three energetic kids for most of the summer.
Fiction book (2002) -
He recruits kids that might have a temptation to stray a little, and he rides herd on them," Hall said.
Blog text (3) -
As the project manager, she had to ride herd on the entire team to ensure they met their deadlines.
Synonyms
221
3.9
To watch and direct other people's work
189
3.5
Watch and guide people doing tasks to keep the work correct and safe
22
3.6
To move a group of people or animals to a place by guiding them
1
8.8
To sit on a horse and guide a group of cows
1
9.3
To try to manage people or situations that are hard to control
Antonyms
How Close
17
6.3
- Informal
1
8.9
189
3.5
627
3.5
619
2.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'ride' and 'herd' evoke the image of controlling animals, so a learner who knows the words could plausibly infer a metaphorical sense of managing or controlling people. However, the idiomatic ranching-derived construction and the specific nuance 'supervise very closely' are not fully predictable from the parts alone, making the expression only partially transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
The phrase ride herd on comes from work with cows: a rider would ride beside a herd to keep the animals moving and under control. So to ride herd on someone today means to watch and manage them very closely, 'to supervise' them carefully.