• Ride

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /ɹaɪd/
    • Rhymes: -aɪd

    Origin

    From Middle English riden, from Old English rīdan, from Proto-Germanic *rīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ-. Cognate with Low German rieden, Dutch rijden, German reiten, Danish ride, Swedish rida; and (from Indo-European) with Welsh rhwyddhau ("hurry").

    Full definition of ride

    Verb

    1. (intransitive, transitive) To transport oneself by sitting on and directing a horse, later also a bicycle etc. from 8th c., transitive usage from 9th c.
      • 1597, William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, part 1:Go Peto, to horse: for thou, and I,
        Haue thirtie miles to ride yet ere dinner time.
      • 1814, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park:I will take my horse early tomorrow morning and ride over to Stoke, and settle with one of them.
      • 1923, "Mrs. Rinehart", Time, 28 Apr 1923:It is characteristic of her that she hates trains, that she arrives from a rail-road journey a nervous wreck; but that she can ride a horse steadily for weeks through the most dangerous western passes.
      • 2010, The Guardian, 6 Oct 2010:The original winner Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia was relegated after riding too aggressively to storm from fourth to first on the final bend.
    2. (intransitive, transitive) To be transported in a vehicle; to travel as a passenger. from 9th c., transitive usage from 19th c.
      • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:Now, in calm weather, to swim in the open ocean is as easy to the practised swimmer as to ride in a spring-carriage ashore.
      • 1960, "Biznelcmd", Time, 20 Jun 1960:In an elaborately built, indoor San Francisco, passengers ride cable cars through quiet, hilly streets.
    3. (transitive, chiefly US, South Africa) To transport (someone) in a vehicle. from 17th c.The cab rode him downtown.
    4. (intransitive) Of a ship: to sail, to float on the water. from 10th c.
      • DrydenMen once walked where ships at anchor ride.
      • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:By noon the sea went very high indeed, and our ship rode forecastle in, shipped several seas, and we thought once or twice our anchor had come home ...
    5. (transitive, intransitive) To be carried or supported by something lightly and quickly; to travel in such a way, as though on horseback. from 10th c.The witch cackled and rode away on her broomstick.
    6. (intransitive) To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle.A horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast.
    7. (intransitive, transitive) To mount (someone) to have sex with them; to have sexual intercourse with. from 15th c.
      • c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Nun's Priest's Tale", Canterbury Tales:Womman is mannes Ioye and al his blis
        ffor whan I feele a nyght your softe syde
        Al be it that I may nat on yow ryde
        ffor þat oure perche is maad so narwe allas ....
      • 1997, Linda Howard, Son of the Morning, p. 345:She rode him hard, and he squeezed her breasts, and she came again.
    8. (transitive, colloquial) To nag or criticize; to annoy (someone). from 19th c.
      • 2002, Myra MacPherson, Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the haunted generation, p. 375:“One old boy started riding me about not having gone to Vietnam; I just spit my coffee at him, and he backed off.
    9. (intransitive) Of clothing: to gradually move (up) and crease; to ruckle. from 19th c.
      • 2008, Ann Kessel, The Guardian, 27 Jul 2008:In athletics, triple jumper Ashia Hansen advises a thong for training because, while knickers ride up, ‘thongs have nowhere left to go’: but in Beijing Britain's best are likely, she says, to forgo knickers altogether, preferring to go commando for their country under their GB kit.
    10. (intransitive) To rely, depend (on). from 20th c.
      • 2006, "Grappling with deficits", The Economist, 9 Mar 2006:With so much riding on the new payments system, it was thus a grave embarrassment to the government when the tariff for 2006-07 had to be withdrawn for amendments towards the end of February.
    11. (intransitive) Of clothing: to rest (in a given way on a part of the body). from 20th c.
      • 2001, Jenny Eliscu, "Oops...she's doing it again", The Observer, 16 Sep 2001:She's wearing inky-blue jeans that ride low enough on her hips that her aquamarine thong peeks out teasingly at the back.
    12. (lacrosse) To play defense on the defensemen or midfielders, as an attackman.
    13. To manage insolently at will; to domineer over.
      • Jonathan SwiftThe nobility could no longer endure to be ridden by bakers, cobblers, and brewers.
    14. To convey, as by riding; to make or do by riding.
      • Sir Walter ScottThe only men that safe can ride
        Mine errands on the Scottish side.
    15. (surgery) To overlap (each other); said of bones or fractured fragments.

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from ride (verb)

    Noun

    ride

    (plural rides)
    1. An instance of riding.Can I have a ride on your bike?
    2. (informal) A vehicle.That is a nice ride you are driving.
    3. An amusement ridden at a fair or amusement park.
    4. A lift given to someone in another person's vehicle.Can you give me a ride?
    5. (UK) A road or avenue cut in a wood, for riding; a bridleway or other wide country path.
    6. (UK, dialect, archaic) A saddle horse.

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from ride (noun)

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