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ride

(rīd)

v. rode (rōd), rid·den (rĭdn), rid·ing, rides

v.intr.

a. To be carried or conveyed, as in a vehicle or on horseback.

b. Sports To participate in a board sport such as snowboarding.

2. To travel over a surface: This car rides well.

3. To move by way of an intangible force or impetus; move as if on water: The President rode into office on a tide of discontent.

4. Nautical To lie at anchor: battleships riding at the mouth of the estuary.

5. To seem to float: The moon was riding among the clouds.

6. To be sustained or supported on a pivot, axle, or other point.

7. To be contingent; depend: The final outcome rides on the results of the election.

8. To continue without interference: Let the matter ride.

9. To work or move from the proper place, especially on the body: pants that ride up.

v.tr.

a. To sit on and control the movement of: rode a motorcycle to town; ride a horse to the village.

b. Sports To glide or move while standing on or having one's feet attached to (a board, such as a snowboard).

2. To travel over, along, or through: ride the highways.

3. To be supported or carried on: a swimmer riding the waves.

4. To take part in or do by riding: He rode his last race.

5. To cause to ride, especially to cause to be carried: The police rode him down to the station.

6. Sports To control (an opponent) in wrestling, usually by holding the opponent down.

7. Nautical To keep (a vessel) at anchor.

8. Informal

a. To tease or ridicule.

b. To harass with persistent carping and criticism.

9. To keep partially engaged by slightly depressing a pedal with the foot: Don't ride the clutch or the brakes.

1. The act or an instance of riding, as in a vehicle or on an animal.

2. A path made for riding on horseback, especially through woodlands.

3. A device, such as one at an amusement park, that one rides for pleasure or excitement.

4. A means of transportation: waiting for her ride to come.

Phrasal Verb:

ride out

To survive or outlast: rode out the storm.

Idioms:

ride for a fall

To court danger or disaster.

ride herd on

To keep watch or control over.

ride high

To experience success.

ride shotgun

1. To guard a person or thing while in transit.

2. Slang To ride in the front passenger seat of a car or truck.

take for a ride Slang

1. To deceive or swindle: an author who tried to take his publisher for a ride.

2. To transport to a place and kill.

[Middle English riden, from Old English rīdan; see reidh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

rida·ble, ridea·ble adj.

Ride

(rīd), Sally Kristen 1951–2012.

American astronaut who in 1983 became the first US woman to enter outer space.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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