Adjacent Words

Bestride definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BESTRI'DE, v.t. pret.bestrid; pp. bestrid, bestridden. [be and stride.]
1. To stride over; to stand or sit with any thing between the legs, or with the legs extended across; as, to bestride the world, like a colossus; to bestride a horse.
2. To step over; as, to bestride a threshold.
Bestriding sometimes includes riding, or defending, as Johnson remarks; but the particular purposes to the act, which depend on the circumstances of the case, can hardly be reduced to definition.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: get up on the back of; "mount a horse" [syn: hop on, mount, mount up, get on, jump on, climb on, bestride] [ant: get off, hop out]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (bestrode; bestridden; bestriding) Date: before 12th century 1. to ride, sit, or stand astride ; straddle 2. to tower over ; dominate <the bloated bureaucracy that bestrides us all — Edward Ney> 3. archaic to stride across

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (past bestrode; past part. bestridden) 1 sit astride on. 2 stand astride over. Etymology: OE bestridan

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bestride Be*stride", v. t. [imp. Bestrode, (Obs. or R.) Bestrid; p. p. Bestridden, Bestrid, Bestrode; p. pr. & vb. n. Bestriding.] [AS. bestr[=i]dan; pref. be- + str[=i]dan to stride.] 1. To stand or sit with anything between the legs, or with the legs astride; to stand over That horse that thou so often hast bestrid. --Shak. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus. --Shak. 2. To step over; to stride over or across; as, to bestride a threshold.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(bestrides, bestriding, bestrode, bestridden) To bestride something means to be the most powerful and important person or thing in it. (LITERARY) America's media companies bestride the globe. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Straddle, stride over. 2. Ride astraddle upon. 3. Bespan, arch over. 4. Overrule, rule over, dominate, overmaster, control, weigh upon, overawe.

Moby Thesaurus

abut on, arch over, back, be based on, bear on, bestraddle, board, bridge, bypass, clear, climb on, command, cross, dictate, dominate, extend over, ford, get ahead of, get in, get on, go aboard, go across, go by, go on board, hang over, have the ascendancy, hop in, imbricate, jump in, jut, lap, lap over, lean on, lie on, lie over, look down upon, master, mount, outtop, overarch, overhang, overlap, overlie, overlook, override, overshadow, overstride, overtop, pass, pass by, pass over, perch, pile in, play first fiddle, predominate, preponderate, prevail, rely on, repose on, rest on, ride, rise above, rule the roost, shingle, shoot ahead of, sit on, span, stand on, step over, straddle, stride, surmount, take the lead, top, tower above, tower over, twist, wear the pants