bestride
/bɪˈstɹaɪd/ verb
Forms bestrides bestriding bestrode bestridden bestrid
- verb (transitive) To be astride something, to stand over or sit on with legs on either side, especially to sit on a horse.
- verb (transitive) To stride over, or across.
- verb (transitive, figuratively) To dominate.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English bestriden, from Old English bestrīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *bistrīdan; equivalent to be- + stride. Compare Dutch bestrijden, German bestreiten.
Webster’s 1913
- verb 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.
- verb To step over; to stride over or across; as, to bestride a threshold.
Etymology [AS. bestridan; pref. be- + stridan to stride.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bestride”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details