Ride \Ride\, v. i. [imp. Rode (r[=o]d) (Rid [r[i^]d],
archaic); p. p. Ridden(Rid, archaic); p. pr. & vb. n.
Riding.] [AS. r[imac]dan; akin to LG. riden, D. rijden, G.
reiten, OHG. r[imac]tan, Icel. r[imac][eth]a, Sw. rida, Dan.
ride; cf. L. raeda a carriage, which is from a Celtic word.
Cf. Road.]
1. To be carried on the back of an animal, as a horse.
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To-morrow, when ye riden by the way. --Chaucer.
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Let your master ride on before, and do you gallop
after him. --Swift.
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2. To be borne in a carriage; as, to ride in a coach, in a
car, and the like. See Synonym, below.
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The richest inhabitants exhibited their wealth, not
by riding in gilden carriages, but by walking the
streets with trains of servants. --Macaulay.
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3. To be borne or in a fluid; to float; to lie.
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Men once walked where ships at anchor ride.
--Dryden.
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4. To be supported in motion; to rest.
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Strong as the exletree
On which heaven rides. --Shak.
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On whose foolish honesty
My practices ride easy! --Shak.
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5. To manage a horse, as an equestrian.
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He rode, he fenced, he moved with graceful ease.
--Dryden.
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6. To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle;
as, a horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast.
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To ride easy (Naut.), to lie at anchor without violent
pitching or straining at the cables.
To ride hard (Naut.), to pitch violently.
To ride out.
(a) To go upon a military expedition. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
(b) To ride in the open air. [Colloq.]
To ride to hounds, to ride behind, and near to, the hounds
in hunting.
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Syn: Drive.
Usage: Ride, Drive. Ride originally meant (and is so used
throughout the English Bible) to be carried on
horseback or in a vehicle of any kind. At present in
England, drive is the word applied in most cases to
progress in a carriage; as, a drive around the park,
etc.; while ride is appropriated to progress on a
horse. Johnson seems to sanction this distinction by
giving "to travel on horseback" as the leading sense
of ride; though he adds "to travel in a vehicle" as a
secondary sense. This latter use of the word still
occurs to some extent; as, the queen rides to
Parliament in her coach of state; to ride in an
omnibus.
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"Will you ride over or drive?" said Lord
Willowby to his quest, after breakfast that
morning. --W. Black.
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