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[=i]dan; akin to LG. riden, D. rijden, G.
reiten, OHG. r[=i]tan, Icel. r[=i][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.
To-morrow, when ye riden by the way. --Chaucer.
Let your master ride on before, and do you gallop
after him. --Swift.
2. To be borne in a carriage; as, to ride in a coach, in a
car, and the like. See Synonym, below.
The richest inhabitants exhibited their wealth, not
by riding in gilden carriages, but by walking the
streets with trains of servants. --Macaulay.
3. To be borne or in a fluid; to float; to lie.
Men once walked where ships at anchor ride.
--Dryden.
4. To be supported in motion; to rest.
Strong as the exletree On which heaven rides.
--Shak.
On whose foolish honesty My practices ride easy!
--Shak.
5. To manage a horse, as an equestrian.
He rode, he fenced, he moved with graceful ease.
--Dryden.
6. To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle;
as, a horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast.
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.
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.
``Will you ride over or drive?'' said Lord
Willowby to his quest, after breakfast that
morning. --W. Black.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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