Ride — Defs

01 v. i. To be carried on the back of an animal, as a horse.

imp. Rode; p. p. Ridden; p. pr. & vb. n. Riding

1.
To be carried on the back of an animal, as a horse.archaic
“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.
““Will you ride over or drive?” said Lord Willowby to his quest, after breakfast that morning.” — W. Black.

Phrases & compounds

To ride easy — to lie at anchor without violent pitching or straining at the cables.

To ride hard — to pitch violently.

To ride out — To go upon a military expedition.

To ride to hounds — to ride behind, and near to, the hounds in hunting.

Syn. Drive.

-- 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.

02 v. t. To sit on, so as to be carried; as, to ride a horse; to ride a bicycle.

1.
To sit on, so as to be carried; as, to ride a horse; to ride a bicycle.
“[They] rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the air In whirlwind.” — Milton.
2.
To manage insolently at will; to domineer over.
“The nobility could no longer endure to be ridden by bakers, cobblers, and brewers.” — Swift.
3.
To convey, as by riding; to make or do by riding.
“Tue only men that safe can ride Mine errands on the Scottish side.” — Sir W. Scott.
4.
To overlap (each other); -- said of bones or fractured fragments.(Surg.)

Phrases & compounds

To ride a hobby — to have some favorite occupation or subject of talk.

To ride and tie — to take turn with another in labor and rest; -- from the expedient adopted by two persons with one horse, one of whom rides the animal a certain distance, and then ties him for the use of the other, who is coming up on foot.

To ride down — To ride over; to trample down in riding; to overthrow by riding against; as, to ride down an enemy

To ride out — to keep safe afloat during (a storm) while riding at anchor or when hove to on the open sea; as, to ride out the gale.

03 n. The act of riding; an excursion on horseback or in a vehicle.

1.
The act of riding; an excursion on horseback or in a vehicle.
2.
A saddle horse.[Prov. Eng.]
3.
A road or avenue cut in a wood, or through grounds, to be used as a place for riding; a riding.