bestride
/bɪˈstrʌɪd
/verb (past bestrode /bɪˈstrəʊd/; past participle bestridden /bɪˈstrɪd(ə)n/)
1 [with object] Stand astride over; straddle: he bestrode me, defending my prone body figurative creatures that bestride the dividing line between amphibians and reptiles...
- The word meant that our feet were opposite - opposed, that is, to those who triumphantly bestrode the world because they had the good fortune to be born in the northern hemisphere, where the maps were made.
- In this age of virtual reality, audiences expect to be impressed and they were not disappointed, especially when the Beast's two robots with their creaks and clanks timed to perfection, bestrode the stage.
- Not since the mighty man bestrode the oche had Scotland threatened to furnish such an unlikely sporting hero.
Synonyms
straddle, bestraddle, sit/stand astride;
mount, get on, get astride, hop on to
extend across, straddle, lie on both sides of;
span, bridge
1.1Sit astride on: he bestrode his horse with the easy grace of a born horseman...
- You will find that all the arguments in favor of king-craft were of this class; they always bestrode the necks of the people, not that they wanted to do it, but because the people were better off for being ridden.
- Many of these men were to die, bringing a grief which bestrode the town all that summer and autumn, and which is still remembered today.
2Dominate: he bestrides Alberta politics today...
- The party that once bestrode British politics like a colossus has arrived on the Lancashire coast in timid, uncertain mood.
- Where I see a politician bestriding the British political scene, he sees a lonely figure, in constant danger of a painstaking alliance fracturing apart.
- He may not be a political colossus but he bestrides Scotland with an absolute and unchallenged power.
Synonyms
dominate, tower over, be the most important person in
Phrases
bestride something like a colossus
Origin
Old English bestrīdan (see be-, stride).