ride
verb (used without object)
to sit on and manage a horse or other animal in motion; be carried on the back of an animal.
ride
1 American
[rahyd]
/ raษชd /
verb (used without object)
-
rides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rode,
past
-
rid,
past (Archaic)
-
ridden,
past participle
-
riding
present participle
-
to sit on and manage a horse or other animal in motion; be carried on the back of an animal.
-
to be borne along on or in a vehicle or other kind of conveyance.
-
to move or float on the water.
the surfboarders riding on the crests of the waves.
-
to move along in any way; be carried or supported.
He is riding along on his friend's success. Distress is riding among the people.
-
to have a specified character for riding purposes.
The car rides smoothly.
-
to be conditioned; depend (usually followed byon ).
All his hopes are riding on getting that promotion.
-
Informal. to continue without interruption or interference.
He decided to let the bet ride.
-
to be carried on something, as a litter, a person's shoulders, or the like.
-
to work or move up from the proper place or position (usually followed byup ).
Her skirt rode up above her knees.
-
to extend or project over something, as the edge of one thing over the edge of another thing.
-
to turn or rest on something.
the great globe of the world riding on its axis.
-
to appear to float in space, as a heavenly body.
A blood-red moon rode in the cloudless sky.
-
to lie at anchor, as a ship.
verb (used with object)
-
rides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rode,
past
-
rid,
past (Archaic)
-
ridden,
past participle
-
riding
present participle
-
to sit on and manage (a horse, bicycle, etc.) so as to be carried along.
-
to sit or move along on (something); be carried or borne along on.
The ship rode the waves. We ride a bus.
-
to ride over, along, or through (a road, boundary, region, etc.); traverse.
-
to ridicule or harass persistently.
The boys keep riding him about his poor grades.
-
to control, dominate, or tyrannize over.
a man ridden by fear; a country that is ridden by a power-mad dictator.
-
to cause to ride.
-
to carry (a person) on something as if on a horse.
He rode the child about on his back.
-
to execute by riding.
to ride a race.
-
to rest on, especially by overlapping.
-
to keep (a vessel) at anchor or moored.
-
Jazz. to play improvisations on (a melody).
noun
-
rides
plural
-
a journey or excursion on a horse, camel, etc., or on or in a vehicle.
-
a means of or arrangement for transportation by motor vehicle.
We'll handle rides to be sure everyone gets home quickly.
-
the vehicle used for transportation.
I've got to hang up nowโmy ride's here.
-
a vehicle or device, as a Ferris wheel, roller coaster, or merry-go-round, on which people ride for amusement.
-
a way, road, etc., made especially for riding.
verb phrase
idioms
-
ride herd on. herd.
-
ride for a fall, to conduct oneself so as to invite misfortune or injury.
-
ride the beam, to fly along the course indicated by a radio beam.
-
take for a ride,
-
to murder, especially by abducting the victim for that purpose.
-
to deceive; trick.
It was obvious to everyone but me that I was being taken for a ride.
-
-
ride down,
-
to trample or overturn by riding upon or against.
-
to ride up to; overtake; capture.
The posse rode down the escaping bank robber.
-
Nautical. to bear down upon (a rope of a tackle) with all one's weight.
-
-
ride shotgun. shotgun.
Ride
2
American
[rahyd]
/ raษชd /
noun
ride
British
/ raษชd /
verb
-
to sit on and control the movements of (a horse or other animal)
-
(tr) to sit on and propel (a bicycle or similar vehicle)
-
(intr; often foll by on or in) to be carried along or travel on or in a vehicle
she rides to work on the bus
-
(tr) to travel over or traverse
they rode the countryside in search of shelter
-
(tr) to take part in by riding
to ride a race
-
to travel through or be carried across (sea, sky, etc)
the small boat rode the waves
the moon was riding high
-
(tr) to cause to be carried
to ride someone out of town
-
(intr) to be supported as if floating
the candidate rode to victory on his new policies
-
(intr) (of a vessel) to lie at anchor
-
(tr) (of a vessel) to be attached to (an anchor)
-
(esp of a bone) to overlap or lie over (another structure or part)
-
informal
-
(intr) to drive a car
-
(tr) to transport (goods, farm produce, etc) by motor vehicle or cart
-
-
(tr) (of a male animal) to copulate with; mount
-
slang (tr) to have sexual intercourse with (someone)
-
(tr; usually passive) to tyrannize over or dominate
ridden by fear
-
informal (tr) to persecute, esp by constant or petty criticism
don't ride me so hard over my failure
-
informal (intr) to continue undisturbed
I wanted to change something, but let it ride
-
(tr) to endure successfully; ride out
-
(tr) to yield slightly to (a blow or punch) in order to lessen its impact
-
(of a bet) to remain placed
let your winnings ride on the same number
-
(intr) jazz to play well, esp in freely improvising at perfect tempo
-
to domineer over or act with complete disregard for
-
to take part in a fox hunt on horseback
-
to act in such a way as to invite disaster
-
informal to return to a former activity or scene of activity
-
confident, popular, and successful
noun
-
a journey or outing on horseback or in a vehicle
-
a path specially made for riding on horseback
-
transport in a vehicle, esp when given freely to a pedestrian; lift
can you give me a ride to the station?
-
a device or structure, such as a roller coaster at a fairground, in which people ride for pleasure or entertainment
-
slang an act of sexual intercourse
-
slang a partner in sexual intercourse
-
informal
-
to cheat, swindle, or deceive
-
to take (someone) away in a car and murder him
-
ride
More Idioms
Usage
What is a basic definition of ride? Ride is a verb that means to sit on the back of a moving animal or to travel in or on a vehicle, like a car. A ride is a journey made on an animal or using a vehicle. Ride has many other senses as a verb and a noun. When someone rides an animal, they are usually sitting on the animalโs back while it moves. In general, the word ride is used even if the animal is uncooperative or is trying to get rid of the person sitting on them. The person sitting on the animal is called a rider. Its past tenses are rode and ridden.
- Real-life examples: Horses are the most common animal that people ride. Cowboys attempt to ride angry bulls at rodeos. In many Asian countries, people ride camels.
- Used in a sentence: I like to ride horses with my mom.
- Real-life examples: People ride bikes, motorcycles, and skateboards. Airplanes, submarines, boats, cars, trains, buses, and subway cars are vehicles that people ride in.
- Used in a sentence: Grant rides the subway to get to work.
- Real-life examples: Petting zoos often offer pony rides to children. A trip from Tokyo to Berlin would be a long ride, no matter what kind of vehicle you used. People who are afraid of heights probably wonโt be fans of airplane rides.
-
Used in a sentence: My college years were a wild ride.
Synonym Usage
See drive.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ridesimple
-
ridessimple
-
have riddenperfect
-
has riddenperfect
-
am ridingprogressive
-
are ridingprogressive
-
is ridingprogressive
-
have been ridingperfect progressive
-
has been ridingperfect progressive
Past
-
ridsimple
-
rodesimple
-
had riddenperfect
-
was ridingprogressive
-
were ridingprogressive
-
had been ridingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ride
First recorded before 900; 1915โ20 ride for def. 17; Middle English riden (verb), Old English rฤซdan; cognate with Old Frisian rฤซda, German reiten, Old Norse rฤซtha; akin to Old Irish rรญad โjourneyโ ( cf. palfrey, rheda)
Explanation
To ride is to be carried in a car, on a bike, or on an animal. When you ride a horse for the first time, it's often surprising how far off the ground you are. You can ride in the back of a taxi or on a Ferris wheel at the fair. You can also ride โ and control โ a pony or a bicycle. As a noun, ride means "a trip in a vehicle," or a roller coaster or other amusement park entertainment. In the U.S., ride has also been an informal name for a car since about 1930: "Check out my new ride!"
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Soon, Hieu was wedged between mom and dad for a sweaty 45-minute moped ride.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Nov. 5, 2026
Semiconductors and other AI hardware names have been on a roller-coaster ride since the second half of 2026 began, after scoring monster gains during the first six months of the year.
From MarketWatch โ Nov. 5, 2026
It’s a roller coaster ride from the start, and Pinkleton said he always wants the audience to have a great time.
From Los Angeles Times โ Nov. 3, 2026
She now ensures her elderly friends and neighbors are aware of election deadlines, know where to vote, and have a ride to the polls if they need one.
From Salon โ Oct. 31, 2026
It was Karli’s idea, for instance, that two of the choir schoolchildren should take it in turns to ride up with him on Marlene, one in front of him, one behind.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
Connolly, the Calgary realtor, in July hosted “Rad Ride 40,” a two-day rolling tribute that took fans past the filming sites.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Oct. 18, 2026
Ride a thrilling, creature-heavy makeover of Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout! in Disney California Adventure.
From Los Angeles Times โ Oct. 1, 2026
In Cardiff, campaigners are concerned about proposals for a data centre campus in Llanrumney, on the site of the Cardiff East Park & Ride which takes passengers to the University Hospital of Wales.
From BBC โ Aug. 27, 2026
Beside it is the pale blue flight jacket of Sally Ride, a physicist who in 1983 became the first American woman in space.
From Barron's โ May 29, 2026
I got back to my Maximum Ride, but I could hear Nicole every time she drew breath through her tears, this kind of slee sound.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Lyft users are able to earn rewards points for partners’ loyalty programs with Lyft rides.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Nov. 5, 2026
The video is an L.A. dirtbag delight — she pops a Cronenberg-worthy zit, fights cops in a VR headset and rides a “Gaymo” off to meet a crush.
From Los Angeles Times โ Nov. 2, 2026
One of her friends, 80-year-old Teresa Corona Garza of San Juan, has relied on Gomez for rides to the polls for some time now.
From Salon โ Oct. 31, 2026
Waymo now provides more than 500,000 paid rides per week across 15 US metropolitan areas and aims to reach one million weekly rides by the end of the year.
From Barron's โ Oct. 28, 2026
Students looking for rides gathered there, and the police would do their best to help.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
Businesses aren’t adding lots of jobs or getting rid of many workers.
From MarketWatch โ Nov. 3, 2026
But maybe the solution is to get rid of it, full stop?
From Slate โ Oct. 22, 2026
“If you hold an ETF in a taxable account, the amount of tax you’d pay to switch is prohibitive, and your best option to get rid of it is to drop dead.”
From The Wall Street Journal โ Oct. 16, 2026
On Tuesday, he said his approaches can alternate between “focusing on reducing the symptoms and getting rid of the pain and/or just making sure that I’m moving well in the swing.”
From Los Angeles Times โ Oct. 14, 2026
I’m like a piece of packing tape she can’t get rid of.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
Two weeks earlier, the Patriot team rode in a yellow school bus without air conditioning on a 100-degree day to an away game at Ramona.
From Los Angeles Times โ Nov. 1, 2026
So she and her family decamped to a ranch in Montana, where they lived in a log cabin and rode horses while riding out the global pandemic.
From MarketWatch โ Oct. 19, 2026
A warning system would have offered little help for ships in the immediate vicinity, but it could have provided perhaps 10 minutes of warning for those who rode out the harrowing tsunami farther away.
From Science Daily โ Oct. 19, 2026
Ortiz and six other spy-saboteurs, “their hands and faces already darkened by the unyielding sun, donned gandouras and turbans—what the famed T.E. Lawrence dubbed ‘Arab kit’—mounted a string of camels and rode south.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Oct. 5, 2026
I dreamed last night that you came here to Chicago, and we rode my mule, Whiskey, past Potter Palmer’s emporium and ate fried bread on Lake Street.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
The son of Into Mischief, ridden by Flavien Prat for trainer Bob Baffert, went off at odds of 4-5 and returned $3.64 after covering the distance in 1 minute 42.27 seconds.
From Los Angeles Times โ Oct. 30, 2026
When stocks linked to the booming artificial-intelligence trade have struggled, so-called “non-AI” stocks have ridden to the rescue, and vice versa.
From MarketWatch โ Oct. 13, 2026
Having ridden 60 winners since the start of May, Osborne is currently sitting eighth in the Flat Jockeys Championship, and is open about dreaming of being champion jockey in the future.
From BBC โ Sep. 17, 2026
We’ve ridden in past years from Canada to Oregon and from San Francisco to the Mexico border.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Sep. 6, 2026
After they had ridden twenty miles, the plan for the day was put into action.
From "In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse" by Joseph Marshall III
The former Cape Town mayor has been captured swimming in crater-sized potholes, ziplining over sinkholes and riding into her final rally in the city in a classic BMW 325i, known locally as a "Gusheshe".
From BBC โ Nov. 4, 2026
Musk has a lot riding on Tuesday’s results.
From Salon โ Nov. 3, 2026
The “Girls Next Door” alum was filming an episode of the reality series—which ran from 2005 to 2010, and had taken the cast to Sunset Ranch to produce a horseback riding scene.
From MarketWatch โ Nov. 2, 2026
With trillions of dollars riding on the artificial-intelligence trade, investors, traders and even tech executives are hunting for high-stakes protection.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Nov. 1, 2026
Akira was riding Dodger, her chestnut gelding quarter horse.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, ยฉ Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritageยฎ Idioms Dictionary copyright ยฉ 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
