be·stride 
(bĭ-strīd)
(bĭ-strīd)tr.v. be·strode (-strōd), be·strid·den (-strĭdn), be·strid·ing, be·strides
1. To sit or stand on with the legs astride; straddle.
2. To dominate by position; tower over: "Hitler's ghost, the specter that ... bestrides mid-twentieth-century history" (Economist).
3. Archaic To step or stride across.
[Middle English bistriden, from Old English bestrīdan : be-, be- + strīdan, to mount a horse; see STRIDE.]