straddlen.
/ˈstrad(ə)l/ I. The action of the verb.
1. figurative and in extended use.1780 W. Cowper Rep. Adjudged Case 14 Your lordship observes they [the spectacles] are made with a straddle, As wide as the bridge of the Nose is; in short, Designed to sit close to it, just like a saddle.1914 Lloyd George in Times 20 Sept. 4/4 I do not believe he [sc. the German Emperor] meant all these speeches; it was simply the martial straddle he had acquired.
a. The action of walking, standing, or sitting with the legs wide apart. Also transferred and figurative.
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the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [noun] > legs
stridingc1440
footing1545
straddle1611
stridea1627
straddling1673
1611 T. Middleton & T. Dekker Roaring Girle sig. F2 I knew you by your wide straddle.
?1771 Walpole Let. Lady Coke ?Oct.–Nov. in Lett. (1904) VIII. 99 You are, I know, Madam, an excellent walker, yet methinks seven leagues at once are a prodigious straddle for a fair lady.
1801 H. Macneill Poet. Wks. I. 100 No female Phaetonians then Surpass'd the boldest of our men In gesture, look, and straddle.
1815 ‘J. Mathers’ Hist. Mr. John Decastro & Brother Bat II. 272 However he made a straddle of it, and took the crown thereof very well between his knees.
b. The distance between the feet or legs of one who straddles.
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the world > space > distance > [noun] > distance between two things of the same kind
encamping1623
pose1793
straddlec1842
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [noun] > legs > distance between
stride1599
straddlec1842
c1842 G. D. Prentice Prenticeana (1860) 110 A writer in the ‘True Whig’ justly represents Mr. Tyler as standing with ‘a foot on one boat and a foot on the other’... Although his Accidency's legs are not of the shortest, his straddle is becoming inconveniently wide. He will soon be as badly split as his party.
1864 in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1934 H. Vines Green Thicket World 21 The two springs that were little more than a man's straddle apart boiled up.
2.
a. U.S. Exchange slang. A ‘privilege’ or speculative contract in any one market or class of commodities, covering both a ‘put’ and a ‘call’—that is, giving the holder the right at his option (1) of calling, within a specified number of days, for delivery of an ascertained quantity of the commodity at a stated price, or (2) of delivering to the person to whom the consideration had been paid an ascertained quantity of another (or, less usually, of the same) commodity at a stated price. Hence, applied to an analogous contract on the Stock-exchange. Also called spread-eagle ( Cent. Dict. 1891).
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society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > specific operations or arrangements > contract combining options within specific time
spread eagle1870
spread1878
straddle1883
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > specific operations or arrangements > share-buying activities
subscribing1762
flyer1846
bearing1849
stagging1851
take-up1865
bear covering1881
straddle1883
portfolio investment1929
short covering1930
support buying1932
foreign portfolio investment1951
corporate raiding1957
leveraged1957
tender offer1964
buy-in1968
management buyout1977
bought deal1981
greenmail1983
MBO1986
bimbo1991
1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 598/2 They [sc. N.Y. brokers] always talked of ‘margins’ and ‘puts’ and ‘calls,’ and ‘straddles.’
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker i. 25 My father..was trying at this time a ‘straddle’ in wheat between Chicago and New York.
1893 W. G. Cordingley Guide to Stock Exchange 123 Straddle..is also an American term for a ‘Put and Call,’ but used when the price is the same whether the Stock is ‘put’ or ‘called’.
1902 Longman's Mag. Apr. 485 The lady's wealth is based on a successful Straddle, operated..in—Bristles—Hog's Bristles and Lard.
b. In British use: see quot. 1902.
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1902 Liverpool Corn Trade Assoc. Ltd., Section J Bye-laws relating to Brokerages on grain futures. Straddles. When a broker executes an order to buy grain deliverable in a certain specified month, executing at the same time an order to sell the same quantity and description deliverable in another specified month, he shall be at liberty to carry out both transactions for one brokerage.
3. U.S. Politics (colloquial). An attempt to take an equivocal or non-committal position in a party platform ( Cent. Dict. 1891).
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > [noun] > non-party positions
straddlec1842
personalism1875
freelancing1879
mugwumpery1885
mugwumpism1886
rotativist1907
personalismo1936
c1842 [see sense 1b].
1843 Knickerbocker 22 233 These are..subjects for the straddle. The fence..is our only..safety on these p'ints.
1883 American 6 100 That his demand for an endorsement of free trade could not be yielded to, and that expediency demanded a ‘straddle’ that could be explained either way.
1890 C. L. Norton Polit. Americanisms 109 Straddle, a stock-broker's term which acquired a political meaning during the campaign of 1884.
1903 A. B. Hart Actual Govt. 97 The so-called straddle..that is, a declaration which means anything to anybody.
4. Poker. A doubling of the ‘blind’ or stake by one of the players.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > poker > [noun] > stake
blind1857
straddle1864
table stake1874
raise1921
1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 177 If the dealer choose, he may, in turn, double the straddle.
1882 Poker; how to play it 49 The straddle is nothing more than a double blind.
1897 R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 183 (Poker) Suppose there has been no straddle, and that all conclude to stay, as it is called.
5. A positioning of discharged shots, bombs, etc., such that some fall short of and some beyond the target (see also quot. 1973), esp. used as a deliberate form of attack or for range-finding. Frequently with reference to naval warfare. Cf. straddle v. 5c; straddling n. at straddle v. Derivatives.
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society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > [noun] > air operation > bombing raid > dropping of bombs > number or distribution of bombs
straddle1915
stick1940
salvo1942
blanket1944
carpet1944
pattern1944
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > [noun] > an artillery shot > patterns of shot or ranging shot
pattern1859
bracket1899
brace-shot1914
straddle1915
ladder1922
1915 in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1972) III. Compan. i. 486 Four rounds will be wasted for every hit made in addition to the rounds used before the straddle is obtained.
1918 ‘B. Copplestone’ Silent Watchers viii. 165 When, say, the shots of one salvo fall beyond the mark and the shots of the next come down on the near side, the mark is said to be ‘bracketed’. When the individual shots of a salvo fall some too far and others too short, the mark has been ‘straddled’. A straddle is a closed-in bracket.
1926 Sci. Amer. Aug. 104/1 They were liable to be wrecked by the first ‘straddle’ of an enemy's salvo.
1944 Times 27 Apr. 4/7 Depth charges were dropped from a low height in a perfect straddle.
1973 J. Quick Dict. Weapons 423/1 In range, or in deflection, when projectiles from a salvo fall both over and short of, or to both the left and right of, the target, a straddle is obtained.
II. Something which straddles or is straddled.
6. † a. (Meaning obscure.) Obsolete.
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1684 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 14 666 Land Carriage by draught, is by Wheele-barrows, Straddles, Carts of 2 wheels, Sleds, Wagons [etc.].
b. = saddle n.1 3.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle
saddleOE
arsonc1330
sellc1425
girth1706
saddlery1711
suggan1722
straddle1825
pigskin1839
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Straddle, the small saddle, or furniture, put on the back of a carriage-horse, for supporting the shafts of the carriage.
1837 S. Lover Rory O'More I. xi. 253 From the rudely constructed straddle of the sorry animal,..a budget containing the implements of the tinker's trade, depended.
1882 E. O'Donovan Merv Oasis II. xlviii. 308 A beam..was in turn attached to a straddle fastened to the back of a camel.
Categories »
7. Mining. (? U.S.) Each of the vertical timbers by which the different sets are supported in a shaft ( Cent. Dict. 1891).
Compounds
straddleback adv. with the legs astraddle.
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the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adverb] > legs
striddlingc1440
lirylongc1460
a (also on) cock-horse1564
cock-horse1566
stridelong1609
astride1664
stride-legged1688
a-straddle1703
stride-leg1809
straddle-legged1817
striddle-legs1825
straddle-leg1836
straddleback1839
straddle1857
strideways1859
straddle-wise1865
straddle-fashion1873
straddleways1919
1839 W. M. Thackeray Legend St. Sophia of Kioff She gets on the Prior's shoulder straddleback.
straddle-band n. the band which secures the ‘straddle’ on a horse's back.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > general equipment > [noun] > harness of draught animal > backband
ridgewortha1300
rigtowc1310
ridge ropea1333
rigband1408
ridge-band1418
rigwithy1419
rigwiddie1513
backband?1523
rigwithe1570
back-rope1711
rig-ropea1728
ridger1733
ridge chain1757
straddle-band1901
1901 J. Barlow From Land of Shamrock 288 I noticed the straddle-band lookin' uncommon quare and wake.
straddle-bob n. dialect a black beetle (cf. straddle-bug n.).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > member of (beetle) > black
black-beetle1565
twitch-ballock1634
devil's cow1688
straddle-bob1847
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II Straddlebob, a blackbeetle. I. Wight.
straddle-breech adj. a contemptuous epithet applied to one who straddles.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > [adjective] > having specific manner of walking > with legs wide apart
straddling1592
straddle-breech1682
1682 Heraclitus Ridens 21 Mar. 2/2 Then there was our old Straddle-breech Friend.
straddle carrier n. a vehicle for manœuvring large containers, bulk loads of timber, etc., by straddling and lifting them beneath its chassis.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > other vehicles according to specific use > [noun] > vehicle for moving timber or heavy weights
drug?a1549
drug cart?a1549
drug-carriage1665
tug1706
timber carriage1747
timber-tuga1800
janker1823
jinker1860
timber-cart1884
junker1885
lumber-carrier1928
straddle carrier1950
straddle truck1958
telehandler1982
1950 Dock & Harbour Authority XXXI. 157/2 Another method of conveying baulks of timber, iron pipes and other similar goods is by petrol or diesel driven ‘straddle’ carrier.
1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–9 9/1 Provisions for straddle carrier handling.
1977 D. Grossman Samson Managagem. Lexicon vi. 36 At the extreme, straddle carriers may have a span wide enough to straddle several railway tracks or roadways and are used for the intermodal transfer of containers between road and rail.
straddle-fashion adv. in a straddling position, astride.
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the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adverb] > legs
striddlingc1440
lirylongc1460
a (also on) cock-horse1564
cock-horse1566
stridelong1609
astride1664
stride-legged1688
a-straddle1703
stride-leg1809
straddle-legged1817
striddle-legs1825
straddle-leg1836
straddleback1839
straddle1857
strideways1859
straddle-wise1865
straddle-fashion1873
straddleways1919
1873 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 32/2 Seating himself straddle-fashion across a chair.
straddle harvester n.
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > fruit-picking tool > attachment
straddle machine1975
straddle harvester1976
1967 Amer. Fruit Grower May 20/1 (caption) Also a straddle-type, the Krebs harvester..has hand shakers on both sides.]
1976 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird vii. 85 I lurched creaking up the stairs like a blackcurrant straddle harvester.
straddle machine n. an agricultural device which straddles rows of bushes or plants, etc., to facilitate the picking of the fruit.
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > fruit-picking tool > attachment
straddle machine1975
straddle harvester1976
1975 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Sept. 39/2 The larger British ‘straddle’ machines..are used to harvest some berry fruits.
straddle-leg adv. (also straddle-legs) with the legs astride; also attributive.
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society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [adverb] > astride
striddling1632
astride1664
a-straddle1703
stradlings1823
straddle-leg1836
straddle1857
strideways1859
cross-saddle1897
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adverb] > legs
striddlingc1440
lirylongc1460
a (also on) cock-horse1564
cock-horse1566
stridelong1609
astride1664
stride-legged1688
a-straddle1703
stride-leg1809
straddle-legged1817
striddle-legs1825
straddle-leg1836
straddleback1839
straddle1857
strideways1859
straddle-wise1865
straddle-fashion1873
straddleways1919
1836 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 1st Ser. xxxii That Captain has nothin to do all day, but sit straddle legs across his tiller.
1868 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. 597 Over the shaft were fastened three poles, straddle-legs fashion.
1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens vii. 60 I went and sat straddle-leg across the horse of the bowsplit.
straddle-legged adj. and adv. (a) adj. having the legs set wide apart; (b) adv. with the legs astride.
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society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [adjective] > specific manner of sitting
straddle-legged1817
English1868
astride1889
bareback1923
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adjective] > legs
striddling1638
thwarted1655
straddle-legged1817
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adverb] > legs
striddlingc1440
lirylongc1460
a (also on) cock-horse1564
cock-horse1566
stridelong1609
astride1664
stride-legged1688
a-straddle1703
stride-leg1809
straddle-legged1817
striddle-legs1825
straddle-leg1836
straddleback1839
straddle1857
strideways1859
straddle-wise1865
straddle-fashion1873
straddleways1919
1817 W. Hazlitt Polit. Ess. (1819) 213 The monstrous straddle-legged figure of that legitimate monarch, Henry VIII.
1860 W. H. Russell My Diary in India 1858–9 I. xiv. 229 The wives of the binneahs who sit straddle-legged on the tiniest of donkeys.
straddle mill n. (see quot. 1909); also as v. transitive.
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society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > machine
turn?c1335
mill1677
to rough down1829
broach1846
spin1853
plane1875
straddle mill1898
profile1905
jig-bore1939
spark-erode1960
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine tool > other specific machine tools > [noun] > milling > types of cutter
side mill1878
straddle mill1898
1898 H. S. Wilson Pract. Tool-maker & Designer i. 15 Select some good-sized straddle or side mills.
1905 W. S. Leonard Machine-shop Tools (ed. 3) xxvi. 436 The straddle-mill..is of course the quickest for shapes having an even number of sides.
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Straddle mill, Mech., a milling cutter..commonly used in pairs a fixed distance apart so as to straddle the work, for sizing nuts, boltheads, etc.
1919 H. D. Burghardt Machine Tool Operation ii. xii. 255 When any considerable number of pieces are to be milled it will be advisable to straddle-mill them.
1954 H. W. Porter et al. Machine Shop ix. 312 Straddle milling requires two side-milling cutters.
straddle milling n. the milling of two parallel faces of a workpiece simultaneously by means of a pair of cutters on a single shaft.
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society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > [noun] > processing > types of cutting
straddle milling1922
plunge cutting1950
1922 P. Gates Jigs, Tools & Fixtures v. 53 In the case of the component at b calling for ‘straddle’ milling, the fixture can be made adaptable, so that in the case of horizontal machines..the fixture could be arranged on angle plate..and vertically ‘straddle’ milled.
straddle-pipe n.
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1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Straddle-pipe, (Gas), a bridge-pipe connecting the retort with the hydraulic main.
straddle-plough n. one with two shares for running on each side of, and covering in, a line of seed (see quots.).
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > other types of plough
ox-plough?1523
double plough1653
chip plough1742
Rotherham plough1743
fluke plough1775
breaking plough1781
miner1794
snap-plough1798
turf-cutter1819
scooter plough1820
bull-tongue1831
prairie plough1831
split-plough1840
prairie breaker1857
straddle-plough1875
tickle-plough1875
chill-plough1886
stump-jump1896
swamp plough1930
prairie buster1943
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Straddle-plow, a plow with two triangular, parallel shares, a little distance apart, and used for running on each side of a row of dropped corn, to cover the seed.
straddle reversing n. Stock Market (cf. sense 2b).
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1927 Daily Tel. 11 May 4/7 In the afternoon the tendency of prices was downwards on liquidation by bull interests and straddle reversing by American houses.
straddle truck n. = straddle carrier n. above.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > other vehicles according to specific use > [noun] > vehicle for moving timber or heavy weights
drug?a1549
drug cart?a1549
drug-carriage1665
tug1706
timber carriage1747
timber-tuga1800
janker1823
jinker1860
timber-cart1884
junker1885
lumber-carrier1928
straddle carrier1950
straddle truck1958
telehandler1982
1958 Listener 25 Sept. 458/1 The [timber] yards, where the fork-lift and straddle trucks scurry about loading and stacking.
1968 N.Z. News 25 Dec. 5/5 Straddle trucks are by no means new to the timber industry, but this vehicle..offers features never before incorporated in these utility vehicles.
straddleways adv. = straddle-wise adv.
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the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adverb] > legs
striddlingc1440
lirylongc1460
a (also on) cock-horse1564
cock-horse1566
stridelong1609
astride1664
stride-legged1688
a-straddle1703
stride-leg1809
straddle-legged1817
striddle-legs1825
straddle-leg1836
straddleback1839
straddle1857
strideways1859
straddle-wise1865
straddle-fashion1873
straddleways1919
1919 H. Walpole Secret City i. iii. 10 I can imagine Lawrence standing straddleways on the deck of the Jupiter, his short thick legs wide apart.
straddle-wise adv. = straddle-fashion adv.
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the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adverb] > legs
striddlingc1440
lirylongc1460
a (also on) cock-horse1564
cock-horse1566
stridelong1609
astride1664
stride-legged1688
a-straddle1703
stride-leg1809
straddle-legged1817
striddle-legs1825
straddle-leg1836
straddleback1839
straddle1857
strideways1859
straddle-wise1865
straddle-fashion1873
straddleways1919
1865 J. S. Le Fanu Guy Deverell II. xiv Little Linnett, mounted straddlewise on his chair.
Draft additions 1993
Athletics, Gymnastics, etc. A movement in which the legs are held wide apart, esp. in vaulting or dismounting from apparatus; spec. in Athletics, a style of high jump in which the jumper clears the bar horizontally and face down, with the legs straddled either side. Frequently attributive.The straddle jump was popularized by David Albritton at the U.S. Olympic trials in 1936.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > [noun] > actions or positions
vaulting1531
cross-step1728
still-vaulting1854
roll1858
trampolining1867
planche1878
handstand1890
rollover1891
trapezing1894
press1901
straddle1905
kip1909
upstart1909
headstand1915
round-off1917
neck-roll1920
undergrip1920
pike1928
swivel hips1943
thigh lift1949
overswing1955
shoulder stand1956
stand1956
floor exercise1957
squat1959
turnaround1959
salto1972
Tsukahara1972
1905 Gymnastic Nomencl. Y.M.C.A. N. Amer. 35 Straddle, the thighs are abducted while passing over the apparatus and may be: a) Forward or Front b) Backward or Back.
1937 Athletic Jrnl. May 10/2 This is a typical take-off for Albritton when using either the roll or straddle style of jump.
1942 W. West Gymnast's Man. 95 In the straddle dismounts the performer passes over the apparatus with the legs in the spread or straddle position.
1949 Dict. Sports 434 Straddle vault, Gymnastics, a vault over a buck in which the performer straddles its ends, the legs passing on the outside of the arms.
1951 F. A. M. Webster Indoor Athletics & Winter Training viii. 96 The Straddle jump is..merely the ordinary Scissors jump turned upside down.
1952 D. Canham Field Techniques Illustr. iv. 29 In the Straddle, however, the take-off leg trails and is not tucked under as it is in the Western Roll.
1964 G. C. Kunzle Parallel Bars ii. 41 These elementary straddles are useful movements in their own right, and the single leg straddle into support is a useful start to an exercise.
1986 Gymnastics (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) (ed. 4) 23/2 This vault is a natural progression from the straddle vault over buck or box broadways.
1990 G. Carr Fund. Track & Field 85 In recent years the Fosbury Flop technique of high jumping has superseded the straddle and the world records for both males and females are held by flop jumpers.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
straddlev.
/ˈstrad(ə)l/ 1.
a. intransitive. To spread the legs wide apart in walking, standing, or sitting; to stride about.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > with legs wide apart
stridec700
straddle1565
stroddle1607
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > position specific body part [verb (intransitive)] > legs
striddle1530
to shed the shanksc1553
straddle1565
stroddle1607
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [verb (intransitive)] > keep legs wide apart or close together
to go narrow1646
straddle1685
stroddle1702
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Varix Varico,..vel Varicor.., to goe wide with the knees and legges: to straddle:.. to goe stradlynge.
1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) xiii. f. 170v See how theyr vdders full doo make them straddle.
1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. C3 Thou hast made him straddle too much, Like a Frenchman; for shame put his legs closer.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion x. 159 [Boreas] From Shetland stradling wide, his foote on Thuly sets.
1619 T. Middleton Triumphs Loue & Antiq. sig. C2v She being the first that taught women to ride sideling on horsebacke; but who it was that taught 'em to ride stradling, there is no Records so immodest that can shew me.
1685 London Gaz. No. 2074/4 An able white Gelding,..has all his paces, Straddles very much with his hinder Legs.
1735 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. Straddle, to stretch or extend the Legs wider than common.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 676 Some noble lord Shall..wrap himself in Hamlet's inky cloak, And strut, and storm, and straddle, stamp, and stare, To show the world how Garrick did not act.
1906 C. Mansfield Girl & Gods xi ‘How do you do?’ she said, entering the tiny sitting-room where Colonel Vibrant straddled in front of the fire.
b. To stand or stride across, over (a wide space, etc.), from one stepping place to another at a distance; to sit astride on, across.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk upon or tread [verb (transitive)] > tread with long steps > step across with a stride
overstridea1200
pouter1568
stride1575
bestridec1600
straddle1678
straddle1863
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > position specific body part [verb (intransitive)] > legs > position across, over, or on something
straddle1678
1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress (ed. 2) 93 Then Apollyon stradled [1678 ed. 1 strodled] quite over the whole breadth of the way, and said,..prepare thy self to die.
1760 H. Walpole Let. 19 Sept. in Corr. (1974) XXXVIII. 74 Can't he make..Johnson straddle cross a river and come back with six heads of hussars in his fob?
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy III. iii. 87 His foot slipping, as he straddled from one huge fragment of rock to another.
1826 T. Hood Recipe for Civilization 45 Tartar grooms, that merely straddle Across a steak and warm their saddle.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. ii. 18 I felt as if I could straddle from the main hatch to the bulwarks.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Guinevere in Idylls of King 239 Down in the cellars merry bloated things..straddling on the butts While the wine ran.
1885 Manch. Examiner 7 Aug. 5/6 Ministers who passed in and out had to straddle or leap over his long legs.
1898 J. M. Cobban Angel of Covenant i. 6 I straddled across the slab-step of the door, and dared him with the ashen cudgel I carried.
c. Of the legs: To stand wide apart.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > position specific body part [verb (intransitive)] > legs > of legs
straddle1634
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 38 [An idol] resembling a man..his legs stradling, very wide.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 163 Their Pack-saddles are so broad that they are very uneasie to ones Legs, which must straddle very wide.
1889 ‘Q’ Splendid Spur x Under a trunk extraordinary broad and strong, straddled a pair of legs that a baby would have disown'd.
1897 J. Gordon Village & Doctor 3 On he went..with head well back and legs straddling wider apart at every step, floundering in the heavy snow.
d. transferred of a thing, esp. of a thing having legs; also, to divaricate, sprawl. Also with complement and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > inclination > divergence > diverge [verb (intransitive)] > straddle (of a thing)
straddle1596
stride1605
straggle1609
1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. V2 He would..splinter our pens til they stradled again, as wide as a paire of Compasses.
1662 J. Shirley Honoria & Mammon in Wks. (1833) VI. 48 Her teeth straddle.
1670 J. Eachard Grounds Contempt of Clergy 66 There is one [passage] in Genesis, as I well remember, that is like a pair of Compasses stradling.
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xii. 204 The Chopping-Block..hath three Legs in it, that stand stradling out from the underside.
1875 R. Browning Inn Album i. 1 Lubber prose o'ersprawls, And straddling stops the path from left to right.
1909 Durham Archæol. Trans. p. xxxi A modern screw-pile bridge now straddles its ungainly length across the Tyne.
1916 C. N. Williamson & A. M. Williamson Car of Destiny xiv [We] crossed the Pisuergo by a long-legged bridge straddling across the river bed.
1969 B. Rubens Elected Member ii. 18 Now, it was Norman, on the same bed, with a different illusion, but an illusion all the same, while between his father and Dr Levy in the kitchen, straddled the same uneasy truth.
e. spec. Of the spokes of a wheel: To stand with the ends staggered (Webster 1911).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > wheel > of wheel: operate [verb (intransitive)] > actions of specific parts
mesh1850
unmesh1873
straddle1875
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Straddling (Vehicle), applied to spokes when they are arranged alternately in two circles in the hub. Also said to be staggered.
2. To walk with the legs wide apart; dialect ‘to swagger, strut’ ( Eng. Dial. Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > be proud [verb (intransitive)] > behave proudly
swella1250
to make it stoutc1315
to bear oneself stout1338
bridlea1475
to make it prouda1500
strut1518
to set up one's bristles1529
strut?c1570
square1584
square1590
swagger1600
to take on1603
puff1633
fluster1698
to hold one's head high1707
crest1713
to set out the shin1719
straddle1802
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > in stately or affected manner
prancea1398
jeta1400
prankc1450
strut1518
stalk1530
jotc1560
brank1568
piaffe1593
strit1597
swagger1600
stretch1619
prig1623
flutter1690
prink1696
jut1763
strunt1789
straddle1802
major1814
cakewalk1890
sashay1968
1802 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. 8 Feb. (1941) I. iii. 108 We met our patient bow-bent Friend... He straddled and pushed us with all his might; but we soon outstripped him.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan III. 10 Bless my heart—how you do straddle about!
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxvi. 259 Major Bagstock..straddled along the shady side of the way.
1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles & St. James (new ed.) xii, in Writings I. 121 You straddle on to the tradesman who stands behind a little mountain of eggs.
1895 H. Maxwell Duke of Brit. i. 9 Petilius tossed off his bumper..and straddled off to the parade ground.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > play games of chance [verb (intransitive)] > play who shall pay the reckoning
straddle1735
1735 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. Straddle,..in Sports and Gaming to play who shall pay the Reckoning.
4. transitive. To set (the legs) wide apart (in standing or walking). In quots. with out, †asunder.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > position specific body part [verb (transitive)] > legs or feet
stride13..
overstride?a1513
straddle1565
bestridea1616
plait1616
plet1619
bestraddle1807
straddle1823
spraddle1913
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Diduco Diductum stare, to stande stradlyng the legges a sunder.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus i. v. 14/2 Man..stands..insecurely enough; has to straddle out his legs, lest the very wind supplant him.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. iv. 96 Mr. Quilp..straddling his legs out very wide apart, stooped slowly down.
1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.-E. Afr. 151 I watched them [giraffes] drinking, straddling out their forelegs by little jerks, until their feet were yards apart.
5.
a. To sit, stand, or walk with one leg on either side of; to stride over; to bestride. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > position specific body part [verb (transitive)] > legs or feet
stride13..
overstride?a1513
straddle1565
bestridea1616
plait1616
plet1619
bestraddle1807
straddle1823
spraddle1913
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > mount (a horse or other animal) > and sit astride
bestridec1000
umstridea1352
cross1760
straddle1823
fork1903
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk upon or tread [verb (transitive)] > tread with long steps > step across with a stride
overstridea1200
pouter1568
stride1575
bestridec1600
straddle1678
straddle1863
1823 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. I. 51 Arion, with a grotesque motion, is straddling a great trout.
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. xlvi. 95 Charley [the horse] was caught and dressed, and straddled.
1859 Habits Good Society vii. 251 Straddling a chair, and tilting it up may be pardonable in a bachelor's rooms.
1863 H. W. Bates Naturalist on River Amazons II. v. 317 In climbing between the box and the wall, it [sc. a monkey] straddled the space.
1908 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Further Experiences Irish R.M. 26 I straddled the window-sash, and arrived in the room with a three-cornered tear in the shoulder of my coat.
1970 A. Toffler Future Shock xx. 424 Advanced telecommunications mean that participants in a social future assembly need not literally meet in a single room, but might simply be hooked into a communications net that straddles the globe.
1981 Economist 24 Jan. 28/2 Bank holding companies can straddle state lines (including foreign banks that were lucky enough to establish branches before the 1980 deadline).
b. transferred. To stand or lie across or on both sides of (something).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > extend [verb (transitive)] > extend over or across > from either side
flekec1330
span1633
bestride1728
bridge1787
arch1796
straddle1890
1890 Cent. Mag. May 130/1 ‘Let him take a seat with me in the buggy.’ ‘That is best perhaps, as he would know better how to avoid the stumps and straddle the ruts.’
1907 J. A. R. Marriott Life Ld. Falkland 314 A cavalry skirmish..enabled the King to win the race to Newbury and so straddle the London road.
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Straddle mill, Mech., a milling cutter..commonly used in pairs a fixed distance apart so as to straddle the work, for sizing nuts, boltheads, etc.
c. Gunnery To fire at (a target) with shots, bombs, etc., so that they fall in a straddle (sense 5). (See also quot. 1941.)
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > fire (a gun) [verb (transitive)] > of gun: project (shot or missile) > of shot: miss target
straddle1916
1916 J. Jellicoe Disp. 24 June in Battle of Jutland 54 Colossus..was hit,..and other ships were straddled with fair frequency. [Ed. note i.e. shots were falling on both sides of the ship, but not hitting her.]
1918 ‘B. Copplestone’ Silent Watchers viii. 165 When, say, the shots of one salvo fall beyond the mark and the shots of the next come down on the near side, the mark is said to be ‘bracketed’. When the individual shots of a salvo fall some too far and others too short, the mark has been ‘straddled’. A straddle is a closed-in bracket.
1941 Christian Sci. Monitor 6 Mar. 4/7 ‘To straddle a target’..no longer means..range-finding shots placed each side of the target. To the bombardier, the phrase describes the split-second triggering of a stick of bombs upon an objective.
1943 Sun (Baltimore) 28 Aug. 2/4 The crew of a plane..sprayed the deck of one submarine with machine~gun bullets, straddled it with depth charges and caused the U-boat to explode internally.
6. U.S. colloquial. ‘To occupy or take up an equivocal position in regard to; to appear to favour both sides of’. Also intransitive and absol. ( Cent. Dict. 1891.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > play with words, equivocate [verb (intransitive)]
equivocate1609
straddle1838
weasel1956
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > cause to become inconstant [verb (transitive)] > appear to favour both sides of
straddle1838
society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > involve in party politics [verb (transitive)] > appear to favour both sides
straddle1838
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > render ambiguous [verb (transitive)]
shuffle1637
straddle1878
weasel1900
1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sketches 133 Sometimes I was a-one side, sometimes a-t'other, and sometimes I straddled till the election was over, and came up jist in time to jine the hurrah.
1878 N.Y. Tribune 29 Mar. 4/5 Whenever Mr. Randall doesn't straddle a question, he gets on the wrong side of it.
1880 Daily Union (San Diego, Calif.) 5 Sept. 1/3 For once in his life, therefore, Hendricks didn't straddle. He put both feet down on the wrong side, and tipped the whole party up.
1884 Nation (N.Y.) 3 July 4/1 The platform..contains the well-known plank ‘straddling’ the tariff question.
1884 Boston Traveller Aug. It should be remembered that he never straddled the negro question.
1906 N.Y. Evening Post 6 Dec. 8 Eleven Senators answered yes, four no, and four straddled.
7. Poker. To double (a stake, bet). Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > poker > [verb (transitive)] > actions or tactics
see1804
to make good1821
call1840
bluff1846
straddle1864
fill1865
to cash in1884
stack1896
slow-play1967
slow-roll1996
1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 177 The ‘blind’ may be doubled by the player to the left of the eldest hand, and the next player to the left may at his option straddle this bet.
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents at Home ii. 19 Now you talk! You see my blind and straddle it like a man.
1882 Poker; how to play it 49 C can straddle B's ante by putting in the pool two chips.
1882 Poker; how to play it 50 A good player very rarely straddles.
1885 B. L. Farjeon Sacred Nugget xvii He put in [the pool] a bank-note, and said, ‘Five pound blind’. Antonio..put in an I.O.U. for ten pounds, saying ‘I straddle you’.
1885 B. L. Farjeon Sacred Nugget xvii Mike Patchett went ten pounds blind; he [Antonio] straddled it with twenty.
1897 R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 179 (Poker) The player to the left of the age may straddle the blind by putting up double the amount put up by the age.
8. to straddle the market (see quots.). U.S. Exchange slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (intransitive)] > specific operations
soften1565
to get out1728
bear1837
to rig the (stock) market1841
stag1845
cornera1860
to straddle the market1870
raid1889
to make a market1899
to job backwards1907
to mark to (the) market1925
short1959
daisy-chain1979
to pitch for ——1983
1870 W. W. Fowler Ten Years in Wall St. 128 Going long and short of stocks, at the same time, is what is technically called ‘Straddling’ the market.
1900 S. A. Nelson ABC of Wall St. 161 A speculator who has bought and is long of one stock, and sold and is short of another, has straddled the market.
1907 M. Rollins Money & Investm. 383 Straddle the market, an understanding of ‘Selling Short’ is first necessary. One has ‘straddled the market’ when he is ‘short’ of one stock and ‘long’ of another.
Derivatives
ˈstraddling n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [noun] > legs
stridingc1440
footing1545
straddle1611
stridea1627
straddling1673
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > [noun] > manner of walking > with legs wide apart
straddling1673
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > [noun] > air operation > bombing raid > dropping of bombs > manner of
area bombardment1918
straddling1919
pattern-bombing1933
terror-bombing1933
dive-bombing1935
firebombing1935
blind-bombing1940
blitzing1940
coventrating1940
nuisance bombing1940
scatter bombing1940
coventration1942
carpet bombing1943
obliteration bombing1943
skip-bombing1943
shuttle bombing1944
atom bombing1945
atomic bombing1945
clobbering1948
loft-bombing1956
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > [noun] > ranging by shot
bracketing1914
straddling1919
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > [noun] > deliberate
prolocution1679
double-talk1948
straddling1949
double-speak1957
codespeak1987
1673 J. Bunyan Differences Judgm. 44 Your putting in that way of his receiving which is invisible to us, is but an unhandsome straddling over my Argument, which treateth only of a visible receiving.
1761 B. Victor Hist. Theatres Lond. & Dublin II. 74 By walking the Decks of the Ship from a Boy, he had contracted a Stradling in his Gait.
1919 Athenæum 23 May 360/1 For a well-known method of range-finding..the Navy [has] the term ‘straddling’.
1949 San Francisco News 14 Mar. 14/2 Despite the local board's straddling, the Legislature, fortunately, voted to continue the centers for another year.
1957 O. Parkes Brit. Battleships lxxviii. 458 He proposed that the armoured cruiser..should be placed at his disposal for..‘straddling’ tests.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
straddleadv.
/ˈstrad(ə)l/ = a-straddle adv., astride. Also const. of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > [adverb] > with legs wide apart
stradlings1823
widish1828
straddle1857
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [adverb] > astride
striddling1632
astride1664
a-straddle1703
stradlings1823
straddle-leg1836
straddle1857
strideways1859
cross-saddle1897
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adverb] > legs
striddlingc1440
lirylongc1460
a (also on) cock-horse1564
cock-horse1566
stridelong1609
astride1664
stride-legged1688
a-straddle1703
stride-leg1809
straddle-legged1817
striddle-legs1825
straddle-leg1836
straddleback1839
straddle1857
strideways1859
straddle-wise1865
straddle-fashion1873
straddleways1919
1857 O. W. Wight Quinland I. 24 He found a crazy fellow sitting straddle of a grave, holding on to the tombstone.
1866 J. E. Brogden Provinc. Words Lincs. Straddle, astride.
1898 J. C. Harris Tales of Home Folks 244 I boun' ef I had a hoss an' could ride straddle I'd ketch 'im.
1919 J. Masefield Reynard the Fox 12 Molly Wolvesey riding straddle.
1930 W. Faulkner As I lay Dying 79 They had already dragged the backboard back from where Quick found it upside down straddle of the ditch about a mile from the spring.
1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. vii. 163 It's a story 'bout a man sittin' straddle of a cow.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online January 2018).
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n.1611
v.1565
adv.1857