bestrode


be·stride

B0212200 (bĭ-strīd′)tr.v. be·strode (-strōd′), be·strid·den (-strĭd′n), 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.]