ride

verb \ ˈrīd \

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Definition of ride

rode play \ˈrōd\ or chiefly dialectal rid play \ˈrid\; ridden play \ˈri-dᵊn\ or chiefly dialectal rid or rode; riding play \ˈrī-diŋ\

intransitive verb

1 a : to sit and travel on the back of an animal that one directs

b : to travel in or on a conveyance

2 : to travel as if on a conveyance : be borne

rode on a wave of popularity

3 a : to lie moored or anchored

a ship rides at anchor

b : sail

c : to move like a floating object

the moon rode in the sky

4 : to become supported on a point or surface

5 a : to travel over a surface

the car rides well

b : to move on the body

shorts that ride up

6 : to continue without interference

let it ride

7 a : to be contingent : depend

plans on which the future rides

b : to become bet

a lot of money riding on the favorite

transitive verb

1 a : to travel on

ride a bike

ride the bus

b : to move with like a rider

ride the waves

2 a : to traverse by conveyance

rode 500 miles

b : to ride a horse in

ride a race

3 : survive, outlast —usually used with out

rode out the gale

4 : to traverse on horseback to inspect or maintain

ride fence

5 : to mount in copulation —used of a male animal

6 a : obsess, oppress

ridden by anxiety

b : to harass persistently : nag

c : tease, rib

7 : carry, convey

8 : to project over : overlap

9 : to give with (a punch) to soften the impact

10 : to keep in partial engagement by resting a foot continuously on the pedal

ride the brakes

—

rideable

or less commonly ridable play \ˈrī-də-bəl\ adjective

— ride circuit

: to hold court in the various towns of a judicial circuit

— ride for a fall

: to court disaster

— ride herd on

: to keep a check on : supervise

— ride high

: to experience success

— ride shotgun

: to ride in the front passenger seat of a vehicle

See ride defined for English-language learners

See ride defined for kids

Examples of ride in a Sentence

She learned how to ride a horse when she was young.
Most children learn to ride a bicycle at an early age.
He rides his motorcycle to work every day.
I never rode on a horse before.
She got on her bicycle and rode away.
He decided to walk to the movies instead of riding the bus.
She rides the subway home from school.
They rode the elevator to the second floor.
We rode through the park in a horse-drawn carriage.
The dog rode in the back of the truck.

Recent Examples of ride from the Web

Murphy, who took office in January, is at loggerheads with fellow Democrats who control the legislature over his plan to raise taxes on millionaires, retail sales, online-room booking, ride-sharing, marijuana, e-cigarettes and Internet transactions.

— terrence dopp, Bloomberg.com, "New Jersey Lawmakers Pushing Own Budget Plan Amid Murphy Impasse," 15 June 2018
The Boring Company plans to charge fares below the [request for proposals] requirement that this premium service should cost less than current taxi and ride-share services.

— andrew j. hawkins, The Verge, "Elon Musk’s Boring Company approved to build high-speed transit between downtown Chicago and O’Hare Airport," 14 June 2018
And according to the Express, the Duchess of Sussex is the first to be invited on the royal train, before Prince William, Prince Harry, or even Kate Middleton have had the opportunity to ride it.

— amy mackelden, Harper's BAZAAR, "Why Meghan Markle's First Solo Royal Event With the Queen Is So Significant," 14 June 2018
In Japan, where Uber has been trying to grow, ride-sharing is facing resistance from the nation’s powerful networking of cab companies, especially in urban areas like Tokyo.

— Washington Post, "Toyota investing $1 billion in ride-hailing company Grab," 13 June 2018
Rounding out the list are Ridecell, a firm that operates a car-sharing and ride-sharing platform, and USSCooter, a company for which no information was available.

— michael cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle, "SF’s Scooter sweepstakes: Lyft, Uber among a dozen companies seeking city permits," 7 June 2018
Our network effect is quite different than say ride sharing, which is a local network effect.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full video and transcript: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky at Code 2018," 31 May 2018
Which is how futuristic SoftBank, with its ties to just about every player in the driverless car and ride-hail market, wound up owning a small stake in a 110-year-old auto manufacturer.

— erin griffith, WIRED, "SoftBank Flips the Venture-Capital Script Again With GM Deal," 31 May 2018
Unlike Uber or most ride-sharing services, Bird doesn’t require a background check or any kind of complicated registration procedure.

— taylor lorenz, The Atlantic, "Charging Electric Scooters Is a Cutthroat Business," 20 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ride.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ride

Middle English, from Old English rīdan; akin to Old High German rītan to ride, Middle Irish réidid he rides

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

See Words from the same year

ride Synonyms

ride

noun

Definition of ride

1 : an act of riding; especially : a trip on horseback or by vehicle

2 : a way (such as a road or path) suitable for riding

3 : any of various mechanical devices (as at an amusement park) for riding on

4 a : a trip on which gangsters take a victim to murder him

b : something likened to such a trip

take the taxpayers for a ride

5 : a means of transportation; especially, informal : one's personal vehicle

… buying himself a 1964 Buick Riviera and then posing with his new ride on the studio's backlot.
—Andrew Liszewski

6 : the qualities of travel comfort in a vehicle

See ride defined for English-language learners

Examples of ride in a Sentence

We went for a ride in the country.
I had my first ride in a limousine.
I need a ride to work.
She caught a ride with her coworker.
We went on a horseback ride.
The kids had a ride on a horse.
They offered pony rides at the fair.
The Ferris wheel is my favorite ride.
We went for a ride on the roller coaster.

Recent Examples of ride from the Web

An auto maker must also be a ride-hailing provider.

— john d. stoll, WSJ, "Why Companies Have the Urge to Merge," 15 June 2018
The value of a taxi medallion has fallen from as much as $1 million to $200,000 in the years since Uber and other ride-hailing companies disrupted the industry.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Walsh wants Boston developers to pay more," 13 June 2018
Hitchings, 58, was a driver for the ride-hailing company for about six months at the time of the incident and, with his wife, served as a foster parent at Kid Sanctuary in suburban West Palm Beach, WPBF reported.

— howard cohen, miamiherald, "A former Uber driver and foster parent is sentenced for raping passenger," 13 June 2018
The ride-hailing giant is doubling down on the nation of 1.3 billion people after selling off its business in China and Southeast Asia.

— andrew j. hawkins, The Verge, "Uber Lite is a slimmed down, 5MB version of the app for emerging markets," 12 June 2018
In New York and Massachusetts, lawmakers have gone as far as mandating that ride-hailing services cannot increase their fares during states of emergency and natural disasters.

— tracey lien, latimes.com, "Honolulu lawmakers agree to cap surge pricing for Uber and Lyft," 7 June 2018
Overnight parking will be limited to 14 hours and the bar crowd is encouraged to get home by using ride-hailing services such as Uber.

— marci shatzman, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Delray to start charging for downtown parking on Monday," 6 June 2018
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, in 2017 found that 61 percent of trips using ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft would not have been made or people would have walked, biked or used transit.

— michelle baruchman, The Seattle Times, "Airbnb for cars? Getaround app lets users rent cars from strangers by the hour," 4 June 2018
Buffett proposed similar terms to Uber in the wake of a crisis of the ride-hailing company's own making.

— eric newcomer and olivia zaleski, chicagotribune.com, "Buffett said to have offered Uber $3 billion but talks crumbled," 31 May 2018

First Known Use of ride

1708

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

ride Synonyms

Synonyms

lift, transportation;

Related Words

drive, spin, turn;

joyride;

conveyance, passage, transit, transport;

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

apiary, bantam, calico, girth, hogwash, mast, rut

Ride

biographical name \ ˈrīd \

Definition of Ride

Sally Kristen 1951–2012 American astronaut

RIDE Defined for English Language Learners

ride

verb

Definition of ride for English Language Learners

: to sit on and control the movements of (a horse, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.)
: to travel to a place as a passenger on or in (something that is moving, such as a bus, a train, or an elevator) ( chiefly US )
: to go on a mechanical ride at an amusement park or similar place

ride

noun

Definition of ride for English Language Learners

: a usually short journey in or on a vehicle
: a usually short journey on a horse or other animal
: a large machine at an amusement park, fair, etc., that people ride on for enjoyment

RIDE Defined for Kids

ride

verb \ ˈrīd \

Definition of ride for Students

rode \ˈrōd\; ridden \ˈri-dᵊn\; riding \ˈrī-diŋ\

1 : to travel or move by sitting or standing on or in

I ride the bus.

2 : to sit on and control so as to be carried along

I learned to ride a bicycle.

3 : to be supported or carried on

Surfers rode the waves.

4 : to travel over a surface

The car rides well.

5 : to endure without great harm or damage

We'll ride out the storm.

6 : depend 2

Our hopes are riding on you.

—

rider

\ˈrī-dər\ noun

ride

noun

Definition of ride for Students

1 : a trip on horseback or by vehicle

2 : a mechanical device (as a merry-go-round) that moves around while people sit or stand on it for entertainment

3 : a way of getting from one place to another

She needs a ride to school.

Learn More about ride

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for ride Spanish Central: Translation of ride Nglish: Translation of ride for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of ride for Arabic speakers

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ride

Definition of ride

rideable

Examples of ride in a Sentence

Recent Examples of ride from the Web

Origin and Etymology of ride

ride Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

ride

Definition of ride

Examples of ride in a Sentence

Recent Examples of ride from the Web

First Known Use of ride

ride Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

Ride

Definition of Ride

RIDE Defined for English Language Learners

ride

Definition of ride for English Language Learners

ride

Definition of ride for English Language Learners

RIDE Defined for Kids

ride

Definition of ride for Students

rider

ride

Definition of ride for Students

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