1
as in perched
to be in or move into a seated or standing position with your legs on either side of (something)
She straddled the horse and waited for her riding partner to mount.
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2
as in spanned
to be on both sides of (something)
The town straddles the river. The movie straddles the line between comedy and drama.
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3
as in shook
to agree with or seem to agree with two opposite sides of (something)
The politician straddled the issue for weeks.
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Recent Examples of straddled
Her husband then climbed on top of her and straddled her with his legs across her waist.
—
Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2026
Another is the rise in millennials, straddled by student loan debt and lower wages than their parents, moving out later or moving back home after school.
—Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 3 Mar. 2026
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath, the first-run leader, straddled a gate and was out.
—ABC News, 16 Feb. 2026
Guthrie’s street straddled a light green and a light orange section.
—Sarah Lapidus, AZCentral.com, 12 Feb. 2026
In Latakia, a giant bronze figure was knocked over and then dragged through the streets as people straddled its head like a Jet Ski.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 8 Feb. 2026
The Toronto Maple Leafs have typically straddled the limits of the NHL’s dress code.
—Julian McKenzie, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The hero of the book’s first section is the sixteenth-century Spanish priest and writer Bartolomé de las Casas, who straddled the Old World and the New, issuing startling moral novelties to both.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2025
Purdy correctly straddled the line on the play between being safe and taking a shot.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 1 Dec. 2025
Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2026
Another is the rise in millennials, straddled by student loan debt and lower wages than their parents, moving out later or moving back home after school.
—Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 3 Mar. 2026
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath, the first-run leader, straddled a gate and was out.
—ABC News, 16 Feb. 2026
Guthrie’s street straddled a light green and a light orange section.
—Sarah Lapidus, AZCentral.com, 12 Feb. 2026
In Latakia, a giant bronze figure was knocked over and then dragged through the streets as people straddled its head like a Jet Ski.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 8 Feb. 2026
The Toronto Maple Leafs have typically straddled the limits of the NHL’s dress code.
—Julian McKenzie, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The hero of the book’s first section is the sixteenth-century Spanish priest and writer Bartolomé de las Casas, who straddled the Old World and the New, issuing startling moral novelties to both.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2025
Purdy correctly straddled the line on the play between being safe and taking a shot.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 1 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for straddled
Verb
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The restaurant is perched above the casino on the second floor, next to a food hall that boasts lobster rolls, burgers, pizza, sushi and, yes, tacos.—
Jenn Harris,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Apr. 2026
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By 2024, his team had mapped nearly all of an enormous reef off the Carolina coast, perched a thousand metres down.—
Jeffrey Marlow,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Expanse spanned a lot of different tones and genres, but this series is a lot more compact and focused.—
Sarah Lewin Frasier,
Scientific American,
10 Apr. 2026
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This was the final stop on Swift’s Eras Tour, which spanned 149 shows across five continents.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The vicious murder that followed shook Kansas City to its core and to this day, no one knows for certain who snuck into Leila Welsh’s bedroom and brutally murdered her that morning.—
Patrick Salland,
Kansas City Star,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Magnus shook his head, his damp hair flopping against the back of his neck.—
Ben Mezrich,
Vanity Fair,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
As catcher Dillon Dingler got down in his catching stance, Hinch squatted and leaned against a fence off to the side.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
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Beneath it, a man squatted on the pavement, staring at nothing in particular, a glass pipe drooping from his fingers.—
Sam Kriss,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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At the same time, the rise of digital competition has intersected with broader social trends.—
Tracy Yochum,
Miami Herald,
6 Apr. 2026
-
The realms of philosophy and religion have sometimes intersected in conducting such inquiries as these.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Of the five live roaches spotted, one was crawling on a handwash sink inside the kitchen and two ducked under a coffee machine nearby.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
5 Apr. 2026
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Republicans broadly supported the administration's military action in Iran, but most GOP incumbents in competitive races have noticeably ducked addressing rising gas prices while defending the war itself.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Levi Jones, a 33-year-old business owner, pulled up to Sacred Eye Tattoos in Hollywood last week and sat for eight hours getting a photorealistic black-and-white portrait of Mangione on his leg.—
Amanda Rosa,
Orlando Sentinel,
24 Dec. 2024
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The birthday boy and his big sister Sterling Skye, 3, each sat between one of their parents’ laps.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
24 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Straddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straddled. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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