ride

Etymology

From Middle English riden, from Old English rīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *rīdan, from Proto-Germanic *rīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreydʰ-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH-. Cognates: From Proto-Germanic: North Frisian ride (“to ride”), Saterland Frisian riede (“to ride”), West Frisian ride (“to ride”), Low German rieden (“to ride”), Dutch rijden (“to ride”), German reiten (“to ride”), Danish ride (“to ride”), Swedish rida (“to ride”). From Indo-European: Welsh rhwyddhau (“to hurry”).

verb

1. (intransitive, transitive) To transport oneself by sitting on and directing a horse, later also a bicycle etc.
   I ride to work every day and park the bike outside the office.
   It is characteristic of her that she hates trains, that she arrives from a rail-road journey a nervous wreck; but that she can ride a horse steadily for weeks through the most dangerous western passes. 28 Apr 1923, “Mrs. Rinehart”, in Time
   The original winner Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia was relegated after riding too aggressively to storm from fourth to first on the final bend. 6 Oct 2010, The Guardian
2. (intransitive, transitive) To be transported in a vehicle; to travel as a passenger.
   In an elaborately built, indoor San Francisco, passengers ride cable cars through quiet, hilly streets. 20 Jun 1960, “Biznelcmd”, in Time
3. (transitive, informal, chiefly US and South Africa) To transport (someone) in a vehicle.
   The cab rode him downtown.
4. (intransitive) Of a ship: to sail, to float on the water.
5. (transitive, intransitive) To be carried or supported by something lightly and quickly; to travel in such a way, as though on horseback.
   The witch cackled and rode away on her broomstick.
6. (transitive) To traverse by riding.
   Early women tobogganists rode the course in the requisite attire of their day: skirts. In spite of this hindrance, some women riders turned in very respectable performances. 1999, David Levinson, Karen Christensen, Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present
7. (transitive) To convey, as by riding; to make or do by riding.
   How many races have you ridden this year?
8. (transitive, figurative) To exploit or take advantage of (a situation).
   Now the question is: Can Lema ride his present impetus to a third tournament victory in the pressure-loaded Open or will he run out of steam? 1964-06-16, “All Eyes On Lema At U.S. Open This Week”, in The Indianapolis Star, volume 62, number 11, Indianapolis, Ind., page 22
   By labeling milk free of the artificial hormone, the dairy industry can ride the popularity of natural foods, without the greater expense and special feeds required to produce milk that can be fully certified as “organic.” 2006-10-07, Andrew Pollack, “Which Cows Do You Trust?”, in The New York Times
9. (intransitive) To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle.
   A horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast.
10. (intransitive, transitive, slang, vulgar) To mount (someone) to have sex with them; to have sexual intercourse with.
    She rode him hard, and he squeezed her breasts, and she came again. 1997, Linda Howard, Son of the Morning, page 345
11. (transitive, colloquial) To nag or criticize; to annoy (someone).
    “One old boy started riding me about not having gone to Vietnam; I just spit my coffee at him, and he backed off. 2002, Myra MacPherson, Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the haunted generation, page 375
12. (intransitive) Of clothing: to gradually move (up) and crease; to ruckle.
    In athletics, triple jumper Ashia Hansen advises a thong for training because, while knickers ride up, ‘thongs have nowhere left to go’: but in Beijing Britain's best are likely, she says, to forgo knickers altogether, preferring to go commando for their country under their GB kit. 27 Jul 2008, Ann Kessel, The Guardian
13. (intransitive) To rely, depend (on).
    With so much riding on the new payments system, it was thus a grave embarrassment to the government when the tariff for 2006-07 had to be withdrawn for amendments towards the end of February. 9 Mar 2006, “Grappling with deficits”, in The Economist
14. (intransitive) Of clothing: to rest (in a given way on a part of the body).
    She's wearing inky-blue jeans that ride low enough on her hips that her aquamarine thong peeks out teasingly at the back. 16 Sep 2001, Jenny Eliscu, “Oops...she's doing it again”, in The Observer
15. (lacrosse) To play defense on the defensemen or midfielders, as an attackman.
16. To manage insolently at will; to domineer over.
    The nobility[…] could no longer endure to be ridden by bakers, coblers[sic], brewers, and the like. 1731, Jonathan Swift, The Presbyterians Plea of Merit
17. (surgery) To overlap (each other); said of bones or fractured fragments.
18. (radio, television, transitive) To monitor (some component of an audiovisual signal) in order to keep it within acceptable bounds.
    vocal riding
    The board operator normally watches the meter scale marked for modulation percentage, riding the gain to bring volume peaks into the 85% to 100% range. 2006, Simran Kohli, Radio Jockey Handbook
    “You don't want them riding the volume knob, so that's why you learn how to do your levels properly to make the whole thing transparent for the listener. […] 2017, Michael O'Connell, Turn Up the Volume: A Down and Dirty Guide to Podcasting, page 22
19. (music) In jazz, to play in a steady rhythmical style.
    The quintet in Propheticape muses out-of-measured-time until Holland leads it into swift, riding jazz. 2000, Max Harrison, Charles Fox, Eric Thacker, The Essential Jazz Records: Modernism to postmodernism, page 238

noun

1. An instance of riding.
   Can I have a ride on your bike?
   We took the horses for an early-morning ride in the woods.
   go for a quick ride
2. (informal) A vehicle.
   That's a nice ride; what did it cost?
   pimp my ride
3. An amusement ridden at a fair or amusement park.
   the kids went on all the rides
4. A lift given to someone in another person's vehicle.
   Can you give me a ride home?
5. (UK) A road or avenue cut in a wood, for riding; a bridleway or other wide country path.
   "Could you see the ride that goes down and round the point of the woods...?" "I could see down it till it went round the corner."... "...Then Mr Fawcett comes down the ride, rushing his chair along like it was a racing car... He carried on down the ride. Next thing Miss Harmsworth comes down the ride from the field..." 2015, Roderic Jeffries, Death in the Coverts
6. (UK, dialect, archaic) A saddle horse.
   Stella, who in her day was a beautiful ride. 1904, Country Gentleman
7. (Ireland) A person (or sometimes a thing or a place) that is visually attractive.
   Absolutely, and I agree about Madonna. An absolute ride *still*. :-) M. July 14 2007, Michael O'Neill, “Re: More mouthy ineffectual poseurs...[was Re: Live Earth - One Of The Most Important Events On This Particular Planet - don't let SCI distract you”, in soc.culture.irish (Usenet)
8. (music) In jazz, a steady rhythmical style.
9. A wild, bewildering experience of some duration.
   That story was a ride from start to finish.
10. (slang, vulgar) An act of sexual intercourse
    I gave my boyfriend a ride before breakfast.