From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Ride \Ride\, v. i. [imp. Rode (r[=o]d) (Rid [r[i^]d],
archaic); p. p. Ridden(Rid, archaic); p. pr. & vb. n.
Riding.] [AS. r[imac]dan; akin to LG. riden, D. rijden, G.
reiten, OHG. r[imac]tan, Icel. r[imac][eth]a, Sw. rida, Dan.
ride; cf. L. raeda a carriage, which is from a Celtic word.
Cf. Road.]
1. To be carried on the back of an animal, as a horse.
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To-morrow, when ye riden by the way. --Chaucer.
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Let your master ride on before, and do you gallop
after him. --Swift.
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2. To be borne in a carriage; as, to ride in a coach, in a
car, and the like. See Synonym, below.
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The richest inhabitants exhibited their wealth, not
by riding in gilden carriages, but by walking the
streets with trains of servants. --Macaulay.
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3. To be borne or in a fluid; to float; to lie.
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Men once walked where ships at anchor ride.
--Dryden.
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4. To be supported in motion; to rest.
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Strong as the exletree
On which heaven rides. --Shak.
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On whose foolish honesty
My practices ride easy! --Shak.
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5. To manage a horse, as an equestrian.
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He rode, he fenced, he moved with graceful ease.
--Dryden.
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6. To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle;
as, a horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast.
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To ride easy (Naut.), to lie at anchor without violent
pitching or straining at the cables.
To ride hard (Naut.), to pitch violently.
To ride out.
(a) To go upon a military expedition. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
(b) To ride in the open air. [Colloq.]
To ride to hounds, to ride behind, and near to, the hounds
in hunting.
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Syn: Drive.
Usage: Ride, Drive. Ride originally meant (and is so used
throughout the English Bible) to be carried on
horseback or in a vehicle of any kind. At present in
England, drive is the word applied in most cases to
progress in a carriage; as, a drive around the park,
etc.; while ride is appropriated to progress on a
horse. Johnson seems to sanction this distinction by
giving "to travel on horseback" as the leading sense
of ride; though he adds "to travel in a vehicle" as a
secondary sense. This latter use of the word still
occurs to some extent; as, the queen rides to
Parliament in her coach of state; to ride in an
omnibus.
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"Will you ride over or drive?" said Lord
Willowby to his quest, after breakfast that
morning. --W. Black.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Riding \Rid"ing\ (r[imac]d"[i^]ng), n. [For thriding, Icel.
[thorn]ri[eth]jungr the third part, fr. [thorn]ri[eth]i
third, akin to E. third. See Third.]
One of the three jurisdictions into which the county of York,
in England, is divided; -- formerly under the government of a
reeve. They are called the North, the East, and the West,
Riding. --Blackstone.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Riding \Rid"ing\, a.
1. Employed to travel; traveling; as, a riding clerk. "One
riding apparitor." --Ayliffe.
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2. Used for riding on; as, a riding horse.
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3. Used for riding, or when riding; devoted to riding; as, a
riding whip; a riding habit; a riding day.
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Riding clerk.
(a) A clerk who traveled for a commercial house. [Obs.
Eng.]
(b) One of the "six clerks" formerly attached to the
English Court of Chancery.
Riding hood.
(a) A hood formerly worn by women when riding.
(b) A kind of cloak with a hood.
Riding master, an instructor in horsemanship.
Riding rhyme (Pros.), the meter of five accents, with
couplet rhyme; -- probably so called from the mounted
pilgrims described in the Canterbury Tales. --Dr. Guest.
Riding school, a school or place where the art of riding is
taught.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Riding \Rid"ing\, n.
1. The act or state of one who rides.
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2. A festival procession. [Obs.]
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When there any riding was in Cheap. --Chaucer.
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3. Same as Ride, n., 3. --Sir P. Sidney.
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4. A district in charge of an excise officer. [Eng.]
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Trithing \Tri"thing\, n. [See Ist Riding.]
One of three ancient divisions of a county in England; -- now
called riding. [Written also riding.] --Blackstone.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
riding
n 1: the sport of siting on the back of a horse while
controlling its movements [syn: riding, {horseback
riding}, equitation]
2: travel by being carried on horseback [syn: riding,
horseback riding]