\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[=i]dan; akin to LG. riden, D. rijden, G.
reiten, OHG. r[=i]tan, Icel. r[=i][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.
         To-morrow, when ye riden by the way.  --Chaucer.
         Let your master ride on before, and do you gallop
         after him.                            --Swift.
2. To be borne in a carriage; as, to ride in a coach, in a
   car, and the like. See Synonym, below.
         The richest inhabitants exhibited their wealth, not
         by riding in gilden carriages, but by walking the
         streets with trains of servants.      --Macaulay.
3. To be borne or in a fluid; to float; to lie.
         Men once walked where ships at anchor ride.
                                               --Dryden.
4. To be supported in motion; to rest.
         Strong as the exletree On which heaven rides.
                                               --Shak.
         On whose foolish honesty My practices ride easy!
                                               --Shak.
5. To manage a horse, as an equestrian.
         He rode, he fenced, he moved with graceful ease.
                                               --Dryden.
6. To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle;
   as, a horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast.
{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.
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.
             ``Will you ride over or drive?'' said Lord
             Willowby to his quest, after breakfast that
             morning.                          --W. Black.

\Ride\, v. t.
1. To sit on, so as to be carried; as, to ride a horse; to
   ride a bicycle.
         [They] rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the
         air In whirlwind.                     --Milton.
2. To manage insolently at will; to domineer over.
         The nobility could no longer endure to be ridden by
         bakers, cobblers, and brewers.        --Swift.
3. To convey, as by riding; to make or do by riding.
         Tue only men that safe can ride Mine errands on the
         Scottish side.                        --Sir W.
                                               Scott.
4. (Surg.) To overlap (each other); -- said of bones or
   fractured fragments.
{To ride a hobby}, to have some favorite occupation or
   subject of talk.
{To ride and tie}, to take turn with another in labor and
   rest; -- from the expedient adopted by two persons with
   one horse, one of whom rides the animal a certain
   distance, and then ties him for the use of the other, who
   is coming up on foot. --Fielding.
{To ride down}.
   (a) To ride over; to trample down in riding; to overthrow
       by riding against; as, to ride down an enemy.
   (b) (Naut.) To bear down, as on a halyard when hoisting a
       sail.
{To ride out} (Naut.), to keep safe afloat during (a storm)
   while riding at anchor or when hove to on the open sea;
   as, to ride out the gale.

\Ride\, n.
1. The act of riding; an excursion on horseback or in a
   vehicle.
2. A saddle horse. [Prov. Eng.] --Wright.
3. A road or avenue cut in a wood, or through grounds, to be
   used as a place for riding; a riding.