straddle

1 of 2

verb

strad·​dle ˈstra-dᵊl How to pronounce straddle (audio)
straddled; straddling ˈstrad-liŋ How to pronounce straddle (audio)
ˈstra-dᵊl-iŋ

intransitive verb

1
: to stand, sit, or walk with the legs wide apart
especially : to sit astride
2
: to spread out irregularly : sprawl
3
: to favor or seem to favor two apparently opposite sides
4
: to execute a commodities market spread

transitive verb

1
: to stand, sit, or be astride of
straddle a horse
campsites straddling the river
2
: to be noncommittal in regard to
straddle an issue
3
: to belong in part to (each of several categories)
a movie straddling genres
straddler
ˈstrad-lər How to pronounce straddle (audio)
ˈstra-dᵊl-ər
noun

straddle

2 of 2

noun

1
: the act or position of one who straddles
2
: a noncommittal or equivocal position
3
Phrases
straddle the fence
: to be in a position of neutrality or indecision

Examples of straddle in a Sentence

Verb Turkey straddles Asia and Europe.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
In a district that straddles the Hollywood Hills, Raman was leading Deputy City Atty. David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 Forte has been one of the loudest voices campaigning against the tax-free changes and has seen the impact for himself via his network of five-star properties that straddle the U.K. and EU. Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 1 Mar. 2024 Patagonia Patagonia, the remote region at the tip of South America straddling large swaths of both Argentina and Chile, is justly prized as one of the most remote and beautiful places on the face of the earth. Everett Potter, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 Variety spoke with eight people who have straddled both professions and who argue that the modeling world suffers from a lack of guardrails. Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 9 Feb. 2024 But what if your favorite lake straddles the areas covered above, or is just a little faster or slower to warm up compared to similar waters? Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 21 Feb. 2024 Amazon’s cloud computing division AWS has also straddled both camps, initially cozying up to open-source players such as Hugging Face and then later inking a partnership with Anthropic, which offers proprietary models. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 21 Feb. 2024 This unique habitat straddles Maryland and Virginia and offers animal lovers the opportunity to experience their beach day with a side of equine sightings. Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 20 Feb. 2024 His Bronx childhood straddled a yawning divide between his religious education—rabbis droning on about the Jew’s existence outside time, in an eternal recurrence of exile, persecution, and dispossession—and its American counterpart: destiny made manifest in ceaseless forward motion. Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
Noun
Spears sensually dips and dances around the pole, occasionally using the apparatus to nail a spin or straddle as Trent Rezor’s urgent voice provides the soundtrack for her pole-formance. Starr Bowenbank, Billboard, 14 Aug. 2023 The different auras as well as eras Laufey straddles could be seen in her costume change at the Ford. Chris Willman, Variety, 19 Sep. 2023 Hold for 20 seconds, then repeat three times. Side stretch: From the seated straddle, tuck one leg in, leaving the other out to the side. Women's Health, 11 July 2023 And that’s the dorsal straddle in a nutshell. Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2016 While the mixed-use neighborhood straddles Orange and Osceola, two-thirds of it is in Osceola, with up to 28,000 new homes and apartments planned, said Jessi Blakley, a Tavistock spokesperson. Trevor Fraser, Orlando Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2023 That earlier law, which DeSantis and state legislators rushed across the finish line in a sprint last spring, would have left taxpayers in Orange and Osceola counties, the two counties Disney straddles, saddled with debt owed by the district. Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2023 The interdependence of the institution of the monarchy with another, less hallowed, institution, the press, has morphed in the age of social media to the point that royals are expected simultaneously to be fascinating, consumable celebrities and aloof moral avatars—an impossible straddle. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2022 That cultural straddle has helped land him the top job at one of the world’s biggest tech companies. Stu Woo, WSJ, 22 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'straddle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

irregular from stride

First Known Use

Verb

1565, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of straddle was in 1565

Dictionary Entries Near straddle

Cite this Entry

“Straddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straddle. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

straddle

1 of 2 verb
strad·​dle ˈstrad-ᵊl How to pronounce straddle (audio)
straddled; straddling ˈstrad-liŋ How to pronounce straddle (audio)
-ᵊl-iŋ
1
: to stand, sit, or walk with the legs wide apart
2
: to approve or seem to approve two apparently opposite sides
straddle a question
straddler
-lər How to pronounce straddle (audio)
-ᵊl-ər
noun

straddle

2 of 2 noun
: the act or position of one that straddles

Legal Definition

straddle

noun
strad·​dle
ˈstrad-ᵊl
: the purchase of an equal number of put options and call options on the same underlying securities with the same price and maturity date
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