# ride

> English word · Verb · IPA /ɹaɪd/ · frequency rank #1,498

## Definitions
1. To transport oneself by sitting on and directing a horse, later also a bicycle etc.
2. To be transported in a vehicle; to travel as a passenger.
3. To transport (someone) in a vehicle.
4. Of a ship: to sail, to float on the water.
5. To be carried or supported by something lightly and quickly; to travel in such a way, as though on horseback.
6. To traverse by riding.
7. To convey, as by riding; to make or do by riding.
8. To exploit or take advantage of (a situation).
9. To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle.
10. To mount (someone) to have sex with them.
11. To have sex with (someone).
12. To nag or criticize; to annoy (someone).
13. Of clothing: to gradually move (up) and crease; to ruckle.
14. To rely, depend (on).
15. Of clothing: to rest (in a given way on a part of the body).
16. To play defense on the defensemen or midfielders, as an attackman.
17. To manage insolently at will; to domineer over.
18. To overlap (each other); said of bones or fractured fragments.
19. To monitor (some component of an audiovisual signal) in order to keep it within acceptable bounds.
20. In jazz, to play in a steady rhythmical style.

## Etymology
From Middle English riden, from Old English rīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *rīdan, from Proto-Germanic *rīdaną (“to ride”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreydʰ- (“to ride”), from *h₃reyH- (“to move”), from *h₃er- (“to move, stir”).
Cognates
From Proto-Germanic: North Frisian ride, ridj, rir (“to ride”), West Frisian ride (“to ride”), Dutch rijden, ryden (“to ride; to drive”), German reiten, reuten (“to ride”), German Low German rieden (“to ride; to drive”), Limburgish rieje (“to ride; to drive”), Luxembourgish reiden (“to ride”), Vilamovian raeita, rajta (“to ride”), Danish ride (“to ride”), Faroese and Icelandic ríða (“to ride”), Norwegian Bokmål ri, ride (“to ride”), Norwegian Nynorsk ri, rida, ride (“to ride”), Swedish rida (“to ride”).
From Indo-European: Cornish ardh (“height”), Irish arad, ard, árd (“high, tall”), Manx ard (“high, tall”), Scottish Gaelic àrd (“high”), Welsh ardd (“hill, upland”), Latin irrītō (“to excite, incite, stimulate; to exasperate”), Ancient Greek ὀρῑ́νω (orī́nō, “to move, stir”), Albanian rashë (“to have fallen; to have flopped”), Russian ре́ять (réjatʹ, “to fly, hover, soar”), Armenian հառնել (haṙnel, “to get up; to rise up”), Northern Kurdish rîtin (“to shit”), Persian ریدن (ridan, “to shit; to fuck up, to screw up”), Tocharian A ar- (“to evoke; to produce, yield”), Tocharian B er- (“to evoke; to produce, yield”), Hittite 𒅈𒉡𒊻𒍣 (ar-nu-uz-zi, “to address, send”), Sanskrit रीति (rīti, “course, motion; current, stream; line, row”).

## Easily confused with
- **Rio** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rio)
- **rip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rip)
- **rod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rod)
- **rig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rig)
- **rim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rim)
- **rue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rue)
- **rye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rye)
- **roe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-roe)
- **rin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rin)
- **RTD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rtd)
- **rit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rit)
- **risk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-risk)
- **rule** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rule)
- **rose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rose)
- **ring** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-ring)
- **rise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rise)
- **Rome** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rome)
- **rude** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rude)
- **riot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-riot)
- **rope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rope)

## Common misspellings (5)
`irde`, `rdie`, `ridde`, `ried`, `rride`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ride