STRADDLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does straddle mean? 

• STRADDLE (noun)
  The noun STRADDLE has 4 senses:

1. a noncommittal or equivocal position

2. a gymnastic exercise performed with a leg on either side of the parallel bars

3. the act of sitting or standing astride

4. the option to buy or sell a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date; consists of an equal number of put and call options

  Familiarity information: STRADDLE used as a noun is uncommon.

• STRADDLE (verb)
  The verb STRADDLE has 3 senses:

1. sit or stand astride of

2. range or extend over; occupy a certain area

3. be noncommittal

  Familiarity information: STRADDLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STRADDLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A noncommittal or equivocal position

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("straddle" is a kind of...):

perspective; position; view (a way of regarding situations or topics etc.)

Derivation:

straddle (be noncommittal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A gymnastic exercise performed with a leg on either side of the parallel bars

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("straddle" is a kind of...):

gymnastic exercise ((gymnastics) an exercise designed to develop and display strength and agility and balance (usually performed with or on some gymnastic apparatus))

Derivation:

straddle (sit or stand astride of)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of sitting or standing astride

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

span; straddle

Hypernyms ("straddle" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Meronyms (parts of "straddle"):

call; call option (the option to buy a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date)

put; put option (the option to sell a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date)

Derivation:

straddle (sit or stand astride of)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The option to buy or sell a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date; consists of an equal number of put and call options

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("straddle" is a kind of...):

option (the right to buy or sell property at an agreed price; the right is purchased and if it is not exercised by a stated date the money is forfeited)

• STRADDLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they straddle    ... he / she / it straddles   
Past simple: straddled   
Past participle: straddled   
-ing form: straddling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sit or stand astride of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "straddle" is one way to...):

be (occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

straddle (the act of sitting or standing astride)

straddle (a gymnastic exercise performed with a leg on either side of the parallel bars)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Range or extend over; occupy a certain area

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

range; straddle

Context example:

The plants straddle the entire state

Hypernyms (to "straddle" is one way to...):

be; comprise; constitute; make up; represent (form or compose)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "straddle"):

spread-eagle (stretch over)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be noncommittal

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

straddle (a noncommittal or equivocal position)

 Context examples 

An adenocarcinoma that arises from and straddles the junction of the stomach and esophagus.

(Adenocarcinoma of the Gastroesophageal Junction, NCI Thesaurus)

In the end, one day, fear and obedience were swept away by the rush of life, and the cub straddled and sprawled toward the entrance.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The planets straddle an observed gap in the sizes of known planets and promise to be among the most curious targets for future studies.

(NASA’s TESS Mission Scores ‘Hat Trick’ With 3 New Worlds, NASA)

Straddling the dividing line between two categories.

(Borderline, NCI Thesaurus)

This was the formidable Dutch Sam, who fought at nine stone six, and yet possessed such hitting powers, that his admirers, in after years, were willing to back him against the fourteen-stone Tom Cribb, if each were strapped a-straddle to a bench.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The birds the model predicted would require the most extra water today, compared to 100 years ago, were the species that declined the most in the Mojave Desert, straddling the border between California and Nevada, over the past century.

(Collapse of desert bird populations likely due to heat stress from climate change, National Science Foundation)

He no longer sprawled and straddled, and already he was developing the gait of his mother, slinking and furtive, apparently without exertion, yet sliding along with a swiftness that was as deceptive as it was imperceptible.

(White Fang, by Jack London)