straddle

American  

[strad-l] / ˈstræd l /

verb (used without object)

• straddles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• straddled,
  past participle,  past
• straddling
  present participle

1. to walk, stand, or sit with the legs wide apart; stand or sit astride.

2. to stand wide apart, as the legs.

3. to favor or appear to favor both sides of an issue, political division, or the like, at once; maintain an equivocal position.

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verb (used with object)

• straddles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• straddled,
  past participle,  past
• straddling
  present participle

1. to walk, stand, or sit with one leg on each side of; stand or sit astride of.

   to straddle a horse.

2. to spread (the legs) wide apart.

3. to favor or appear to favor both sides of (an issue, political division, etc.).

noun

1. an act or instance of straddling.

2. the distance straddled over.

3. the taking of a noncommittal position.

4. Finance.

   1. an option consisting of a put and a call combined, both at the same current market price and for the same specified period.

   2. a similar transaction in securities or futures in which options to buy and sell the same security or commodity are purchased simultaneously in order to hedge one's risk.

straddle British  

/ ˈstrædəl /

verb

1. (tr) to have one leg, part, or support on each side of

2. informal (tr) to be in favour of both sides of (something)

3. (intr) to stand, walk, or sit with the legs apart

4. (tr) to spread (the legs) apart

5. military to fire a number of shots slightly beyond and slightly short of (a target) to determine the correct range

6. (intr) (in poker, of the second player after the dealer) to double the ante before looking at one's cards

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noun

1. the act or position of straddling

2. a noncommittal attitude or stand

3. commerce a contract or option permitting its purchaser to either sell or buy securities or commodities within a specified period of time at specified prices. It is a combination of a put and a call option Compare spread

4. athletics a high-jumping technique in which the body is parallel with the bar and the legs straddle it at the highest point of the jump

5. (in poker) the stake put up after the ante in poker by the second player after the dealer

6. a wooden frame placed on a horse's back to which panniers are attached

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• straddler
  noun
• unstraddled
  adjective
• straddlingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• straddling
  present
• straddled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• straddle
  simple
• straddles
  simple
• have straddled
  perfect
• has straddled
  perfect
• am straddling
  progressive
• are straddling
  progressive
• is straddling
  progressive
• have been straddling
  perfect progressive
• has been straddling
  perfect progressive

Past

• straddled
  simple
• had straddled
  perfect
• was straddling
  progressive
• were straddling
  progressive
• had been straddling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will straddle
  simple
• will have straddled
  perfect
• will be straddling
  progressive
• will have been straddling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of straddle

1555–65; apparently frequentative (with -le ) of variant stem of stride

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Explanation

When you straddle something, you're sitting on it with one leg on each side — like straddling a horse or a fence. Unless you're using an old-fashioned side-saddle, you straddle a horse when you ride it. Gymnasts learn how to straddle the parallel bars, basically doing the splits on them. But if someone says you're "straddling the fence," it means you're doing a different kind of split: you're not taking a side and refusing to commit. In finance, straddling means you want to leave your options open to buy or sell.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

straddle straddles straddled straddling

If England want another player who can straddle the No. 9 and No. 10 positions simultaneously, then Bellingham could be their best fit.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Ontario is the smallest by surface area of the five Great Lakes, which straddle the Canada-US border between Ontario province and the US state of New York.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

Cost: Price of the straddle expressed as a percentage of the underlying stock price.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

Instead, Krishna believed his customers would jump at being able to straddle the two worlds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

Tiamat agreed, and Jeremy found it far more comfortable to straddle her back than to be carried in her claws.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

The tower is to fill the West Hollywood portion of the former Cemex Hollywood Concrete Plant site, which straddles the city border with Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

The field is part of the Loran-Manatee offshore gas accumulation and straddles the maritime boundary between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

For the stocks listed in this table, that would mean buying the straddles expiring on Aug. 14, or the next nearest date if that expiration date not exist for a particular stock.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

The lab sat on an acre of land in a forest that straddles the border of Abidagba and Iroto villages.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

Working quickly, he straddles Lincoln’s chest and begins resuscitating the president, hoping to improve the flow of oxygen to his brain.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

At Politico, his responsibilities have straddled both editorial and business development, including expanding Politico’s brand presence and journalism at global conferences on security and energy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

As Neil Simpson straddled a gate at the start of his slalom run on Sunday, it perhaps summed up just how tricky these Winter Paralympics have been for Great Britain.

From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026

The defending Olympic champion duly followed team orders to attack, but it didn't last long as he straddled a gate high up the course.

From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026

I’m amongst the last generation with a childhood that straddled both digital and analog media, but I always knew which one offered me the most expansive worldview.

From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2025

This opulent sobriety betrayed the divided nature of the school, just as in a different way the two rivers that it straddled did.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

In fact, some of America’s long-standing allies have already started straddling.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

It will make Centalion a major player in the Haynesville basin, a prolific gas patch straddling Texas and Louisiana.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

In the early period of running the club, Arsenal found themselves - in Kroenke's own words - "straddling strategies" as they chased Champions League qualification and trophies.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

Tinubu said in his statement that al-Minuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, was slain along with his lieutenants, "on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin", a restive region straddling Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

From Barron's ● May 16, 2026

They led to ridges so narrow and so steep on both sides that straddling was the easiest solution.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

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