saddle

[sad-l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR saddle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a seat for a rider on the back of a horse or other animal.

a similar seat on a bicycle, tractor, etc.

a part of a harness laid across the back of an animal and girded under the belly, to which the terrets and checkhook are attached.

something resembling a saddle in shape, position, or function.

the part of the back of an animal where a saddle is placed.

(of mutton, venison, lamb, etc.) a cut comprising both loins.
this cut, trimmed and prepared for roasting.

(of poultry) the posterior part of the back.

a ridge connecting two higher elevations.

the covering of a roof ridge.

bolster(def 7).

a raised piece of flooring between the jambs of a doorway.

an inverted bracket bearing on the axle of a railroad car wheel as a support for the car body.

Ordnance. the support for the trunnion on some gun carriages.

Machinery. a sliding part for spanning a space or other parts to support something else, as the cross slide and toolholder of a lathe.

a strip of leather, often of a contrasting color, sewn on the vamp or instep of a shoe and extending to each side of the shank.

saddle shoe.

Ceramics. a bar of refractory clay, triangular in section, for supporting one side of an object being fired.

(in a suspension bridge) a member at the top of a tower for supporting a cable.

verb (used with object), sad·dled, sad·dling.

to put a saddle on: to saddle a horse.

to load or charge, as with a burden: He has saddled himself with a houseful of impecunious relatives.

to impose as a burden or responsibility.

verb (used without object), sad·dled, sad·dling.

to put a saddle on a horse (often followed by up).

to mount into the saddle (often followed by up).

Idioms

in the saddle,

in a position to direct or command; in control.
at work; on the job.

Origin of saddle

before 900; (noun) Middle English sadel, Old English sadol; cognate with German Sattel, Old Norse sǫthull; (v.) Middle English sad(e)len, Old English sadolian, derivative of the noun; akin to sit¹

Related formssad·dle·less, adjectivesad·dle·like, adjectivere·sad·dle, verb, re·sad·dled, re·sad·dling.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for saddle

seat, pillion, howdah, packsaddle

Examples from the Web for saddle

Contemporary Examples of saddle

Certainly Weaver has been the burr under Palmer's saddle for almost his entire career.
Will the Real Jim Palmer Please Stand Up
Tom Boswell
September 27, 2014
We will not rest till we find out what she ordered and how that famous butt is holding up after four days in the saddle.
Pippa Eating At McDonalds in Missouri RIGHT NOW!
Tom Sykes
June 18, 2014
With the big kettledrums on either side of the saddle, and all that.
Adam Hochschild on Keeping Company With His Dying Father
Adam Hochschild
June 14, 2014
But today, skyrocketing costs price way too many young people out of a higher education, or saddle them with unsustainable debt.
Full Text and Video of President Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address
Justin Green
February 13, 2013
In February 1909, at age 79, he toppled drunk from his saddle at Fort Sill, Okla.
The Bin Laden of His Day? A New Biography of Geronimo
Marc Wortman
December 5, 2012

Historical Examples of saddle

Stephen caught the bridle, and Ambrose helped the burgess into the saddle.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
He leaned over the saddle and spurred the pinto into his racing gait.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Andy turned in the saddle and grinned back at the followers.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Then, still softly and swiftly, he lifted the saddle from its peg and put it on its back.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
"Give me three minutes to get my saddle on my horse and out of town," said Andrew.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand

British Dictionary definitions for saddle

saddle

noun

a seat for a rider, usually made of leather, placed on a horse's back and secured with a girth under the belly

a similar seat on a bicycle, tractor, etc, made of leather or steel

a back pad forming part of the harness of a packhorse

anything that resembles a saddle in shape, position, or function

a cut of meat, esp mutton, consisting of part of the backbone and both loins

the part of a horse or similar animal on which a saddle is placed

the part of the back of a domestic chicken that is nearest to the tail

civil engineering a block on top of one of the towers of a suspension bridge that acts as a bearing surface over which the cables or chains pass

engineering the carriage that slides on the bed of a lathe and supports the slide rest, tool post, or turret

the nontechnical name for clitellum

another name for col (def. 1)

a raised piece of wood or metal for covering a doorsill

in the saddle in a position of control

verb

(sometimes foll by up) to put a saddle on (a horse)

(intr) to mount into the saddle

(tr) to burden; chargeI didn't ask to be saddled with this job

Derived Formssaddleless, adjectivesaddle-like, adjective

Word Origin for saddle

Old English sadol, sædel; related to Old Norse sothull, Old High German satul

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for saddle

Old English sadol "seat for a rider," from Proto-Germanic *sathulaz (cf. Old Norse söðull, Old Frisian sadel, Dutch zadel, zaal, German Sattel "saddle"), from PIE *sed- (1) "to sit" (cf. Latin sedere "to sit," Old Church Slavonic sedlo "saddle;" see sedentary). Figurative phrase in the saddle "in an active position of management" is attested from 1650s. Saddle stitch (n.) was originally in bookbinding (1887).

Old English sadolian "to put a riding saddle on;" see saddle (n.). The meaning "to load with a burden" is first recorded 1690s. Related: Saddled; saddling.

saddle in Medicine

saddle

[săd′l]

n.

A structure shaped like a saddle.

Idioms and Phrases with saddle

saddle

In addition to the idiom beginning with saddle

saddle someone with

also see:

in the driver's seat (saddle)