stride
Americanverb (used without object)
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strides,
present (3rd person singular)
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strode,
past participle, past
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stridden,
past participle
-
striding
present participle
-
to walk with long steps, as with vigor, haste, impatience, or arrogance.
-
to take a long step.
to stride across a puddle.
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to straddle.
verb (used with object)
-
strides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strode,
past participle, past
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stridden,
past participle
-
striding
present participle
-
to walk with long steps along, on, through, over, etc..
to stride the deck.
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to pass over or across in one long step.
to stride a ditch.
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to straddle.
noun
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strides
plural
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a striding manner or a striding gait.
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a long step in walking.
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(in animal locomotion) the act of progressive movement completed when all the feet are returned to the same relative position as at the beginning.
-
the distance covered by such a movement.
He was walking a stride or two ahead of the others.
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a regular or steady course, pace, etc.
-
a step forward in development or progress.
rapid strides in mastering algebra.
- Synonyms:
- improvement, headway, progress, development, advancement
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Australian Informal. strides, trousers.
idioms
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hit one's stride,
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to achieve a regular or steady pace or course.
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to reach the point or level at which one functions most competently and consistently.
The quarterback didn't hit his stride until the second half of the game.
-
-
take in stride, to deal with calmly; cope with successfully.
She was able to take her sudden rise to fame in stride.
noun
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a long step or pace
-
the space measured by such a step
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a striding gait
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an act of forward movement by an animal, completed when the legs have returned to their initial relative positions
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progress or development (esp in the phrase make rapid strides )
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a regular pace or rate of progress
to get into one's stride
to be put off one's stride
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rowing the distance covered between strokes
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Also called: stride piano. jazz a piano style characterized by single bass notes on the first and third beats and chords on the second and fourth
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informal (plural) men's trousers
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to do something without difficulty or effort
verb
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(intr) to walk with long regular or measured paces, as in haste, etc
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(tr) to cover or traverse by striding
he strode thirty miles
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to cross (over a space, obstacle, etc) with a stride
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(intr) rowing to achieve the desired rhythm in a racing shell
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stridesimple
-
stridessimple
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have striddenperfect
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have strodeperfect
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has striddenperfect
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has strodeperfect
-
am stridingprogressive
-
are stridingprogressive
-
is stridingprogressive
-
have been stridingperfect progressive
-
has been stridingperfect progressive
Past
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strodesimple
-
had striddenperfect
-
had strodeperfect
-
was stridingprogressive
-
were stridingprogressive
-
had been stridingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stride
First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English striden, Old English strīdan; cognate with Dutch strijden, Low German strīden “to stride”; (noun) Middle English stride, derivative of the verb; akin to straddle
Explanation
The noun stride means "significant progress." You might make a huge stride towards making peace with the rival school by hosting a block party and inviting their students. The noun stride also means "a step made while running or walking." If you are bored, you can count your strides between home and the bus stop. As a verb, stride means "to walk or run by taking long steps." Elite runners stride, making it look easy. But even if you are a slow jogger, don't give up — you make great strides to improve your health when you exercise regularly.
Vocabulary lists containing stride
"Of Mice and Men"
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"It's something I'm kind of used to, Smith said. "I've copped a lot at times away from home, at different venues across my career, and it's something that I take in my own stride.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
In the past, Hernández had used a “twister tap” as his stride.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Yields of 5% may be taken in stride, but hitting 5.5% or 6% on the 10-year note would be more concerning, Sockin said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
The global economy, to some surprise, has taken it all in its stride.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Rex leaped the pitcher’s mound in one stride.
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
But by making strides in integrating agency, belonging and cause into your life, you pave the way for a smooth transition.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
She said AI is making impressive strides but thinks claims by engineers that they’ve achieved recursive self-improvement don’t stand up to scrutiny.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
He said that companies have made tremendous strides in defending against cybersecurity risks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
As poster boy Armand Duplantis performed the Ultimate Championship's official song and fireworks lit up the sky above the newly crowned winners, athletics had taken its first strides in a new direction.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
The man stopped two strides ahead of them and turned to look at them all.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
"I'm the boss," Trump said as he strode in to the morning session of the last day, with the other leaders already in their seats.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
Will Smith crouched, his left knee on the ground and his mitt grazing the dirt as his Team USA teammate, Mason Miller, strode towards the plate.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
After summoning the White House press pool, Trump strode to a podium bearing the presidential seal and, unprompted, declared that the “lies” linking her to Jeffrey Epstein had to end.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
Harper strode towards the centre of the 19th-Century grand hall, buoyed by her travelling Yorkshire faithful.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2026
I straightened my spine to my full five feet seven inches and strode out without a backward glance.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
And it is into this perceived vacuum that Andy Burnham has stridden, again, to the intense irritation of Downing Street and plenty of Labour MPs.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025
He had stridden through the deep woods with no thought of danger; he concentrated only on finding the pair that he had seen so close to death.
From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry
For just then I nearly jumped out of my chair on hearing the major’s voice asking for Captain Brace, and the next moment he had stridden into the room.
From Gil the Gunner The Youngest Officer in the East by William Heysham Overend
But Foster was a man not easily daunted by such things, and he had stridden on manfully, fully occupied by his own thoughts, till he reached the stile where the footpath to the ruins began.
From True to his Colours The Life that Wears Best by D. A. Helm
The larger quarter deck on to which Sir George Grey had stridden, much needed cleaning up.
From The Romance of a Pro-Consul Being The Personal Life And Memoirs Of The Right Hon. Sir George Grey, K.C.B. by James Milne
Rangzen's livestream of his death shows a heavy-set man striding across a street in a traditional "chuba" robe and planting a Tibetan flag outside the UN.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Two wickets down, next to no runs on the board, Root striding down the steps and stretching at the boundary's edge before sprinting halfway to the crease.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
One imagines not the ghost of Cathy or Heathcliff, but a trio of women, very much alive and striding through the heather, their minds alight with the stories they would tell, set among similar terrain.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
It will be Vance striding toward planes in photographs and Vance standing behind podiums to explain why negotiations aren’t working.
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2026
The hallway behind the door on the far right had a few doors on either side, yet May’s grandmother bypassed them all, striding confidently toward a door at the far end of the hall.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
