stride
Americanverb (used without object)
-
strides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strode,
past participle, past
-
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.
-
to straddle.
verb (used with object)
-
strides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strode,
past participle, past
-
stridden,
past participle
-
striding
present participle
-
to walk with long steps along, on, through, over, etc..
to stride the deck.
-
to pass over or across in one long step.
to stride a ditch.
-
to straddle.
noun
-
strides
plural
-
a striding manner or a striding gait.
-
a long step in walking.
-
(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.
-
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
-
Australian Informal. strides, trousers.
idioms
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hit one's stride,
-
to achieve a regular or steady pace or course.
-
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
-
a striding gait
-
an act of forward movement by an animal, completed when the legs have returned to their initial relative positions
-
progress or development (esp in the phrase make rapid strides )
-
a regular pace or rate of progress
to get into one's stride
to be put off one's stride
-
rowing the distance covered between strokes
-
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
-
informal (plural) men's trousers
-
to do something without difficulty or effort
verb
-
(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
-
(intr) rowing to achieve the desired rhythm in a racing shell
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
stridesimple
-
stridessimple
-
have striddenperfect
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have strodeperfect
-
has striddenperfect
-
has strodeperfect
-
am stridingprogressive
-
are stridingprogressive
-
is stridingprogressive
-
have been stridingperfect progressive
-
has been stridingperfect progressive
Past
-
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:
Angel City finally found its stride this summer when it fired manager Alexander Straus and replaced him with assistant Leif Gunnar Smerud.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
When Minaj was in her stride, she earned the moniker “Queen of Rap.”
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2026
On the surface, universities are taking the dip in computer-science enrollment in stride, especially at the nation’s most selective colleges.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
U.S. stocks are taking it all in stride with futures pointing to modest gains at the open.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Leafie had about twenty years on me, but you’d never know it from her stride.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
OpenAI seems to be making financial strides, and that’s been seen as good news for Oracle and other artificial-intelligence stocks on Tuesday.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
"We've made great strides, very positive for both countries," Trump told reporters as he had tea with Xi at the White House on Friday before the archives trip.
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 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
He said that companies have made tremendous strides in defending against cybersecurity risks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
He was walking quickly with long strides, I had to run to catch up.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
On Aug. 5, Betancourt strode into a conference room behind the art deco facade of the old Greyhound Bus Terminal in downtown Washington that houses an auxiliary Pentagon office.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
Roberts strode from the dugout to pull him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
At Hampton Court Palace, head gardener Graham Dillamore strode across the burnt beige grass in the spectacular formal gardens southwest of London, laid out in the 17th century.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
Savannah crossed town to the University of Arizona, her alma mater, and strode the quad in sunglasses and a sundress, trailed by the marching band playing the school’s fight song, “Bear Down, Arizona.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
C.C. strode across the big oak table toward Duane and pointed one of her wing tips at him.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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
Through the old woman's huge, lonely, and ugly halls he had always stridden, halting a little over the rushes, and all creatures must keep out of his way.
From The Fifth Queen Crowned by Ford Madox Ford
But when the last soldier had stridden clanking out of the tent, a distant thudding became audible, like the approach of a body of horse.
From The Path to Honour by Sydney C. Grier
Quick as lightning, the Wondersmith had stridden a few paces, and grasped the poor cripple, who was yet quivering with the departing thunder of his passion.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 24, October, 1859 by Various
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
There we discover that she is striding forward, signaling that the American project isn’t a one-off but a ceaseless effort.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 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
He tightened the hard-hat straps, striding brusquely to the door.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
