Word
straddle
Phoneticsstrad·dle
US/ˈstɹædəɫ/
UK/stɹˈædəl/
Definition
v. to sit or stand with your legs wide apart. It can also mean to be in a position that covers two different things at once, like two different ideas or two different markets.
v. to sit or stand with the legs wide apart; to be in a position that spans two distinct entities or concepts. Often used in financial contexts to describe a position that benefits from price movements in both directions.
Examples
“The horseman straddled his horse and looked at the valley.”
“The company decided to straddle both the luxury and the budget markets to maximize its reach.”
“By straddling the fence between traditional manufacturing and digital innovation, the firm managed to survive the economic downturn while its competitors struggled to adapt.”
Examples
simple
“The horseman straddled his horse and looked at the valley.”
contextual
“The company decided to straddle both the luxury and the budget markets to maximize its reach.”
complex
“By straddling the fence between traditional manufacturing and digital innovation, the firm managed to survive the economic downturn while its competitors struggled to adapt.”
Real-World Examples
“The lake, which straddles the border with Zambia, is one of the world's largest man-made reservoirs, supporting transport and fishing and providing vital hydroelectric power to both countries.” “A huge area straddling the border has been blanketed by a thick plume of yellowish smoke, prompting the partial evacuation of two Belgian villages.” Etymology
As a verb, attested since the 1560s. Most likely, an alteration of dialectal striddle. The noun is first attested in the 1610s.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/straddle