straddle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to walk, stand, or sit with the legs wide apart; stand or sit astride.
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to stand wide apart, as the legs.
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to favor or appear to favor both sides of an issue, political division, or the like, at once; maintain an equivocal position.
verb (used with object)
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to walk, stand, or sit with one leg on each side of; stand or sit astride of.
to straddle a horse.
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to spread (the legs) wide apart.
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to favor or appear to favor both sides of (an issue, political division, etc.).
noun
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an act or instance of straddling.
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the distance straddled over.
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the taking of a noncommittal position.
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Finance.
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an option consisting of a put and a call combined, both at the same current market price and for the same specified period.
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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.
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verb
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(tr) to have one leg, part, or support on each side of
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informal (tr) to be in favour of both sides of (something)
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(intr) to stand, walk, or sit with the legs apart
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(tr) to spread (the legs) apart
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military to fire a number of shots slightly beyond and slightly short of (a target) to determine the correct range
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(intr) (in poker, of the second player after the dealer) to double the ante before looking at one's cards
noun
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the act or position of straddling
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a noncommittal attitude or stand
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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
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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
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(in poker) the stake put up after the ante in poker by the second player after the dealer
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a wooden frame placed on a horse's back to which panniers are attached
Other Word Forms
- straddler noun
- straddlingly adverb
- unstraddled adjective
Etymology
Origin of straddle
1555–65; apparently frequentative (with -le ) of variant stem of stride
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.
Needed: The most that we would pay for the near-term straddle, with the price of the straddle expressed as a percentage of the underlying stock price.
From MarketWatch
I run a public company that straddles the worlds of software and AI, and I’ve seen this movie before.
Canada’s count, at more than 250,000, doesn’t fully capture dual citizenship, or the flow of Americans whose daily lives straddle the border.
Lower and lower his back arched as his poor knees bent, eventually bringing him flat on the ground with the table straddled above him.
From Literature
“I’m an essentially pretty private person, and it’s a tough line you have to straddle with the press. I definitely learned a lesson.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
