What does "stride" mean?
A long step in walking.
Stride
/stɹaɪd/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A long step in walking.
- Grammar: stride is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: pace, step, abut, abut on.
- Useful contrasts: crawl, crawling, creep.
- Usage evidence: I don't know what to do with that guy. No matter how mad I get at him he just takes it in stride and pays no attention.
How to use "stride"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "stride" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "stride" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "stride" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "stride" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "stride" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "pace" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "stride", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A long step in walking. countable
"Still, a dozen men with rifles, and cartridges to match, stayed behind when they filed through a white aldea lying silent amid the cane, and the Sin Verguenza swung into slightly quicker stride."
- 2 significant progress (especially in the phrase ‘make strides’) wordnet
- 3 The distance covered by a long step. countable
- 4 a step in walking or running wordnet
- 5 The number of memory locations between successive elements in an array, pixels in a bitmap, etc. countable
"This stride value is generally equal to the pixel width of the bitmap times the number of bytes per pixel, but for performance reasons it might be rounded […]"
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 the distance covered by a step wordnet
- 7 A jazz piano style of the 1920s and 1930s. The left hand characteristically plays a four-beat pulse with a single bass note, octave, seventh or tenth interval on the first and third beats, and a chord on the second and fourth beats. uncountable
Verb
- 1 To walk with long steps. intransitive
"Mars in the middle of the shining shield / Is grav'd, and strides along the liquid field."
- 2 walk with long steps wordnet
- 3 To stand with the legs wide apart; to straddle.
- 4 To pass over at a step; to step over.
"a debtor that not dares to stride a limit"
- 5 To straddle; to bestride.
"I mean to stride your steed."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"I don't know what to do with that guy. No matter how mad I get at him he just takes it in stride and pays no attention."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "stride"?
Common synonyms include: pace, step, abut, abut on, advance, aesthetic distance.
How do you use "stride" in a sentence?
I don't know what to do with that guy. No matter how mad I get at him he just takes it in stride and pays no attention.
How do you pronounce "stride"?
Pronounced /stɹaɪd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English striden, from Old English strīdan (“to get by force, pillage, rob; stride”), from Proto-West Germanic *strīdan, from Proto-Germanic *strīdaną. Cognate with Low German striden (“to fight, to stride”), Dutch strijden (“to fight”), German streiten (“to fight, to quarrel”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English stride, stryde, from Old English stride (“a stride, pace”), from the verb (see above). Doublet of strid.
Etymology 3
English surname, from the noun stride.