bestriding

Verb

bestride (third-person singular simple present bestrides, present participle bestriding, simple past bestrode, past participle bestrode or bestridden or bestrid)

1. (transitive) To be astride something, to stand over or sit on with legs on either side, especially to sit on a horse.
   • & thou were the truest frende to thy louar that euer bestrade hors
     "And thou were the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrad horse"1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XXI, Chapter xiii, leaf 430v

   Synonyms:

   straddle

2. (transitive) To stride over, or across.
3. (figuratively, transitive) To dominate.
   • Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world / Like a Colossus[…].c. 1599, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Act I Scene II