ridden
Syllables: rid·den/ˈɹɪd.n̩/
ridden is the past participle of ride.
ridden is the past participle of rid.
Adjective
ridden (comparative more ridden, superlative most ridden)
Meaning of ride
Verb
ride (third-person singular simple present rides, present participle riding, simple past rode or (obsolete) rade or (obsolete) rid, past participle ridden or (now colloquial and nonstandard) rode)
- To transport oneself by sitting on and directing a horse, later also a bicycle etc.
- I ride to work every day and park the bike outside the office.
- To be transported in a vehicle; to travel as a passenger.
- Now, in calm weather, to swim in the open ocean is as easy to the practised swimmer as to ride in a spring-carriage ashore.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
- To transport (someone) in a vehicle.
- The cab rode him downtown.
- Of a ship: to sail, to float on the water.
- Why name I ev'ry Place where Youths abound? / 'Tis Loſs of Time; and a too fruitful Ground. / The Bajan Baths, where Ships at Anchor ride, / And wholeſome Streams from Sulphur Fountains glide: […]a. 1701, [John] Dryden, “Book I”, in Ovid, Ovid’s Art of Love. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], published 1709, →OCLC, pages 19–20
- To be carried or supported by something lightly and quickly; to travel in such a way, as though on horseback.
- The witch cackled and rode away on her broomstick.
- To traverse by riding.
- Early women tobogganists rode the course in the requisite attire of their day: skirts. In spite of this hindrance, some women riders turned in very respectable performances.1999, David Levinson, Karen Christensen, Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present
Meaning of rid
Verb
rid (third-person singular simple present rids, present participle ridding, simple past rid or ridded, past participle rid or ridded or (rare, nonstandard) ridden)
- Followed by of: to free (oneself or someone, or a place) from an annoyance or hindrance.
- I’m glad to be rid of that stupid nickname.
- Synonyms:
- deliver, disencumber
- Followed by away, from, or out of: to remove (oneself or someone, or something, that is annoying, troublesome, or unwanted).
- For the nature of the world is ſuch, that if any man rebuke the wickedneſſe thereof any thing ſharply, it ſéekes to rid them out of the way, too the intent it may ſinne the more licentiouſly.1569, Nicholas Heminge [i.e., Niels Hemmingsen], “The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according too the Order of the Storie, Compiled by Laying the Foure Euangelists Toogether. The Exposition of the...
- Often followed by from, of, or out of: to free or release, or to rescue or save, (oneself or someone, or something).
- [Y]f there happen a plage of leproſy in any houſe of youre poſſeſſion, then ſhal he that ow[n]eth the houſe, come and tell the preſt, and ſaye: Methynke there is as it were a plage of leproſy in my houſe. Then ſhal the preſt commaunde to rydde all thynge out of the houſe or euer the preſt go in to...1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Leuiticus...
- To clear (a place or way); especially, to clear (land) of trees, undergrowth, etc.
- The vvaies […] Trajanius repaired, by paving vvith stone, or raiſing vvith banks caſt up ſuch peeces of them as vvere moiſt and miry; by ſtocking up & ridding ſuch as vvere rough and overgrovven vvith buſhes and briers: […]1610, William Camden, “Romans in Britaine”, in Philémon Holland, transl., Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […]...
- Sometimes followed by away: to destroy or kill (someone).
- This Gloſter ſhould be quickly rid the VVorld, / To rid vs from the feare vve haue of him.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Sometimes followed by up: to remove obstacles or refuse from (a place); to clean, to clear out; specifically, to clear or empty (the stomach).
- Come, lads, drink up your ale, and we'll just rid this corner, so as to have all clear for beginning at the wall as soon as 'tis light to-morrow.1872 September – 1873 July, Thomas Hardy, “‘To that Last Nothing under Earth’”, in A Pair of Blue Eyes. […], volume II, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], published 1873, →OCLC, page 266
Forms of ridden
| comparative | more ridden |
|---|---|
| superlative | most ridden |
Origin of ridden
Morphologically ride + -en. See ride (verb).
Morphologically rid + -en. See rid.
Words formed from ridden
- forridden
- over-ridden
- unridden
- abuse-ridden
- angst-ridden
- bedridden
- book-ridden
- bug-ridden
- caste-ridden
- church-ridden
- cliché-ridden
- cloud-ridden
- conflict-ridden
- court-ridden
- crime-ridden
- crisis-ridden
- debt-ridden
- devil-ridden
- disease-ridden
- drudgery-ridden
- drug-ridden
- dust-ridden
- fever-ridden
- flea-ridden
- gout-ridden
- guilt-ridden
- hagridden
- louse-ridden
- memory-ridden
- money-ridden
- obstacle-ridden
- passion-ridden
- plague-ridden
- poverty-ridden
- priest-ridden
- rat-ridden
- riddenness
- scandal-ridden
- scum-ridden
- sex-ridden
- sin-ridden
- sleaze-ridden
- slum-ridden
- sorrow-ridden
- storm-ridden
- strife-ridden
- violence-ridden
- war-ridden
- waste-ridden
- witch-ridden
- wormridden
Phrases with ridden
- ridden by
- ridden on
- ridden up
- joy ridden
- ridden for
- ridden out
- free ridden
- ridden down
- ridden hard
- ridden over
- ridden with
- death ridden
51 more phrasesFewer phrases
- ridden along
- ridden bitch
- ridden dirty
- ridden fence
- ridden rusty
- ridden up on
- ridden fences
- ridden down on
- ridden herd on
- ridden or died
- ridden pillion
- ridden shotgun
- ridden the fair
- ridden the pine
- ridden the rail
- ridden the rods
- ridden the wave
- ridden on a rail
- ridden rantipole
- ridden St George
- ridden the bench
- ridden the clock
- ridden the rails
- ridden the tiger
- ridden to hounds
- ridden one's luck
- ridden St. George
- ridden the boards
- ridden the brakes
- ridden the clutch
- ridden a rantipole
- ridden one's bumper
- ridden Saint George
- ridden out the storm
- ridden the coattails
- ridden the short bus
- ridden on the back of
- ridden roughshod over
- ridden the high horse
- ridden the cotton pony
- ridden the cotton horse
- ridden with the punches
- ridden the cock carousel
- ridden tall in the saddle
- ridden the cotton bicycle
- ridden off into the sunset
- ridden hard and put away wet
- ridden the crest of the wave
- ridden the three-legged mare
- ridden a horse foaled by an acorn
- ridden a horse foaled of an acorn
Words that rhyme with ridden
Questions about ridden
- What does ridden mean?
- Ridden means full of.
- What is ridden the past participle of?
- Ridden is the past participle of ride.
- What part of speech is ridden?
- Ridden is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce ridden?
- Ridden is pronounced /ˈɹɪd.n̩/.
Words near ridden in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ridden (page history and authors); ride (page history and authors); rid (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-ridden.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-ridden.wav.
Cite this entry: “ridden.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ridden. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.