saddlest

Verb

saddle (third-person singular simple present saddles, present participle saddling, simple past and past participle saddled)

1. (transitive) To put a saddle (noun sense 1) on (an animal).
   • Then roſe Balaam vp in the mornynge, & ſadled his Aſſe, & wente wͪ the prynces of yͤ Moabites.1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Numerus [Numbers]...
2. (transitive) To put (something) on to another thing like a saddle on an animal.
   • Reſolv'd for Sea, the Slaves thy Baggage pack; / Each ſaddled, vvith his Burden on his back: […]1693, Aulus Persius Flaccus, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus.] The Fifth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together...
3. (figuratively, transitive) To enter (a trained horse) into a race.
4. (figuratively, transitive, often passive voice) Chiefly followed by with: to burden or encumber (someone) with some problem or responsibility.
   • He has been saddled with the task of collecting evidence of the theft.
5. (figuratively, transitive) Chiefly followed by on or upon: to place (a burden or responsibility) or thrust (a problem) on someone.
   • I did not dislose the name of the man I proposed, because I found her only too eager to marry anyone upon whom she could saddle her debts, and so make him either pay them or change places with her.1881, Walter Besant, James Rice, “How Lord Chudleigh Received His Freedom”, in The Chaplain of the Fleet […], volume III, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, part II (The Queen of the Wells), page...
6. (archaic, figuratively, transitive) To control or restrain (someone or something), as if using a saddle; to bridle, to harness, to rein in.
   • But he never would believe that Providence had sent a few men into the world ready booted and spurred to ride, and millions ready saddled and bridled to be ridden.1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter V, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 567

See all 36 meanings of saddle