Home › Glossary › Letter A

astride

Adverb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Positioned with one leg on each side of something; in poetic description, this adverb often suggests physical power, control, or a commanding stance over terrain or objects.

Detailed Definition
Astride is a somewhat formal or literary word meaning seated or positioned with legs on either side. The poem uses it to show the giant statue spanning from one place to another.
Example
Example in poetry:
“With conquering limbs astride from land to land” uses astride for a stance with one leg on each side; Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner stands “as one that hath been stunned” beside the ship’s vast ordeal; Walt Whitman’s expansive speakers often figuratively stride across continents and identities; in modern political verse, a figure astride a border can suggest power, division, or uneasy dominion
Additional Notes
“Astride” is a less common literary word here, and the image in the quote may prompt readers to look up its exact sense.; Found in the poem, The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
Also Known As
straddling spanning seated
Skip to main content