1
2
as in to span
to be on both sides of (something)
The town straddles the river. The movie straddles the line between comedy and drama.
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Dissimilar Words
3
as in to shake
to agree with or seem to agree with two opposite sides of (something)
The politician straddled the issue for weeks.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of straddle
But the adjacent plot straddling the riverbed has been taken over by galamsey workers after her brother leased his land to an Asian businessman.
—
Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Oct. 2025
The bar somehow straddles the line between regular’s haunt and tourist attraction.
—Jake Emen, Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2025
Mount Everest, which reaches 29,000 feet and straddles the border between China and Nepal.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 7 Oct. 2025
What unfolded instead was an awkward breakup, featuring Kacie crying, straddling and kissing Patrick, and admitting to cameras that she was not attracted to him.
—Joelle Goldstein, PEOPLE, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for straddle
Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Oct. 2025
The bar somehow straddles the line between regular’s haunt and tourist attraction.
—Jake Emen, Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2025
Mount Everest, which reaches 29,000 feet and straddles the border between China and Nepal.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 7 Oct. 2025
What unfolded instead was an awkward breakup, featuring Kacie crying, straddling and kissing Patrick, and admitting to cameras that she was not attracted to him.
—Joelle Goldstein, PEOPLE, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for straddle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for straddle
Verb
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Founded in 1982, The property features 18 rooms, seven cabins, a spa, dining porch and wine cellar on 250 acres perched on a nearly mile-high ridgeline with mist-shrouded, forever views of the rolling hills.—
Suzanne Wright,
USA Today,
28 Oct. 2025
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The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, noticed the black-and-white cat perched on the bottom of a shopping cart outside Target on October 4.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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That’s highly encouraging and spans much more than the lopsided game against the Raiders, a game in which Kansas City eased off the accelerator instead of running up the score even more.—
Jeff Howe,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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The new simulations could now resolve features that spanned distances six times Earth’s 8,000-mile (or 128,000-kilometer) diameter down to tens of thousands of miles—nearly 100 times better than previous simulations.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The earthquake shook at a depth of just 4 miles, with its epicenter roughly 9 miles west of Johannesburg.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
26 Oct. 2025
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Nearly two years later, there’s still evidence at the crime scene that shook this small island country — ash on jutting rocks, melted scraps of plastic and fabric scattered in the verdant shrubbery where wild dogs stalk giant lizards.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Wrexham now sit 15th in the table, level on points with pre-season title favourites Ipswich Town and five points clear of Norwich City in the final relegation place.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
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But letting them in was still a better idea than sitting here at her table, scrolling her phone, waiting for several thousand bucks to miraculously drop in her lap.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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For the newspaper's owner to have outside business holdings or activities that might intersect with coverage or commentary is conventionally seen to present at the least a perception of a conflict of interest.—
David Folkenflik,
NPR,
28 Oct. 2025
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It is designed to identify knowledge gaps and suggest connections, recognizing how seemingly unrelated fields, like marine biology and computing, might intersect in ways that lead to new solutions.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Take the train from Copenhagen in under three hours and wander Aarhus’s pretty streets strung with Christmas lights, ducking into boutiques and cafés before making your way to one of two Christmas markets.—
Sophie Friedman,
AFAR Media,
27 Oct. 2025
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Qing Yuan opened the tap, gripped the edge of the trough, and ducked his head under the water.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Sovereignty, the Triple Crown Class of 2025’s Derby and Belmont victor and Saratoga-man-of-the-minute, bestrides the ultra-short Travers Stakes field of five as an undisputed equine colossus.—
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
23 Aug. 2025
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The film depicts a world where the Four are something like the Beatles, the Kennedys, the Curies, and the Brady Bunch all in one, a globe-bestriding celebrity family responsible for staving off supernatural threats and, seemingly, establishing world peace.—
Derek Robertson,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The results of his project comprise the Heinz Gaube Lebanese Architectural Photographs Collection, housed at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) and available via JSTOR.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
25 Oct. 2025
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Some of her research comprises little more than yearbooks’ blooper reels, and that’s all right by me.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Straddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straddle. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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