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straddle (v.)
1560s, "spread the legs wide," probably an alteration of striddle (mid-15c.), frequentative of striden (see stride (v.)). Transitive sense "place one leg on one side of and the other on the other side of" is from 1670s. U.S. colloquial figurative sense of "take up an equivocal position, appear to favor both sides" is attested from 1838. Related: Straddled; straddling. The noun is first recorded 1610s.
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Definitions of straddle from WordNet
Dictionary entries near straddle
stove-pipe
stow
stowaway
STP
strabismus
straddle
Stradivarius
strafe
straggle
straggler
straight