1
as in perching
to be in or move into a seated or standing position with your legs on either side of (something)
She straddled the horse and waited for her riding partner to mount.
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2
as in spanning
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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3
as in shaking
to agree with or seem to agree with two opposite sides of (something)
The politician straddled the issue for weeks.
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as in fence-sitting
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for straddling
Verb
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Symptoms like a fast heart rate, or shortness of breath, shaking and chills, confusion or lethargy.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
24 Dec. 2024 -
In the video, a terrified Archie can be seen frozen, staring and shaking.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
23 Dec. 2024
Noun
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There’s merit in seeing both sides of an argument, but there’s no honor in fence-sitting forever, which is Alex’s fatal flaw.—
Anusha Praturu,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2025
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There’s merit in seeing both sides of an argument, but there’s no honor in fence-sitting forever, which is Alex’s fatal flaw.—
Anusha Praturu,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
The Rockets came into Christmas Eve riding a three-game winning streak, now sitting at 20-9 and up to second overall in the Western Conference, behind just the Oklahoma City Thunder.—
Rahat Huq,
Forbes,
24 Dec. 2024
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Coach Doc River played the role of Secret Santa by sitting the Bucks’ two biggest stars — Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was dealing with back spasms, and Damian Lillard, who was out with a non-COVID-19 illness.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Financial institutions must navigate a tradeoff between risk appetite and fraud loss tolerance.—
Sunny Banerjee,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
-
Dosing will vary depending on your medical history, health goals, and tolerance level.—
Chelsea Rae Bourgeois,
Health,
9 July 2025
Noun
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Super-sized Opportunities Workplace crises can be proactively prevented (or eventually explained) by tackling incentives, incompetence and indifference with stewardship, capability and care.—
Noah Barsky,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
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Dee, being Dee, fell into the cruel Trevor's predictable rich guy prank-trap, much to the rest of the Gang's indifference.—
Dennis Perkins,
EW.com,
10 July 2025
Verb
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Royal Family Christmas Traditions Charles and Queen Camilla will spend Christmas at Sandringham, the royal family's sprawling estate in Norfolk, as the royals do every year.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
23 Dec. 2024
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The sprawling case puts a spotlight on crisis publicists, who typically remain behind the scenes but have become the story here, with four separate agencies engulfed in the spectacle.—
Tatiana Siegel,
Variety,
23 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Straddling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straddling. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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