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n antiquity, as the Colossus of Nero in Rome, the Colossus of Apollo at Rhodes. He doth bestride the narrow world Like a colossus. Shak.

flammatory affection of the larynx or trachea, accompanied by a hoarse, ringing cough and stridulous, difficult breathing; esp., such an affection when associated with the development of a false membrane in the air passages (also called membranous croup). See False croup, under False, and Diphtheria.…

Overlapping each other; -- said of leaves whose bases are folded so as to overlap and bestride the leaves within or above them, as in the iris.

meager; pinched and grim. "The gaunt mastiff." Pope. A mysterious but visible pestilence, striding gaunt and fleshless across our land. Nichols.

Indicating haughtiness; as, a haughty carriage. Satan, with vast and haughty strides advanced, Came towering. Milton.

me or athletic sport in which the participants cover as much ground as possible by a hop, stride, and jump in succession. Addison.

To sit astride of; to bestride. Shak.

rated by unworthy or unjust treatment, by a mean action, or by a degrading accusation. He strides indignant, and with haughty cries To single fight the fairy prince defies. Tickell.

rtophyllus concavus) of the family Locustidæ, common in the United States. The males have stridulating organs at the bases of the front wings. During the summer and autumn, in the evening, the males make a peculiar, loud, shrill sound, resembling the combination Katy-did, whence the name.

An easy gait, consisting of long running strides or leaps. [U.S.] The mustang goes rollicking ahead, with the eternal lope, . . . a mixture of two or three gaits, as easy as the motions of a crade. T. B. Thorpe.

on eyes,... mincing as they go. Is. iii. 16. I 'll... turn two mincing steps Into a manly stride. Shak.

To place one's self on, as a horse or other animal, or anything that one sits upon; to bestride.

A more or less musical sound made by many of the lower animals. See Stridulation. Magic music, a game in which a person is guided in finding a hidden article, or in doing a specific art required, by music which is made more loud or rapid as he approaches success, and slower as he recedes. Tennyson. -- Music box. See M…

egg of a louse or other small insect. Nit grass (Bot.), a pretty annual European grass (Gastridium lendigerum), with small spikelets somewhat resembling a nit. It is also found in California and Chili.

A device for recording the length and rapidity of stride and the number of steps taken by a walker.

without apparent exertion, as a bird. As is a winged messenger of heaven, . . . When he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, And sails upon the bosom of the air. Shak.

The act of producing sound, as the stridulation of insects.

One who takes long, quick strides in walking; also, a fast horse. [Colloq.]

spasmodic contraction of the vocal cords. It is sometimes fatal. Called also laryngismus stridulus, and childcrowing. -- Spasmodic stricture, a stricture caused by muscular spasm without structural change. See Organic stricture, under Organic.

To place one leg on one side and the other on the other side of; to stand or sit astride of; as, to straddle a fence or a horse.