to ride to hounds

Ride \Ride\, v. i. [imp. {Rode} (r[=o]d) ({Rid} [r[i^]d],
   archaic); p. p. {Ridden}({Rid}, archaic); p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Riding}.] [AS. r[imac]dan; akin to LG. riden, D. rijden, G.
   reiten, OHG. r[imac]tan, Icel. r[imac][eth]a, Sw. rida, Dan.
   ride; cf. L. raeda a carriage, which is from a Celtic word.
   Cf. {Road}.]
   1. To be carried on the back of an animal, as a horse.
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            To-morrow, when ye riden by the way.  --Chaucer.
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            Let your master ride on before, and do you gallop
            after him.                            --Swift.
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   2. To be borne in a carriage; as, to ride in a coach, in a
      car, and the like. See Synonym, below.
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            The richest inhabitants exhibited their wealth, not
            by riding in gilden carriages, but by walking the
            streets with trains of servants.      --Macaulay.
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   3. To be borne or in a fluid; to float; to lie.
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            Men once walked where ships at anchor ride.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   4. To be supported in motion; to rest.
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            Strong as the exletree
            On which heaven rides.                --Shak.
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            On whose foolish honesty
            My practices ride easy!               --Shak.
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   5. To manage a horse, as an equestrian.
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            He rode, he fenced, he moved with graceful ease.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   6. To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle;
      as, a horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast.
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   {To ride easy} (Naut.), to lie at anchor without violent
      pitching or straining at the cables.

   {To ride hard} (Naut.), to pitch violently.

   {To ride out}.
      (a) To go upon a military expedition. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
      (b) To ride in the open air. [Colloq.]

   {To ride to hounds}, to ride behind, and near to, the hounds
      in hunting.
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   Syn: Drive.

   Usage: {Ride}, {Drive}. Ride originally meant (and is so used
          throughout the English Bible) to be carried on
          horseback or in a vehicle of any kind. At present in
          England, drive is the word applied in most cases to
          progress in a carriage; as, a drive around the park,
          etc.; while ride is appropriated to progress on a
          horse. Johnson seems to sanction this distinction by
          giving "to travel on horseback" as the leading sense
          of ride; though he adds "to travel in a vehicle" as a
          secondary sense. This latter use of the word still
          occurs to some extent; as, the queen rides to
          Parliament in her coach of state; to ride in an
          omnibus.
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                "Will you ride over or drive?" said Lord
                Willowby to his quest, after breakfast that
                morning.                          --W. Black.
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