Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

ride herd on en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

From the cowboy task of driving cattle while riding along with them.

Meanings

  1. (US, idiomatic, transitive) To supervise.
    • As the new editor, his job is to ride herd on the staff and check on the tone of the articles.
    • But Rabbit feels as though he owns it all, showing up at the showroom day after day, riding herd on the paperwork and the payroll […] 1981, John Updike, Rabbit is Rich:
    • She'd gotten swept up in running the B&B and riding herd on her sister, Zoey, but she'd kept the faith. 2013, Lori Wilde, Love at First Sight:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
riding herd on Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
rode herd on Tense=Past lexicographic
ridden herd on Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
rides herd on Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Relateds

hold the reins · herd cats · corral