'To ride hard' definitions:

Definition of 'To ride hard'

From: GCIDE
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • To-morrow, when ye riden by the way. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • Let your master ride on before, and do you gallop after him. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To be borne in a carriage; as, to ride in a coach, in a car, and the like. See Synonym, below. [1913 Webster]
  • The richest inhabitants exhibited their wealth, not by riding in gilden carriages, but by walking the streets with trains of servants. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To be borne or in a fluid; to float; to lie. [1913 Webster]
  • Men once walked where ships at anchor ride. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To be supported in motion; to rest. [1913 Webster]
  • Strong as the exletree On which heaven rides. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • On whose foolish honesty My practices ride easy! --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To manage a horse, as an equestrian. [1913 Webster]
  • He rode, he fenced, he moved with graceful ease. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle; as, a horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • "Will you ride over or drive?" said Lord Willowby to his quest, after breakfast that morning. --W. Black. [1913 Webster]