Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ride herd on

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.73 in modern English

Syllables: ride herd on
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

American usage; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"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 […]"
"She'd gotten swept up in running the B&B and riding herd on her sister, Zoey, but she'd kept the faith."

Etymology

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

Usage

American usage
Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

rides herd on (present, singular) riding herd on (participle, present) rode herd on (past) ridden herd on (participle, past)

Phrases

herd cats hold the reins

Frequently Paired Words

corral herd cats hold the reins

Questions

What does ride herd on mean?: To supervise.
Where does ride herd on come from?: From the cowboy task of driving cattle while riding along with them.

How to pronounce ride herd on

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ride herd on”.
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