straddle

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
straddle/ˈstradl/

▶verb

• 1 sit or stand with one leg on either side of.

  ■ archaic stand, walk, or sit with one's legs wide apart.

• 2 extend across both sides of.

• 3 N. Amer. maintain an equivocal position regarding (a political issue).

• 4 fire shots or bombs at (a target) so that they fall short of and beyond it.

▶noun

• 1 an act of straddling.

• 2 Stock Exchange a simultaneous purchase of options to buy and to sell a security or commodity at a fixed price.

– derivatives
straddler noun.

– origin C16: alt. of dial. striddle, back-form. from dial. striddling ‘astride’.