saddle

CEFRB2

/ˈsædl̩/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A seat placed on a horse or bicycle.

  2. 02

    verb

    To burden someone with an unwanted responsibility or problem.

Examples

  • Don't put the saddle on the wrong horse.

  • It's lonely in the saddle since the horse died.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈsæd(ə)l/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A seat for a rider, typically made of leather and raised in the front and rear, placed on the back of a horse or other animal, and secured by a strap around the animal's body.

  2. A similar implement used to secure goods to animals; a packsaddle.

  3. Synonym of harness saddle (“the part of a harness which supports the weight of poles or shafts attaching a vehicle to a horse or other animal”).

More examples

In context

  • He has been saddled with the task of collecting evidence of the theft.

  • He is saddled with house payments now, so he can't afford to spend more money.

  • They went shopping and left me saddled with two children to look after.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The cowboy placed the leather blank on the horse before starting the ride.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English sadel, from Old English sadol, from Proto-West Germanic *sadul, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz (“saddle”). Further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sod-dʰlo-, from *sed- (“to sit”) + *-dʰlom (a variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting instruments or tools)), though the Oxford English Dictionary says this “presents formal difficulties”. Cognates * Danish sadel * Dutch zadel * German Sattel * Icelandic söðull * Low German Sadel * Russian седло́ (sedló) * Saterland Frisian Soadel * Scots sadil * Swedish sadel * West Frisian seal