1. 1. A leather seat for a rider, secured on an animal's back by a girth. Also called rig.
   2. Similar tack used for attaching a pack to an animal.
   3. The padded part of a driving harness fitting over a horse's back.
   4. The seat of a bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle.
   5. Something shaped like a saddle.
2. 1. A cut of meat consisting of part of the backbone and both loins.
   2. The lower part of a male fowl's back.
3. 1. A saddle-shaped depression in the ridge of a hill.
   2. A ridge between two peaks.

1. To put a saddle onto.
2. To load or burden; encumber: They were saddled with heavy expenses.

1. To saddle a horse.
2. To get into a saddle.

in the saddle

1. In control; dominant.

[Middle English sadel, from Old English sadol.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.