Meaning & use
ride the wave
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Meanings
phraseidiomfigurative
To accept a trend, change, or period of success and use it to your advantage rather than resist it.
Grammar: Often followed by 'of' plus a noun: ride the wave of popularity. The verb changes tense: rode the wave, riding the wave.
Patterns
- ride the wave of something
- ride the wave of success
- ride the wave of change
The startup rode the wave of interest in green energy.
Instead of complaining about remote work, she decided to ride the wave.
Many small shops rode the wave of online shopping and grew quickly.
phraseidiom
Literally, to surf by balancing on a moving wave in the ocean.
Grammar: Used in its literal sense mainly in surfing contexts; the figurative meaning is far more common in everyday English.
Patterns
- ride the waves
- ride a wave
The children laughed as they tried to ride the waves on their boards.
It takes skill and balance to ride the wave all the way to the shore.
Common combinations
- ride the wave of success
- After the hit song, the band rode the wave of success for two years.
- ride the wave of change
- Companies that ride the wave of change often survive longer.
- ride the wave of popularity
- The app rode the wave of popularity among teenagers.
- ride the wave of demand
- Farmers rode the wave of demand for organic food.
Synonyms and how they differ
- go with the flow
- This means to accept things calmly without trying to control them; ride the wave is more active and suggests using the trend to gain something.
- capitalize on
- Capitalize on something means to use it for profit or advantage; ride the wave is more about moving along with a trend over time.
- surf
- Surf is the literal sport; ride the wave is often figurative and about trends or success.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: ride the wave or ride out?
ride the wave vs ride out
Ride out means to survive a difficult period until it ends; ride the wave means to move with a trend and benefit from it.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'ride the wave' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Rode the wave of demand' correctly uses the idiom with 'of' to mean benefiting from a trend. Option An is wrong because 'ride the wave' is not used for waiting out a storm. Option C is wrong because the phrase does not take a direct object like 'homework.' Option D is wrong because it confuses the idiom with a literal ride in a vehicle.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ride the wave”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.