What is "to ride to hounds"

Ride \Ride\, v. i. [imp. Rode (r[=o]d) ( Rid [r[i^]d], archaic); p. p. Ridden( Rid, archaic); p. pr. & vb. n. Riding.] [AS. r[=i]dan; akin to LG. riden, D. rijden, G. reiten, OHG. r[=i]tan, Icel. r[=i][eth]a, Sw. rida, Dan. ride; cf. L. raeda a carriage, which is from a Celtic word. Cf. Road.]

1. To be carried on the back of an animal, as a horse.

   To-morrow, when ye riden by the way.
   --Chaucer.

   Let your master ride on before, and do you gallop after him.
   --Swift.

2. To be borne in a carriage; as, to ride in a coach, in a car, and the like. See Synonym, below.

   The richest inhabitants exhibited their wealth, not by riding in gilden carriages, but by walking the streets with trains of servants.
   --Macaulay.

3. To be borne or in a fluid; to float; to lie.

   Men once walked where ships at anchor ride.
   --Dryden.

4. To be supported in motion; to rest.

   Strong as the exletree On which heaven rides.
   --Shak.

   On whose foolish honesty My practices ride easy!
   --Shak.

5. To manage a horse, as an equestrian.

   He rode, he fenced, he moved with graceful ease.
   --Dryden.

6. To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle; as, a horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast. To ride easy (Naut.), to lie at anchor without violent pitching or straining at the cables. To ride hard (Naut.), to pitch violently. To ride out.

   1. To go upon a military expedition. [Obs.]
      --Chaucer.

   2. To ride in the open air. [Colloq.]

      To ride to hounds, to ride behind, and near to, the hounds in hunting.

      Syn: Drive.

      Usage: Ride, Drive. Ride originally meant (and is so used throughout the English Bible) to be carried on horseback or in a vehicle of any kind. At present in England, drive is the word applied in most cases to progress in a carriage; as, a drive around the park, etc.; while ride is appropriated to progress on a horse. Johnson seems to sanction this distinction by giving ``to travel on horseback'' as the leading sense of ride; though he adds ``to travel in a vehicle'' as a secondary sense. This latter use of the word still occurs to some extent; as, the queen rides to Parliament in her coach of state; to ride in an omnibus.

      ``Will you ride over or drive?'' said Lord Willowby to his quest, after breakfast that morning.
      --W. Black.