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reed

 - 13 dictionary results

reed

[reed]
–noun
1. the straight stalk of any of various tall grasses, esp. of the genera Phragmites and Arundo, growing in marshy places.
2. any of the plants themselves.
3. such stalks or plants collectively.
4. anything made from such a stalk or from something similar, as an arrow.
5. Music.
a. a pastoral or rustic musical pipe made from a reed or from the hollow stalk of some other plant.
b. a small, flexible piece of cane or metal that, attached to the mouth of any of various wind instruments, is set into vibration by a stream of air and, in turn, sets into vibration the air column enclosed in the tube of the instrument.
c. reed instrument.
6. Textiles. the series of parallel strips of wires in a loom that force the weft up to the web and separate the threads of the warp.
7. an ancient unit of length, equal to 6 cubits. Ezek. 40:5.
–verb (used with object)
8. to decorate with reed.
9. to thatch with or as if with reed.
10. to make vertical grooves on (the edge of a coin, medal, etc.).
11. a broken reed, a person or thing too frail or weak to be relied on for support: Under stress he showed himself to be a broken reed.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE hrēod; c. G, D riet


reedlike, adjective

Reed

[reed]
–noun
1. Sir Carol, 1906–76, British film director.
2. Ishmael (Scott), born 1938, U.S. novelist and poet.
3. John, 1887–1920, U.S. journalist and poet.
4. Stanley For⋅man [fawr-muhn] , 1884–1980, U.S. jurist: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1938–57.
5. Thomas Brackett, 1839–1902, U.S. politician: Speaker of the House 1889–91, 1895–99.
6. Walter C., 1851–1902, U.S. army surgeon who proved that a type of mosquito transmits the yellow fever virus.
7. a male given name, form of Read.

ree

2[ree, rey]
–verb (used with object), reed, ree⋅ing. British Dialect.
to sift (grain, peas, beans, etc.).

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < ?

reed instrument

–noun Music.
a wind instrument with a single or double reed, as a saxophone or an oboe.
Also called reed.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To reed
reed   (rēd)   
n.  
    1. Any of various tall perennial grasses, especially of the genera Phragmites or Arundo, having hollow stems, broad leaves, and large plumelike terminal panicles.

    2. The stalk of any of these plants.

    3. A collection of these stalks: reed for making baskets.

    4. A flexible strip of cane or metal set into the mouthpiece or air opening of certain instruments to produce tone by vibrating in response to a stream of air.

    5. An instrument, such as an oboe or clarinet, that is fitted with a reed.

  1. Music A primitive wind instrument made of a hollow reed stalk.

  2. Music

    1. A flexible strip of cane or metal set into the mouthpiece or air opening of certain instruments to produce tone by vibrating in response to a stream of air.

    2. An instrument, such as an oboe or clarinet, that is fitted with a reed.

  3. A narrow movable frame fitted with reed or metal strips that separate the warp threads in weaving.

  4. Architecture A reeding.


[Middle English rede, from Old English hrēod.]
Reed   (rēd)   
American journalist. A World War I correspondent, he was in Petrograd during the October Revolution (1917), an experience he recounted in Ten Days That Shook the World (1919). In 1919 he founded the American Communist Labor Party. Reed is buried in the Kremlin in Moscow.
Reed, Thomas Brackett 1839-1902.  
American politician. A U.S. representative from Maine (1877-1899), he twice served as Speaker of the House (1889-1891 and 1895-1899).
Reed, Walter 1851-1902.  
American physician and army surgeon who proved that yellow fever was transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

reed

A thin piece of wood or plastic used in many woodwind instruments. It vibrates when the player holds it in the mouth and blows over it (as with a single reed) or through it (as with a double reed). Clarinets and saxophones use a single reed; bassoons and oboes use a double reed.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

reed 
O.E. hreod "reed," from P.Gmc. *khreudom (cf. O.S. hraid, O.Fris. hriad, M.Du. ried, O.H.G. hriot, Ger. riet), no known cognates beyond Gmc. As part of the mouthpiece of a musical instrument it is attested from 1530. A reedy voice (1811) is so called from resemblance to musical sound of a reed.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Reed (rēd), Walter. 1851-1902.

American surgeon who led the commission that proved experimentally that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Bible Dictionary

Reed

(1.) "Paper reeds" (Isa. 19:7; R.V., "reeds"). Heb. 'aroth, properly green herbage growing in marshy places. (2.) Heb. kaneh (1 Kings 14:15; Job 40:21; Isa. 19:6), whence the Gr. kanna, a "cane," a generic name for a reed of any kind. The reed of Egypt and Palestine is the Arundo donax, which grows to the height of 12 feet, its stalk jointed like the bamboo, "with a magnificent panicle of blossom at the top, and so slender and yielding that it will lie perfectly flat under a gust of wind, and immediately resume its upright position." It is used to illustrate weakness (2 Kings 18:21; Ezek. 29:6), also fickleness or instability (Matt. 11:7; comp. Eph. 4:14). A "bruised reed" (Isa. 42:3; Matt. 12:20) is an emblem of a believer weak in grace. A reed was put into our Lord's hands in derision (Matt. 27:29); and "they took the reed and smote him on the head" (30). The "reed" on which they put the sponge filled with vinegar (Matt. 27:48) was, according to John (19:29), a hyssop stalk, which must have been of some length, or perhaps a bunch of hyssop twigs fastened to a rod with the sponge. (See CANE.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

reed

see broken reed.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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