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reeds

 - 7 dictionary results
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reed

  [reed]
Use reeds in a Sentence
–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.).
—Idiom
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

Related forms:
reedlike, adjective
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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.

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 reeds
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.

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

  3. 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.

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

  5. Architecture A reeding.


[Middle English rede, from Old English hrēod.]
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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