Definition of 'reed'

Word Frequency

reed

(rid )

Word forms: reeds

1. countable noun

Reeds are tall plants that grow in large groups in shallow water or on ground that is always wet and soft. They have strong, hollow stems that can be used for making things such as mats or baskets.

2. countable noun

A reed is a small piece of cane or metal inserted into the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument. The reed vibrates when you blow through it and makes a sound.

Image of
reed

Reed in American English

(rid )

John1887-1920; U.S. journalist & radical

Walter1851-1902; U.S. army surgeon & bacteriologist

Word Frequency

reed in American English

(rid )

noun

any of various tall, slender grasses (esp. genus Phragmites), with plumelike inflorescences, growing in wet or marshy land

the stem of any of these grasses

such plants or stems collectively, specif. as material for thatching, basketwork, etc.

a rustic musical instrument made from a hollow stem or stalk and played by blowing through it

an ancient Hebrew unit of linear measure equal to 6 cubits: Ezek. 40:3

a device on a loom, by means of which threads are drawn between the separated threads of the warp

5. OLD-FASHIONED, Poetic

an arrow

6. Architecture

a small, rounded molding; reeding

7. Music

a thin strip of some flexible substance, as cane, placed against the opening of the mouthpiece of certain wind instruments, as the clarinet, so as to leave a narrow opening: when vibrated by the breath, it produces a musical tone

an instrument with a reed or reeds

in some organs, a similar device that vibrates in a current of air

d. [pl.]

the reed instruments of an orchestra, band, etc. or the players of these instruments

adjective

designating an instrument whose sound is produced by a vibrating reed or reeds, specif., the oboe, clarinet, saxophone, English horn, or bassoon

composed of or for such an instrument or instruments

a reed section

verb transitive

10.

to thatch or decorate with reeds

Word origin

ME rede < OE hreod, akin to OHG hriot < IE base *kreut-, to shake, tremble

Word Frequency

reed in British English

(riːd )

noun

any of various widely distributed tall grasses of the genus Phragmites, esp P. communis, that grow in swamps and shallow water and have jointed hollow stalks

the stalk, or stalks collectively, of any of these plants, esp as used for thatching

3. music

a thin piece of cane or metal inserted into the tubes of certain wind instruments, which sets in vibration the air column inside the tube

a wind instrument or organ pipe that sounds by means of a reed

one of the several vertical parallel wires on a loom that may be moved upwards to separate the warp threads

a small semicircular architectural moulding

Reed in British English

(riːd )

noun

Sir Carol. 1906–76, English film director. His films include The Third Man (1949), An Outcast of the Islands (1951), and Oliver! (1968), for which he won an Oscar

Lou. 1942–2013, US rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist: member of the Velvet Underground (1965–70). His albums include Transformer (1972), Berlin (1973), Street Hassle (1978), New York (1989), Set the Twilight Reeling (1996), and The Raven (2003)

Walter. 1851–1902, US physician, who proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes (1900)

Examples of 'reed' in a sentence
reed

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The camp's four reed and thatched chalets have bright, locally designed fabrics.I hurled myself into another irrigation ditch and crouched amid the tall reeds. Sometimes, by contrast, they sing unseen from deep inside the reeds.When she is sitting on the nest, the pen may stretch her neck out and add reeds that are growing near by without getting off the eggs.It was standing at the front of a reed bed, just inside the reeds, on the far side of a partly frozen lake. Visitors sleep in safari tents on thatched wooden platforms above the lake, bathrooms are built of local reeds and thatch, and there are composting loos.