reed

1 tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems especially of the genera Arundo and Phragmites

2 United States journalist who reported on the October Revolution from Petrograd in 1917; founded the Communist Labor Party in America in 1919; is buried in the Kremlin in Moscow (1887-1920) [syn: John Reed]

3 United States physician who proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes (1851-1902) [syn: Walter Reed]

4 a vibrator consisting of a thin strip of stiff material that vibrates to produce a tone when air streams over it; "the clarinetist fitted a new reed onto his mouthpiece" [syn: vibrating reed]

5 a musical instrument that sounds by means of a reed [syn: beating-reed instrument]

see Reed

English

Pronunciation

• rēd, /riːd/, /ri:d/

  Homophones: read

  Rhymes: -iːd

Etymology

Middle English rede, Old English hrēod

Noun

reed (countable and uncountable; plural: reeds)

1. Any of various types of tall stiff perennial grass-like plants growing together in groups near water.
2. The hollow stem of these plants.
3. Part of the mouthpiece of certain woodwind instruments, comprising of a thin piece of wood or metal which shakes very quickly to produce sound when a musician blows over it.
4. A musical instrument such as the clarinet or oboe, which produces sound when a musician blows on the reed.
5. (as a material)

Derived terms

• reedy
• reed organ

Translations

• Albanian: kulmak
• Catalan: canya
• Croatian: trska , rogoz
• Czech: rákosí , třtina
• Danish: siv
• Dutch: riet
• Esperanto: kano
• Finnish: kaislikko
• French: roseau , jonc
• German: Schilf
• Hungarian: nád
• Italian: canna (1,2), ancia (3)
• Korean: 갈대 (galdae)
• Nahuatl: acatonalaya
• Portuguese: cana
• Romanian: stuf and
• Slovak: trstina
• Spanish: caña
• Swedish: vass, säv
• Thai: อ้อ, ลิ้น(instrument)
• Turkish: saz

Anagrams

• deer

Dutch

Verb

1. singular past tense of rijden

West Frisian

Noun

reed

1. driveway
2. road

Reed can refer to:

• Reed (plant), grass-like plant growing in shallow water or on marshy ground
• Reed (instrument), a thin strip of cane or similar material which vibrates in wind instruments
• Reed (Company), group of companies offering employment-related services
• Reed (name), either a human surname or given name
• Reed Airport
• Reed College, Portland, Oregon
• Reed Elsevier, the publishing company
• Reed Publishing, a New Zealand publishing house
• Reed relay
• Reed switch
• Reed valve
• Reed's law
• Records of Early English Drama (REED), a theatre research centre at the University of Toronto
• Edward C. Reed High School, Sparks, Nevada

Places

• Reed, Arkansas
• Reed, Hertfordshire
• Reed Plantation, Maine
• Reed, Norway

See also

• Reid

English horn, Pandean pipe, adjutage, aerophone, aftergrass, anthrophore, arrow, arrowhead, aulos, axis, bamboo, barb, basset horn, basset oboe, bassoon, bell, bobtailed arrow, bole, bolt, bombard, cambric tea, cane, carpophore, catheter, caudex, caulicle, caulis, cereal, cereal plant, chested arrow, clarinet, cloth yard shaft, cobweb, contrabassoon, contrafagotto, corn, cromorne, culm, dart, dishwater, double bassoon, double reed, drainpipe, efflux tube, embouchure, farinaceous plant, fife, fipple flute, fire hose, flageolet, flight, flue pipe, flute, fog, footstalk, forage grass, funicule, funiculus, funnel, garden hose, gas pipe, gossamer, grain, graminaceous plant, grass, gruel, hair, haulm, hautboy, heckelphone, horn, hornpipe, hose, hosepipe, house of cards, key, lawn grass, leafstalk, licorice stick, lip, matchwood, milk and water, mouthpiece, musette, nipple, oaten reed, oboe, oboe da caccia, ocarina, organ pipe, ornamental grass, panpipe, pedicel, peduncle, penny-whistle, petiole, petiolule, petiolus, piccolo, pipe, pipeline, pipette, piping, pommer, quarrel, recorder, reed instrument, reed pipe, rope of sand, sand castle, sax, saxophone, seedstalk, shaft, shawm, siamese, siamese connection, single reed, single-reed instrument, siphon, slide, snorkel, soil pipe, sonorophone, spear, spire, stalk, standpipe, steam pipe, stem, stipe, stock, straw, sweet potato, syrinx, tabor pipe, tap, tenoroon, thread, tigella, tin-whistle, tooter, trunk, tube, tubing, tubulation, tubule, tubulet, tubulure, valve, volley, waste pipe, water, water pipe, whistle, wind, wind instrument, woods, woodwind, woodwind choir, woodwind instrument