DictionaryAI

read

SayREEDUS/ɹid//ɹiːd/

Verbreads, reading, read

Noun pluralreads

22 meanings of read

Practice

  1. 1
    go through textverbtransitive or intransitive
    To look at and make sense of letters, words, or other written information, including a book or the works of a particular writer.

    Most children read simple stories before they ever start school.

    By candlelight, she preferred to read late into the night.

    UsageThe past tense and past participle are spelled read but said like red: I read it yesterday.

  2. 2
    say aloudverbtransitive or intransitive
    To speak written words aloud, often to another person who is listening.

    Teachers often read passages aloud to help students follow along.

    She reads to the residents at the care home each week.

    UsageRead someone something or read something to someone; add aloud or out when the setting is unclear.

  3. 3
    contain wordsverbtransitive
    To contain or be made up of particular written words.

    The new warning labels read 'Handle with care' in bold type.

    The inscription reads 'Lest we forget' beneath the carved names.

    UsageLike says, followed by the exact words: the label reads 'Handle with care'.

    Similarsay, run

  4. 4
    interpretverbtransitive
    To interpret something or infer its meaning, significance, or intention, including understanding a signal or sign correctly.

    Skilled negotiators read the room before making any offer.

    She read his long silence as a sign of disapproval.

    UsageOften read something as a sign: she read his silence as disapproval; also read the room.

    Similarunderstand

  5. 5
    nouncountablein compounds
    A written work regarded as something to be read.

    Her latest novel is a gripping read from start to finish.

    The magazine offers several short reads for a quick break.

    UsageUsually with an adjective: it's a good read, a gripping read, a quick read.

  6. 6
    nouncountable
    An act or instance of reading, especially of an actor's part in a play or of stored data.

    The cast gathered for a first read of the new script.

    The disk controller reported a failed read during startup.

    UsageOften have a read of something, or a first read of a script.

    Note

    As a noun for a spell of reading, it pairs with have, as in Philip Larkin's Self's the Man (published in The Whitsun Weddings, 1964), where a man looks forward to having a read of the day's paper. It is older than it sounds: Furnivall's 1879 letter to The Spectator mentions magazines let "for a penny a read." In databases the same noun counts single operations, set against writes: 1200 reads per second.

  7. 7
    verbtransitive
    To retrieve or fetch data from a storage medium or device.

    The drive failed to read the corrupted sectors.

    The scanner reads each barcode and sends the data to the checkout system.

    Similaraccess, retrieve

    Oppositewrite

    Note

    In computing the object is often the device itself rather than what it holds. A program reads a hard disk, reads a port, even reads the keyboard, taking in whatever that source stores or sends. The same verb covers a scanner taking in a barcode. Whatever does the reading, the sense is retrieval, not understanding.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

  8. 8
    verbtransitive or intransitive
    To come across or be interpreted in a particular way, or to show a particular figure, as a gauge does.

    Cheap thermometers often read several degrees too high.

    The opening paragraph reads like a confession.

    UsageWith text as the subject, common patterns include reads well, reads like a confession, and reads right to left.

    Similarinterpret

    Note

    Here the text, not the reader, is the subject: Arabic reads right to left; that sentence reads strangely.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Arabic is read from right to left. w3.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of read apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- ("to arrange") is the ultimate source, through Proto-Germanic *rēdaną ("advise, counsel"). This became Old English rǣdan ("to counsel, advise, interpret, read") and then Middle English reden. Dutch raden and German raten ("to advise, guess") are related. The West Germanic verb could mean "interpret," and that sense narrowed to "interpret letters" in English but shifted to "guess" on the continent.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

  • Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ-, meaning “to arrange,” is the ultimate source through Proto-Germanic *rēdaną. en.wiktionary.org
  • Proto-Germanic *rēdaną meant “advise, counsel” and developed through Old English rǣdan into Middle English reden. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English rǣdan had the meanings “counsel, advise, interpret, read.” en.wiktionary.org
  • Dutch raden and German raten are cognates of English read. en.wiktionary.org
  • Dutch raden means “advise” and “guess.” en.wiktionary.org
  • German raten means “advise” and “guess.” en.wiktionary.org
  • The West Germanic sense “interpret” developed into interpreting letters in English and guessing on the continent. en.wiktionary.org