# read

Pronunciation: say "REED" US /ɹid/, UK /ɹiːd/

## Verb

1. To look at and make sense of letters, words, or other written information, including a book or the works of a particular writer.
   - Simple: To look at written words and understand what they say, for example in a book or in a writer's works.
   - _Most children read simple stories before they ever start school._
   - _By candlelight, she preferred to read late into the night._
2. To speak written words aloud, often to another person who is listening.
   - Simple: To say out loud the words that are written down.
   - _Teachers often read passages aloud to help students follow along._
   - _She reads to the residents at the care home each week._
3. To contain or be made up of particular written words.
   - Simple: To have certain words written on or in it.
   - _The new warning labels read 'Handle with care' in bold type._
   - _The inscription reads 'Lest we forget' beneath the carved names._
4. To interpret something or infer its meaning, significance, or intention, including understanding a signal or sign correctly.
   - Simple: To understand what something means or what someone intends, from signs or clues.
   - _Skilled negotiators read the room before making any offer._
   - _She read his long silence as a sign of disapproval._
7. To retrieve or fetch data from a storage medium or device.
   - Simple: To get data from a disk, drive, or other storage.
   - _The drive failed to read the corrupted sectors._
   - _The scanner reads each barcode and sends the data to the checkout system._
8. To come across or be interpreted in a particular way, or to show a particular figure, as a gauge does.
   - Simple: To sound or be understood in a certain way, or to show a certain value.
   - _Cheap thermometers often read several degrees too high._
   - _The opening paragraph reads like a confession._
10. To be able to hear and understand another person clearly over a radio connection.
   - Simple: To be able to hear someone clearly over a radio.
   - _Ground control, do you read me?_
   - _I read you loud and clear, over._
11. Used to introduce the blunt, truly intended meaning behind a softer or euphemistic statement.
   - Simple: Used to point out the real, blunter meaning hiding behind softer words.
   - _The press release announced a 'strategic realignment' (read, mass layoffs)._
   - _His note thanked us for our 'understanding' (read, our silence)._
12. To call attention to someone's flaws in a playful, taunting, or insulting way.
   - Simple: To point out someone's faults in a funny or mean way, often in front of other people.
   - _Drag performers read each other for filth as a kind of competitive art._
   - _The host read each contestant mercilessly, exposing every fashion mistake._
14. To study a particular subject at an advanced level, especially as a degree at university. *(Commonwealth)*
   - Simple: To study a subject at a college or university.
   - _She read classics at Cambridge before training as a lawyer._
   - _Many of them read engineering at university._
15. To bring a bill formally before a legislature for consideration at one of the fixed stages in its passage into law; frequently used in the passive.
   - Simple: To formally present a proposed law to lawmakers at one of the fixed steps on its way to becoming law.
   - _The state constitution requires the senate to read every bill on three separate days._
   - _After a long debate, the bill was read a second time and sent to committee._
16. To substitute a corrected word or passage for an erroneous one in a text, especially when noting a correction.
   - Simple: To put the correct word in place of a wrong one in a written text.
   - _In the first edition, for 'sword' read 'word', since the printer made an error._
   - _A footnote corrects the line: for 'desert' read 'dessert'._
18. To perceive or identify someone as transgender, often from appearance, voice, or manner.
   - Simple: To tell that someone is transgender from how they look or sound.
   - _Most people in the office never read her as transgender._
   - _He worried that viewers would read him as trans on camera._
19. In Go, to mentally trace sequences of possible moves and the opponent's likely responses without actually placing stones on the board.
   - Simple: In the game Go, to picture future moves in your mind without placing any stones.
   - _Top professionals can read dozens of moves deep in complex positions._
   - _He read the life-and-death problem correctly and found the killing move._

## Noun

5. A written work regarded as something to be read.
   - Simple: A book, story, or article that someone reads.
   - _Her latest novel is a gripping read from start to finish._
   - _The magazine offers several short reads for a quick break._
6. An act or instance of reading, especially of an actor's part in a play or of stored data.
   - Simple: An act of reading something, like an actor's lines or saved computer data.
   - _The cast gathered for a first read of the new script._
   - _The disk controller reported a failed read during startup._
9. How someone interprets or sizes up something; their impression of it.
   - Simple: The way a person understands or sees something.
   - _Her read of the negotiation proved sharper than anyone expected._
   - _I'd love to hear your read on the election results._
13. An instance of calling attention to someone's flaws; a pointed taunt or insult.
   - Simple: A funny or mean comment that points out someone's faults.
   - _His comeback was a perfect read, and the audience roared._
   - _The night was full of clever reads traded between old friends._
17. A determined sequence of bases in a nucleic acid, or of genes in a genome, as identified during sequencing.
   - Simple: A string of DNA or RNA letters that a sequencing machine has worked out.
   - _Each read covered a few hundred bases of the bacterial genome._
   - _Researchers discarded the low-quality reads before assembly._

## Verb

20. To tell, declare, or recite something aloud. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To say something out loud, or to tell or declare it.
21. To think, believe, or judge that something is the case. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To think or believe that something is true.
22. To advise or counsel someone on what course to take. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To give someone advice, or to tell them what they should do.

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/read (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).