reed
Pluralreeds
Pluralreeds
- 1Any of various tall, stiff, grass-like perennial plants that grow together in clumps near water.
Red-winged blackbirds nest in the reeds along the lake shore.
The wind hissed across the marsh, bending every reed toward the water.
UsageOften plural for a clump of plants: ducks hide among the reeds, birds nest in the reeds.
- 2In a wind instrument, the thin piece of wood or metal that vibrates to produce sound when air passes through it.
A chipped reed made the clarinet squeak all through the concert.
The harmonica's metal reeds vibrate as the player breathes in and out.
Note
Wind players sort reeds into three main kinds. A single reed beats against a mouthpiece, as on a clarinet or saxophone; a double reed is two thin blades vibrating against each other, as on an oboe or bassoon. Free reeds, small metal tongues swinging through a slot, sound in harmonicas and accordions.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Single, double and free reeds are common categories, but the list is not exhaustive: quadruple reeds also exist. en.wikipedia.org
- A single beating reed vibrates against an opening, as in clarinets and saxophones. academics.hamilton.edu
- Double reeds have two blades vibrating against each other, as in oboes and bassoons. en.wikipedia.org
- Harmonicas and accordions use free reeds whose tongues can vibrate through slots. euphonics.org
- 3The hollow stem of one of the tall, grass-like plants that grow near water.
Ancient scribes wrote with a reed cut to a fine point.
Basket makers soak the reeds overnight so they bend without splitting.
- 4Short for reed instrument: a wind instrument whose sound comes from a vibrating reed, such as the clarinet, oboe, saxophone, or bassoon.
The reed section carried the melody while the brass held long chords.
Our sax player also doubles on other reeds, like clarinet and oboe.
UsageMostly plural or before a noun: a player doubles on reeds, the reed section, a reed player.
- 5Straw, such as long wheat stalks, that has been dressed and made ready for thatching roofs.
The thatcher combed the wheat reed to strip out loose leaves before laying it.
The farmer saved his longest straw to sell as reed to the thatcher.
Similarthatch
- 6A comb-like part of a loom's beater, used to beat the weft into place during weaving.
Each warp thread is drawn through its own slot in the reed.
With every swing of the beater, the reed packs the weft firmly into the cloth.
Note
On a loom the reed does two main jobs. Its slots, called dents, keep the warp threads evenly spaced, and as the beater swings forward it packs each new pass of weft against the cloth. Weavers grade reeds by dents to the inch, which helps set how closely the cloth is woven; sley is a closely related term from the same loom.
- 7Architectural reeding, a decoration of narrow, rounded moldings set side by side.
The carpenter added reed molding to the door frame to match the original trim.
Reed molding gives the cabinet doors a ribbed look that catches the light.
UsageMost often before molding: reed molding down each side of a fireplace.
Note
Reeding is fluting turned inside out: flutes are grooves cut into a surface, while reeds stand out from it as parallel rounded ridges, like stems laid side by side. Both dress columns, pilasters and moldings.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
- Reeding consists of parallel convex moldings and is the opposite of fluting. crsbi.ac.uk
- Flutes are grooves in a surface. en.wikipedia.org
- Reeding forms rounded convex ridges and can decorate moldings. digital.library.unt.edu
- Architectural reeding resembles stems laid beside one another. en.wiktionary.org
- Reeding decorates columns. en.wikipedia.org
- Both fluting and reeding decorate pilasters. historicengland.org.uk
- Fluting can decorate moldings. historicengland.org.uk
- 8To mill or mint a coin with reeding, the fine ridges along its edge.
Mints began to reed the edges of silver coins so that no one could shave off metal unnoticed.
The dime is reeded, but the nickel has a smooth edge.
UsageOften as an adjective or passive: a reeded edge, the dime is reeded.
Similarmill
Note
Coins carry reeding as fine ridges round the edge, the same pattern as the architect's rounded moldings in miniature. A reeded edge made it easy to spot when someone had shaved metal off a silver coin, which is why mints took it up; mill is the other verb for the same work.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Coin reeding consists of ridges around the edge. en.wikipedia.org
- Patterned coin edges made clipping easier to detect. perthmint.com
- Preventing clipping was a reason for introducing reeded edges. en.wikipedia.org
- Milling is another term for applying coin-edge reeding. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 9A rod used for measuring length.
Note
The plant's long, straight stem made a handy rule, and the name stayed with the rod used for measuring. In translations of the Bible and other ancient texts it also names a fixed length, as in the Babylonian unit, and the word in this sense now belongs to archaic and historical writing.
- 10A Babylonian unit of length equal to six cubits, the length of a measuring reed.
Note
Babylonian surveyors counted in reeds of six cubits, two to the nindan, and their records give lengths in reeds and cubits together. In English the word appears in this sense mainly when historians translate those measures, which is why it is labeled archaic.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- A Babylonian reed equalled six cubits. en.wiktionary.org
- Two reeds equalled one nindan. cdli.earth
- 11A weapon that is shot or thrown; a missile.
Note
Poets once used the word for a weapon that flies, as if the slender stem itself had been loosed at an enemy. It is obsolete and belongs to older verse, so a reader who meets reed in a battle scene should consider that a missile, not a plant, may be meant.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Older poetry used reed for a flying weapon. en.wikisource.org
- The missile sense is obsolete and poetic. en.wiktionary.org
- 12To cover a roof with thatch.
- 13A strip of whalebone or similar material used to stiffen the skirt or waist of a woman's dress.
- 14A tube holding a train of powder, used to ignite the charge in blasting.
- 15The fourth stomach of a ruminant such as a cow or sheep; rennet.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
Old English hrēod, which comes from a Proto-West Germanic form *hreud, became Middle English red or reed. Where the Germanic word came from is uncertain. It has relatives in West Frisian reid, Dutch riet and German Ried ("reed"), but none in the North Germanic languages. The Babylonian measuring-reed sense translates Akkadian qanûm ("cane"), while the Bible's measuring reed renders the related Hebrew qaneh.
From Middle English reden, formed from the noun reed.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The verb reed derives from Middle English reden. en.wiktionary.org
- The verb was formed from the noun reed. en.wiktionary.org