reed´like´

reed «reed», noun, adjective, verb.

–n.

1. a kind of tall grass with a hollow, jointed stalk that grows in wet places.

2. such a stalk.

3. Figurative. anything or anyone like a reed, such as a person or thing that is frail, weak, or delicate: »

Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed (Blaise Pascal). The United Nations is a fragile reed (Wall Street Journal).

4. anything made from the stalk of a reed or anything like it, such as an arrow or a musical instrument played by blowing through it.

5. a) a thin piece of wood, metal, or plastic in a musical instrument that produces sound when a current of air moves it. b)

= reed instrument. (Cf. ↑reed instrument)

6. a weaver's instrument for separating the threads of the warp and beating up the woof.

7. a small convex molding; reeding.

8. British Dialect. straw prepared for thatching.

9. (in the Bible) a Hebrew unit of length; six cubits.

–adj.

1. producing tones by means of reeds: »

a reed musician.

2.

= reedy. (Cf. ↑reedy)

–v.t.

1. to thatch with reeds.

2. to decorate with reeding.

╂[Old English hrēod]

–reed´like´, adjective.