1. (n.)reed the straight stalk of any of various tall grasses, esp. of the genus Phragmites,growing in marshy places.
2. reed any of the plants themselves.
3. reed such stalks or plants collectively, esp. as material for thatching.
4. reed anything made from such a stalk, as an arrow.
5. reed a small, flexible piece of cane or metal that, attached to the mouth of any of various wind instruments, is set into vibration by a stream of air and, in turn, sets into vibration the air column enclosed in the tube of the instrument.
6. reed the comblike device in a loom that separates the warp threads during weaving and is used to beat the filling yarns.
7. reed a small convex molding, usu. one of a series set in parallel rows as decoration.
8. reed an ancient unit of length, equal to 6 cubits. Ezek. 40:5.
1. (noun)reed tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems especially of the genera Arundo and Phragmites
2. (noun)Reed, John Reed 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)
3. (noun)Reed, Walter Reed United States physician who proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes (1851-1902)
4. (noun)reed, vibrating reed 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"
5. (noun)beating-reed instrument, reed instrument, reed a musical instrument that sounds by means of a vibrating reed
3. (noun)Reed a namegiven to many tall and coarse grasses or grasslike plants, and their slender, often jointed, stems, such as the various kinds of bamboo, and especially the commonreed of Europe and NorthAmerica (Phragmites communis)
7. (noun)Reed a smallpiece of cane or wood attached to the mouthpiece of certain instruments, and set in vibration by the breath. In the clarinet it is a single fiat reed; in the oboe and bassoon it is double, forming a compressed tube
8. (noun)Reed one of the thin pieces of metal, the vibration of which produce the tones of a melodeon, accordeon, harmonium, or seraphine; also attached to certain sets or registers of pipes in an organ