(rēd) noun
1. The slender, frequently jointed stem of certain tall grasses growing in wet places, or the grasses themselves.
2. A thin, elastic plate of reed, wood, or metal nearly closing an opening, as in a pipe: used in reed organs, the reed pipes of pipe organs, and instruments of the bassoon and clarinet order, to produce a musical tone either by itself or when reinforced by the vibration of air in a pipe.
3. A musical pipe made of the hollow stem of a plant; a shepherd's pipe.
4. Archit. A semicylindrical ornamental molding or bead.
5. That part of a loom that drives the filling against the woven fabric, consisting of two horizontal parallel bars near together and connected by numerous thin parallel slips. See illustration under LOOM.
6. An arrow.
7. An ancient Hebrew measure of length; six cubits.
—v.t.
1. To fashion into or decorate with reeds.
2. To thatch with reeds. [OE hrēod]

(rēd), John,
1887–1920, U.S. journalist and poet.
—Sampson,
1800–80, U.S. Swedenborgian.
—Walter,
1851–1902, U.S. army surgeon; demonstrated the transmission of yellow fever by mosquitos.