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reed

 
Dictionary: reed   (rēd) pronunciation
n.
    1. Any of various tall perennial grasses, especially of the genera Phragmites or Arundo, having hollow stems, broad leaves, and large plumelike terminal panicles.
    2. The stalk of any of these plants.
    3. A collection of these stalks: reed for making baskets.
  1. Music. A primitive wind instrument made of a hollow reed stalk.
  2. Music.
    1. A flexible strip of cane or metal set into the mouthpiece or air opening of certain instruments to produce tone by vibrating in response to a stream of air.
    2. An instrument, such as an oboe or clarinet, that is fitted with a reed.
  3. A narrow movable frame fitted with reed or metal strips that separate the warp threads in weaving.
  4. Architecture. A reeding.

[Middle English rede, from Old English hrēod.]


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In botany, any of several species of large aquatic grasses, especially the four species in the genus Phragmites (family Poaceae). The common, or water, reed (P. australis) occurs along the margins of lakes, fens, marshes, and streams from the Arctic to the tropics. It is a broad-leaved grass, about 5 – 15 ft (1.5 – 5 m) tall, with feathery flower clusters and stiff, smooth stems. Bur reed (genus Sparganium) and reed mace (genus Typha) are plants of other families. Dried reed stems have been used for millennia as thatching and construction material, in basketry, for arrows and pens, and in musical instruments (see reed instruments).

For more information on reed, visit Britannica.com.

A thin layer of metal, plastic or most frequently natural reed (or ‘cane’), set into vibration by air from bellows or a player's lungs. There are two types used in Western art music ‘beating’ and ‘free’. The former may be single (as in the clarinet, saxophone and the reed stop of an organ), where the reed beats against a fixed surface, or double (as in the oboe and bassoon), where two reed surfaces beat together. The free reed, which vibrates freely under air pressure, is found in certain organ pipes and reed organs such as the harmonium, accordion and concertina (all bellows-blown). The mouth organ is one of the few mouth-blown free reeds.



Architecture: reed
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1. A small convex molding, usually one of several set close together to decorate a surface.
2. (pl.) Same as reeding.
3. A straw-like material prepared for thatching a roof.


 
reed, name used for several plants of the family Graminae (grass family). The common American reed, also called reedgrass and canegrass, is a tall perennial grass (Phragmites australis), widely distributed in fresh or brackish wet places. It has stout, creeping rootstalks and a large plumelike panicle. In the SW United States this grass is called carrizo and is used in building adobe huts; it has also been used for thatching and cordage. Native Americans collected a sweet exudate from the plant and made arrows of the stalks. The leaves served as edible greens and the seeds as a cereal food. Due in part to the degradation of salt marshes and in part to the supplanting of the native P. australis by a Eurasian variety, the reed has become invasive in American wetlands, where it often forms a monoculture. The giant reed (Arundo donax), of similar appearance, is native to the Mediterranean region but is now widely naturalized throughout tropical and warm climates, including the S United States. It is often cultivated for ornament, and in Europe the stems have been used to make reed instruments, bagpipes, and reed organs. This is the reed from which Pan was fabled to have made his panpipe, or syrinx. The "reeds" of wickerwork are often rattan. Reeds are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Cyperales, family Gramineae.


A thin piece of wood or plastic used in many woodwind instruments. It vibrates when the player holds it in the mouth and blows over it (as with a single reed) or through it (as with a double reed). Clarinets and saxophones use a single reed; bassoons and oboes use a double reed.

Translations: Reed
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - rør, tækkestrå, rørblad

idioms:

  • reed organ    stueorgel

Nederlands (Dutch)
riet, mondriet, riethalm, weverskam, (mv) houten blaasinstrument met riet, lijst met reliëf van rietwerk, zes ellen (lengtemaat), rieten, met riet dekken, riet op instrument zetten, stro tot riet bewerken, versieren met rietwerk

Français (French)
n. - (Bot) roseau, (Mus) anche
v. tr. - couvrir (un toit) de roseaux, rainurer (autour d'une médaille)

idioms:

  • reed organ    orgue

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schilf, Schilfrohr, Rohrblatt, Rohrblattinstrument
v. - Rohr-, Schilf-

idioms:

  • reed organ    (Mus.) Harmonium

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - καλάμι, καλαμιά, (μουσ.) γλωττίδα πνευστού οργάνου
v. - σκεπάζω με καλάμια

idioms:

  • reed organ    (μουσ.) αρμόνιο

Italiano (Italian)
canna, zampogna, di canna

idioms:

  • broken reed    persona infida
  • reed organ    armonium

Português (Portuguese)
n. - cana (f), junco (m)
v. - cobrir com cana ou junco

idioms:

  • broken reed    pessoa não confiável
  • reed organ    harmônio (mus.)

Русский (Russian)
тростник, мундштук, тростниковый, соломенный, язычковый муз. инструмент

idioms:

  • broken reed    ненадежный человек
  • reed organ    язычковый орган

Español (Spanish)
n. - caña, junco, carrizo, lengüeta, caramillo, de caña
v. tr. - techar con cañas, pasar (hilos) por el peine

idioms:

  • reed organ    armonio

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - vasstrå, (musik) rörblad
v. - pipa gällt

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
芦苇, 茅草, 芦杆, 干芦苇

idioms:

  • reed organ    簧风琴

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 蘆葦, 茅草, 蘆桿, 幹蘆葦

idioms:

  • reed organ    簧風琴

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 갈대, 갈대숲, 갈대 피리

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アシ, ふきわら, リード, リード楽器類, リード楽器部, 葦

idioms:

  • reed organ    リードオルガン

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) قصبه, قصب, شي اضعف من ان يعتمد عليه (فعل) يضع القصب على السطح, يسطح بالقصب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮קנה-סוף, אגמון, לשונית, מסרק (באריגה), כלי-נשיפה בעל לשונית, אבוב‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Fine Arts Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more
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