reed /ˈrid/
 蘆葦,蘆笛,簧,不可依靠的人(vt.)用蘆葦蓋,裝簧片于


 Reed a. Red. [Obs.]


 Reed, v. & n. Same as Rede. [Obs.]


 Reed, n. The fourth stomach of a ruminant; rennet. [Prov. Eng. or Scot.]


 Reed, n.
 1. Bot. A name given 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 common reed of Europe and North America (Phragmites communis).
 2. A musical instrument made of the hollow joint of some plant; a rustic or pastoral pipe.
 Arcadian pipe, the pastoral reed
 Of Hermes.   --Milton.
 3. An arrow, as made of a reed.
 4. Straw prepared for thatching a roof. [Prov. Eng.]
 5. Mus. (a) A small piece 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. (b) 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.
 6. Weaving A frame having parallel flat stripe of metal or reed, between which the warp threads pass, set in the swinging lathe or batten of a loom for beating up the weft; a sley. See Batten.
 7. Mining A tube containing the train of powder for igniting the charge in blasting.
 8. Arch. Same as Reeding.
 Egyptian reed Bot., the papyrus.
 Free reed Mus., a reed whose edges do not overlap the wind passage, -- used in the harmonium, concertina, etc. It is distinguished from the beating or striking reed of the organ and clarinet.
 Meadow reed grass Bot., the Glyceria aquatica, a tall grass found in wet places.
 Reed babbler. See Reedbird.
 Reed bunting Zool. A European sparrow (Emberiza schœniclus) which frequents marshy places; -- called also reed sparrow, ring bunting. (b) Reedling.
 Reed canary grass Bot., a tall wild grass (Phalaris arundinacea).
 Reed grass. Bot. (a) The common reed. See Reed, 1. (b) A plant of the genus Sparganium; bur reed. See under Bur.
 Reed organ Mus., an organ in which the wind acts on a set of free reeds, as the harmonium, melodeon, concertina, etc.
 Reed pipe Mus., a pipe of an organ furnished with a reed.
 Reed sparrow. Zool. See Reed bunting, above.
 Reed stop Mus., a set of pipes in an organ furnished with reeds.
 Reed warbler. Zool. (a) A small European warbler (Acrocephalus streperus); -- called also reed wren. (b) Any one of several species of Indian and Australian warblers of the genera Acrocephalus, Calamoherpe, and Arundinax. They are excellent singers.
 Sea-sand reed Bot., a kind of coarse grass (Ammophila arundinacea). See Beach grass, under Beach.
 Wood reed grass Bot., a tall, elegant grass (Cinna arundinacea), common in moist woods.

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 reed
      n 1: tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems
           especially of the genera Arundo and Phragmites
      2: 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) [syn: John Reed]
      3: United States physician who proved that yellow fever is
         transmitted by mosquitoes (1851-1902) [syn: Walter Reed]
      4: 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" [syn: {vibrating
         reed]
      5: a musical instrument that sounds by means of a reed [syn: {beating-reed
         instrument]


 Reed
    (1.) "Paper reeds" (Isa. 19:7; R.V., "reeds"). Heb. 'aroth,
    properly green herbage growing in marshy places.

      (2.) Heb. kaneh (1 Kings 14:15; Job 40:21; Isa. 19:6), whence
    the Gr. kanna, a "cane," a generic name for a reed of any kind.

      The reed of Egypt and Palestine is the Arundo donax, which
    grows to the height of 12 feet, its stalk jointed like the
    bamboo, "with a magnificent panicle of blossom at the top, and
    so slender and yielding that it will lie perfectly flat under a
    gust of wind, and immediately resume its upright position." It
    is used to illustrate weakness (2 Kings 18:21; Ezek. 29:6), also
    fickleness or instability (Matt. 11:7; comp. Eph. 4:14).

      A "bruised reed" (Isa. 42:3; Matt. 12:20) is an emblem of a
    believer weak in grace. A reed was put into our Lord's hands in
    derision (Matt. 27:29); and "they took the reed and smote him on
    the head" (30). The "reed" on which they put the sponge filled
    with vinegar (Matt. 27:48) was, according to John (19:29), a
    hyssop stalk, which must have been of some length, or perhaps a
    bunch of hyssop twigs fastened to a rod with the sponge. (See CANE.)