reed

reed / rēd/ • n. 1. a tall, slender-leaved plant of the grass family that grows in water or on marshy ground. • Genera Phragmites and Arundo, family Gramineae: several species, in particular the common (or Norfolk) reed (P. australis), which is used for thatching. ∎  used in names of similar plants growing in wet habitats, e.g., bur reed. ∎  a tall, thin, straight stalk of such a plant, used esp. as material for thatching. ∎  [often as adj.] such plants growing in a mass or used as material, esp. for making thatch or household items: a reed curtain clumps of reed and grass. ∎ poetic/lit. a rustic musical pipe made from such plants or from straw. 2. a thing or person resembling or likened to such plants, in particular: ∎  a weak or impressionable person: the jurors were mere reeds in the wind. ∎ poetic/lit. an arrow. ∎  a weaver's comblike implement for separating the threads of the warp and correctly positioning the weft. ∎  (reeds) semicylindrical adjacent moldings grouped like reeds laid together. 3. a piece of thin cane or metal, sometimes doubled, that vibrates in a current of air to produce the sound of various musical instruments, as in the mouthpiece of a clarinet or oboe, at the base of some organ pipes, and as part of a set in the accordion and harmonica. ∎  a wind instrument played with a reed. ∎  an organ stop with reed pipes. 4. an electrical contact used in a magnetically operated switch or relay. DERIVATIVES: reed·like / -ˌlīk/ adj.