|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
reach
reach / rēch/ • v. 1. [intr.] stretch out an arm in a specified direction in order to touch or grasp something: he reached over and turned off his bedside light. ∎ (reach for) make a movement with one's hand or arm in an attempt to touch or grasp (something): Carl reached for the phone. ∎ [tr.] (reach something out) stretch out one's hand or arm: he reached out a hand and touched her forehead. ∎ hand (something) to (someone): reach me those glasses. ∎ [intr.] be able to touch something with an outstretched arm or leg: I had to stand on tiptoe and even then I could hardly reach. ∎ (reach out) extend help, understanding, or influence: he felt such an urge to reach out to his fellow sufferer. 2. [tr.] arrive at; get as far as: “Goodbye,” she said as they reached the door the show is due to reach our screens early next year. ∎ attain or extend to (a specified point, level, or condition): unemployment reached a peak in 1933| [intr.] in its native habitat it will reach to about 6 m in height. ∎ succeed in achieving: the intergovernmental conference reached agreement on the draft treaty. ∎ make contact or communicate with (someone) by telephone or other means: I've been trying to reach you all morning. ∎ (of a broadcast or other communication) be received by: television reached those parts of the electorate that other news sources could not. ∎ succeed in influencing or having an effect on: their fresh sound and message reach people who may never set foot in a church. 3. [intr.] Sailing sail with the wind blowing from the side, or from slightly behind the side, of the ship. • n. 1. an act of reaching out with one's arm: she made a reach for him. ∎ [in sing.] the distance to which someone can stretch out their hand (used esp. of a boxer): a giant, over six feet seven with a reach of over 81 inches. ∎ the extent or range of application, effect, or influence: the diameter and the reach of the spark plug varies from engine to engine. 2. (often reaches) a continuous extent of land or water, esp. a stretch of river between two bends, or the part of a canal between locks: the upper reaches of the Nile. 3. Sailing a distance traversed in reaching. PHRASES: out of (or beyond) reach outside the distance to which someone can stretch out their hand. ∎ beyond the capacity of someone to attain or achieve something: she thought college was out of her reach. within (or in) reach inside the distance to which someone can stretch out their hand. ∎ inside a distance that can be traveled: Rocky Mountain National Park is within easy reach of the city of Denver. ∎ within the capacity of someone to attain or achieve something. DERIVATIVES: reach·a·ble adj. |
|
|
Cite this article
"reach." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "reach." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-reach.html "reach." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-reach.html |
|
reach
reach.
1. The point of sailing of a vessel which can point its course with the wind reasonably free and its sails full. A broad reach is the same but with the wind abeam or from slightly abaft the beam. For illus. see points of sailing. It can also be used as a verb. 2. A straight, or nearly straight, stretch of a navigable river or estuary. Thus a vessel coming up the River Thames will, after passing Tilbury, navigate through Long Reach, Erith Reach, Halfway Reach, Barking Reach, Gallion's Reach, Woolwich Reach, and Limehouse Reach. 3. As a verb, the act of sailing a vessel with the sails full and the wind free. A sailing vessel which overtakes another is sometimes said to reach ahead of her. It was also a word used to describe a sailing vessel when she was standing off and on, waiting perhaps to pick up a pilot or for some other purposes. See also fore-reach. |
|
|
Cite this article
"reach." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "reach." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-reach.html "reach." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-reach.html |
|
reach
reach1 stretch out, extend (in various lit. and fig. uses). OE. ræċan (pt. rǣhte, rāhte) = MLG., (M)Du. reiken, (O)HG. reichen :- WGmc. *raikjan, with which Lith. ráižytis stretch has been connected. The typical ME. forms of pt. and pp. were rau(g)ht(e); the new reched appeared c.1400.
Hence reach sb. continuous stretch, as of a waterway XIII (in place-names); act or extent of reaching XVI. |
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "reach." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "reach." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reach.html T. F. HOAD. "reach." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reach.html |
|
Reach
Reach, ‘(place at) the raised strip of land or other linear feature’, OE *rǣc: Reach Beds. Reche c.1220. Reach Cambs. Reche 1086. Here the reference is to the post- Roman earthwork of Devil's Dyke.
|
|
|
Cite this article
A. D. MILLS. "Reach." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. A. D. MILLS. "Reach." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O40-Reach.html A. D. MILLS. "Reach." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O40-Reach.html |
|
reach
reach2 †spit, hawk OE.; make efforts to vomit XVI. OE. hræċan = ON. hrækja spit, f. Gmc. *χraik-, repr. also by OF. hrāca, ON. hrāki spittle; of imit. orig.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "reach." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "reach." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reach1.html T. F. HOAD. "reach." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reach1.html |
|
reach
reach v. sail with the wind blowing from the side, or from slightly behind the side, of the ship.
n. a distance traversed in reaching. |
|
|
Cite this article
"reach." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "reach." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-reach.html "reach." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-reach.html |
|
reach
reach A metric used in WEB ADVERTISING. It is the number of visitors who have viewed a particular BANNER ADVERT.
|
|
|
Cite this article
DARREL INCE. "reach." A Dictionary of the Internet. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DARREL INCE. "reach." A Dictionary of the Internet. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O12-reach.html DARREL INCE. "reach." A Dictionary of the Internet. 2001. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O12-reach.html |
|
reach
reach •beach, beech, beseech, bleach, breach, breech, each, impeach, leach, leech, outreach, peach, pleach, preach, reach, screech, speech, teach
•horseleech
|
|
|
Cite this article
"reach." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "reach." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-reach.html "reach." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-reach.html |
|
REACH
REACH (riːtʃ) Retired Executives' Action Clearing House
|
|
|
Cite this article
FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "REACH." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "REACH." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-REACH.html FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "REACH." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-REACH.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
