rod
rod / räd/ • n. 1. a thin straight bar, esp. of wood or metal. ∎ a wand or staff as a symbol of office, authority, or power. ∎ a slender straight stick or shoot growing on or cut from a tree or bush. ∎ a stick used for caning or flogging. ∎ (the rod) the use of such a stick as punishment: if you'd been my daughter, you'd have felt the rod. ∎ vulgar slang a penis.2. a fishing rod.3. hist. a linear measure, esp. for land, equal to 51/2 yards (approx. 5.029 m). ∎ (also square rod) a square measure, esp. for land, equal to 160th of an acre or 301/4 square yards (approx. 25.29 sq m).4. inf. a pistol or revolver.5. Anat. a light-sensitive cell of one of the two types present in large numbers in the retina of the eye, responsible mainly for monochrome vision in poor light. Compare with cone (sense 3).PHRASES: ride the rods steal rides on freight trains: hundreds of young men took to riding the rods in search of employment.rule someone or something with a rod of iron control or govern someone or something very strictly or harshly.DERIVATIVES: rod·less adj.rod·let / -lət/ n.rod·like / -ˌlīk/ adj.