read

The definition of read is to use eyes or fingers to figure out what letters or other symbols mean.

(verb)

  1. An example of read is looking at the words in a book and knowing what they mean.
  2. An example of read is for a blind person to use their fingers to touch the Braille characters to understand their meaning.

Read is defined as interpret what a person is saying by looking at their lips, understand as if by reading, or to predict.

(verb)

  1. An example of read is when a deaf person looks at a person's lips to understand what they're saying; to read lips.
  2. An example of read is when a friend knows exactly what their friend is thinking; read the friend's mind.
  3. An example of read is being able to tell what's going to happen in the future; read the future.

YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2013 by LoveToKnow Corp.

See read in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb read , reading

    1. to get the meaning of (something written, printed, embossed, etc.) by using the eyes, or for Braille, the finger tips, to interpret its characters or signs
    2. proofread
  1. to utter aloud (printed or written matter)
  2. to interpret movements of (the lips of a person speaking)
  3. to know (a language) well enough to interpret its written form
    1. to understand the nature, significance, or thinking of as if by reading: to read a person's character in her face, to read someone's mind
    2. to ascribe (an underlying meaning or significance) to: with into: don't read anything into his straightforward reply
    1. to interpret (signals, etc.)
    2. to interpret (dreams, omens, tea leaves, lines in the palm of a hand, etc.)
  4. to foretell (the future)
  5. to interpret or understand (a printed passage) as having a particular meaning
  6. to interpret (a musical composition) in a particular way, as in conducting
  7. to have or give as a reading in a certain passage: this edition reads “show,” not “shew”
  8. Brit. to study, as at a university; esp., to major in: to read law
  9. to record and show; register: the thermometer reads 80°
  10. to put into a (specified) state by reading: to read a child to sleep
  11. Slang to hear and understand: I read you loud and clear
  12. Comput. to access (data or a file) from (a disk, tape, etc.)

Origin: ME reden, to explain, hence to read < OE rædan, to counsel, interpret; akin to Ger raten, to counsel, advise < IE *rē-dh, *rə-dh < base *ar-, *(a)rē-, to join, fit > art, arm, L reri, to think, ratio, a reckoning

intransitive verb

  1. to read something written, printed, etc., as words, music, books, etc.
  2. to utter or repeat aloud the words of written or printed matter
  3. to learn by reading: with about or of
  4. to study
  5. to have or give a particular meaning when read: a poem that reads several ways
  6. to contain, or be drawn up in, certain words: the sentence reads as follows
  7. to admit of being read as specified: a story that reads well

noun

  1. an act of reading: a quick read of the headlines
  2. something for reading: a novel that's a good read
  3. Chiefly Brit. a period of time spent reading

transitive verb, intransitive verb

adjective

having knowledge gotten from reading: she is widely read in American history

Read, Sir Herbert (Edward) 1893-1968; Eng. art & literary critic

See read in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb read read (rĕd), read·ing, reads
verb, transitive
  1. To examine and grasp the meaning of (written or printed characters, words, or sentences).
  2. To utter or render aloud (written or printed material): read poems to the students.
  3. To have the ability to examine and grasp the meaning of (written or printed material in a given language or notation): reads Chinese; reads music.
  4. a. To examine and grasp the meaning of (language in a form other than written or printed characters, words, or sentences): reading Braille; reading sign language.
    b. To examine and grasp the meaning of (a graphic representation): reading a map.
  5. a. To discern and interpret the nature or significance of through close examination or sensitive observation: The tracker read the trail for signs of game.
    b. To discern or anticipate through examination or observation; descry: “I can read abandonment in a broken door or shattered window” (William H. Gass).
  6. To determine the intent or mood of: can read your mind like a book; a hard person to read.
  7. a. To attribute a certain interpretation or meaning to: read her words differently than I did.
    b. To consider (something written or printed) as having a particular meaning or significance: read the novel as a parable.
  8. To foretell or predict (the future).
  9. To receive or comprehend (a radio message, for example): I read you loud and clear.
  10. To study or make a study of: read history as an undergraduate.
  11. To learn or get knowledge of from something written or printed: read that interest rates would continue to rise.
  12. To proofread.
  13. To have or use as a preferred reading in a particular passage: For change read charge.
  14. To indicate, register, or show: The dial reads 32°.
  15. Computer Science To obtain (data) from a storage medium, such as a magnetic disk.
  16. Genetics To decode or translate a sequence of messenger RNA into an amino acid sequence in a polypeptide chain.
verb, intransitive
  1. To examine and grasp the meaning of printed or written characters, as of words or music.
  2. To speak aloud the words that one is reading: read to the children every night.
  3. To learn by reading: read about the storm in the paper today.
  4. To study.
  5. To have a particular wording: Recite the poem exactly as it reads.
  6. To contain a specific meaning: As the law reads, the defendant is guilty.
  7. To indicate, register, or show a measurement or figure: How does your new watch read?
  8. To have a specified character or quality for the reader: Your poems read well.
noun
Informal
Something that is read: “The book is a page-turner as well as a very satisfying read” (Frank Conroy).
adjective (rĕd)
Informed by reading; learned: only sparsely read in fields outside my profession.
Phrasal Verbs: read out To read aloud: Please read out the names on the list. read up To study or learn by reading: Read up on the places you plan to visit before you travel.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English reden

Origin: , from Old English rǣdan, to advise; see ar- in Indo-European roots

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Word History: English is the one of the few western European languages that does not derive its verb for “to read” from Latin legere. Compare, for example, leggere in Italian, lire in French, and lesen in German. (Equally surprising is the fact that English is the only western European language not to derive its verb for “to write” from Latin scrībere.) Read comes from the Old English verb rǣdan, “to advise, interpret (something difficult), interpret (something written), read.” Rǣdan is related to the German verb raten, “to advise” (as in Rathaus, “townhall”). The Old English noun rǣd, “counsel,” survives in the rare noun rede, “counsel, advice” and in the name of the unfortunate King Ethelred the Unready, whose epithet is often misunderstood. Unready here does not have its current sense “unprepared”; it is a late 16th-century spelling of an earlier unredy, “ill advised, rash, foolish,” from rede.

American Revolutionary leader, politician, and jurist. Delaware's delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787), he championed the rights of small states and later served as a U.S. senator (1789-1793).

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