reed
/riːd/noun
1
- a tall, slender-leaved plant of the grass family, which grows in water or on marshy ground芦苇。
1.1
- Genera Phragmites and Arundo, family Gramineae: several species, in particular the common (or Norfolk) reed (P. australis), which is used for thatching.芦苇属及芦竹属, 禾本科：数种, 尤指（用作盖屋顶用的）南方芦苇, 拉丁名P.australis。
1.2
- used in names of similar plants growing in wet habitats, e.g. bur-reed［用于类似芦苇的湿地植物名称, 如bur-reed］。
1.3
- a tall, thin, straight stalk of such a plant, used especially as material for thatching芦苇秆。
1.4
- mass noun [often as modifier] such plants growing in a mass or used as material, especially for making thatch or household items芦苇丛; （尤指盖屋顶或制作家用物品的）芦苇料：
a reed curtain
芦苇编成的窗帘
clumps of reed and grass.
芦草丛。
1.5
- poetic/literary a rustic musical pipe made from such plants or from straw〈诗/文〉芦笛。
1.6
- mass noun Brit. straw used for thatching〈英〉（盖屋顶用）茅草。
2
- a thing or person resembling or likened to such plants, in particular与芦苇相似的人或物, 尤指：
2.1
- a weak or impressionable person脆弱的人; 随风倒的人：
the jurors were mere reeds in the wind.
这些陪审员只是随风倒的人。
2.2
- poetic/literary an arrow〈诗/文〉箭, 矢。
2.3
- a weaver's comb-like implement for separating the threads of the warp and correctly positioning the weft筘, 钢箍。
2.4
reeds
a set of semi-cylindrical adjacent mouldings like reeds laid together小凸嵌线脚, 芦苇形线脚。
3
- a piece of thin cane or metal, sometimes doubled, which 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 harmonium簧舌, 簧片。
3.1
- a wind instrument played with a reed簧乐器。
3.2
- an organ stop with reed pipes管风琴簧管栓。
4
- an electrical contact used in a magnetically operated switch or relay（磁性继电器或磁力开关）接触器。
短语
a broken reed
- a weak or ineffectual person脆弱的人; 无用的人。
(as) slim as a reed
- (of a person) very slim（人）纤细的, 苗条的。
词源
Old English hrēod, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch riet and German Ried.