Library / English Dictionary

READ

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that is read

Example:

the article was a very good read

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("read" is a kind of...):

publication (a copy of a printed work offered for distribution)

Derivation:

read (interpret something that is written or printed)

read (have or contain a certain wording or form)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make sense of a language

Example:

Can you read Greek?

Synonyms:

interpret; read; translate; understand

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be a student of a certain subject

Example:

She is reading for the bar exam

Synonyms:

learn; read; study; take

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "read"):

audit (attend academic courses without getting credit)

prepare; train (undergo training or instruction in preparation for a particular role, function, or profession)

drill; exercise; practice; practise (learn by repetition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

To hear and understand

Example:

I read you loud and clear!

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Verb group:

read; take (interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression

Example:

How should I take this message?

Synonyms:

read; take

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

construe; interpret; see (make sense of; assign a meaning to)

Verb group:

read (to hear and understand)

read (interpret the significance of, as of palms, tea leaves, intestines, the sky; also of human behavior)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "read"):

misinterpret; misread (interpret wrongly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

reading (a particular interpretation or performance)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Interpret something that is written or printed

Example:

Have you read Salman Rushdie?

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

construe; interpret; see (make sense of; assign a meaning to)

Verb group:

read; say (have or contain a certain wording or form)

read (look at, interpret, and say out loud something that is written or printed)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "read"):

lip-read; lipread; speech-read (interpret by lipreading; of deaf people)

skim; skim over (read superficially)

decipher; trace (read with difficulty)

dip into (read selectively; read only certain passages from a text)

reread (read anew; read again)

anagram; anagrammatise; anagrammatize (read letters out of order to discover a hidden meaning)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

read (something that is read)

reader (a person who enjoys reading)

reader (a person who can read; a literate person)

reading (the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Look at, interpret, and say out loud something that is written or printed

Example:

The King will read the proclamation at noon

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Verb group:

read (interpret something that is written or printed)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "read"):

numerate (read out loud as words written numbers)

dictate (say out loud for the purpose of recording)

call (read aloud to check for omissions or absentees)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s to somebody

Sentence examples:

The parents read a French poem to the children

The parents read the children a French poem

Derivation:

reader (a person who enjoys reading)

reader (a person who can read; a literate person)

reading (a public instance of reciting or repeating (from memory) something prepared in advance)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Interpret the significance of, as of palms, tea leaves, intestines, the sky; also of human behavior

Example:

The fortune teller read his fate in the crystal ball

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

anticipate; call; forebode; foretell; predict; prognosticate; promise (make a prediction about; tell in advance)

Verb group:

read; take (interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "read"):

scry (divine by gazing into crystals)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Obtain data from magnetic tapes or other digital sources

Example:

This dictionary can be read by the computer

Synonyms:

read; scan

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

construe; interpret; see (make sense of; assign a meaning to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "read"):

misread (read or interpret wrongly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 9

Meaning:

Indicate a certain reading; of gauges and instruments

Example:

The gauge read 'empty'

Synonyms:

read; record; register; show

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

indicate (to state or express briefly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "read"):

say (indicate)

show (give evidence of, as of records)

strike (indicate (a certain time) by striking)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

reading (the act of measuring with meters or similar instruments)

reading (a datum about some physical state that is presented to a user by a meter or similar instrument)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Audition for a stage role by reading parts of a role

Example:

He is auditioning for 'Julius Caesar' at Stratford this year

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

audition; try out (perform in order to get a role)

Domain category:

performing arts (arts or skills that require public performance)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 11

Meaning:

Have or contain a certain wording or form

Example:

What does the law say?

Synonyms:

read; say

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "read" is one way to...):

feature; have (have as a feature)

Verb group:

read (interpret something that is written or printed)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s Adjective/Noun
Something ----s something

Derivation:

read (something that is read)

Credits

 Context examples: 

He opened it and read it gravely; then, with a charming smile, he handed it to me to read.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

For children over four, use caution and read labels carefully.

(Cough, NIH)

In the final step, an enzyme reaction takes place that causes a color change that can be read using a special machine.

(ELISA, NCI Dictionary)

Expressed Sequence Tags positioned in open reading frames.

(ORESTES Library, NCI Thesaurus)

The distance between a point and a fixed reference point; difference between a set point and the actual reading.

(Offset, NCI Thesaurus)

Looking out into the distance - instead of trying to read or look at something in the vehicle - can also help.

(Motion Sickness, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Now, how were his sentiments to be read?

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I myself have read hundreds and hundreds.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I was sitting reading in the chair.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A chapter having been read through twice, the books were closed and the girls examined.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)