1. [n]  a musical instrument that sounds by means of a reed
2. [n]  mechanical device consisting of a thin strip of stiff material that is fitted into the mouthpiece of woodwind instruments and that vibrates to produce a tone when air streams over it
3. [n]  American physician who proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes (1851-1902)
4. [n]  United States journalist who reported on the October Revolution from Petrograd in 1917; founded the American Communist Labor Party in 1919; is buried in the Kremlin in Moscow (1887-1920)
5. [n]  tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems especially of the genera Arundo and Phragmites

1. \Reed\ (r[=e]d), a.
   Red. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
   

2. \Reed\, v. & n.
   Same as {Rede}. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
   

3. \Reed\, n.
   The fourth stomach of a ruminant; rennet. [Prov. Eng. or
   Scot.]
   

4. \Reed\, n. [AS. hre['o]d; akin to D. riet, G. riet, ried,
   OHG. kriot, riot.]
   1. (Bot.) A name given to many tall and coarse grasses or
      grasslike plants, and their slender, often jointed, stems,
      such as the various kinds of bamboo, and especially the
      common reed of Europe and North America ({Phragmites
      communis}).
   2. A musical instrument made of the hollow joint of some
      plant; a rustic or pastoral pipe.
            Arcadian pipe, the pastoral reed Of Hermes.
                                                  --Milton.
   3. An arrow, as made of a reed. --Prior.
   4. Straw prepared for thatching a roof. [Prov. Eng.]
   5. (Mus.)
      (a) A small piece of cane or wood attached to the
          mouthpiece of certain instruments, and set in
          vibration by the breath. In the clarinet it is a
          single fiat reed; in the oboe and bassoon it is
          double, forming a compressed tube.
      (b) One of the thin pieces of metal, the vibration of
          which produce the tones of a melodeon, accordeon,
          harmonium, or seraphine; also attached to certain sets
          or registers of pipes in an organ.
   6. (Weaving) A frame having parallel flat stripe of metal or
      reed, between which the warp threads pass, set in the
      swinging lathe or batten of a loom for beating up the
      weft; a sley. See {Batten}.
   7. (Mining) A tube containing the train of powder for
      igniting the charge in blasting.
   8. (Arch.) Same as {Reeding}.
   {Egyptian reed} (Bot.), the papyrus.
   {Free reed} (Mus.), a reed whose edges do not overlap the
      wind passage, -- used in the harmonium, concertina, etc.
      It is distinguished from the beating or striking reed of
      the organ and clarinet.
   {Meadow reed grass} (Bot.), the {Glyceria aquatica}, a tall
      grass found in wet places.
   {Reed babbler}. See {Reedbird}.
   {Reed bunting} (Zo["o]l.) A European sparrow ({Emberiza
      sch[oe]niclus}) which frequents marshy places; -- called
      also {reed sparrow}, {ring bunting}.
      (b) Reedling.
   {Reed canary grass} (Bot.), a tall wild grass ({Phalaris
      arundinacea}).
   {Reed grass}. (Bot.)
      (a) The common reed. See {Reed}, 1.
      (b) A plant of the genus {Sparganium}; bur reed. See under
          {Bur}.
   {Reed organ} (Mus.), an organ in which the wind acts on a set
      of free reeds, as the harmonium, melodeon, concertina,
      etc.
   {Reed pipe} (Mus.), a pipe of an organ furnished with a reed.
   {Reed sparrow}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Reed bunting}, above.
   {Reed stop} (Mus.), a set of pipes in an organ furnished with
      reeds.
   {Reed warbler}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) A small European warbler ({Acrocephalus streperus});
          -- called also {reed wren}.
      (b) Any one of several species of Indian and Australian
          warblers of the genera {Acrocephalus}, {Calamoherpe},
          and {Arundinax}. They are excellent singers.
   {Sea-sand reed} (Bot.), a kind of coarse grass ({Ammophila
      arundinacea}). See {Beach grass}, under {Beach}.
   {Wood reed grass} (Bot.), a tall, elegant grass ({Cinna
      arundinacea}), common in moist woods.
   

(1.) "Paper reeds" (Isa. 19:7; R.V., "reeds"). Heb. 'aroth, properly green herbage growing in marshy places.

(2.) Heb. kaneh (1 Kings 14:15; Job 40:21; Isa. 19:6), whence the Gr. kanna, a "cane," a generic name for a reed of any kind.

The reed of Egypt and Palestine is the Arundo donax, which grows to the height of 12 feet, its stalk jointed like the bamboo, "with a magnificent panicle of blossom at the top, and so slender and yielding that it will lie perfectly flat under a gust of wind, and immediately resume its upright position." It is used to illustrate weakness (2 Kings 18:21; Ezek. 29:6), also fickleness or instability (Matt. 11:7; comp. Eph. 4:14).

A "bruised reed" (Isa. 42:3; Matt. 12:20) is an emblem of a believer weak in grace. A reed was put into our Lord's hands in derision (Matt. 27:29); and "they took the reed and smote him on the head" (30). The "reed" on which they put the sponge filled with vinegar (Matt. 27:48) was, according to John (19:29), a hyssop stalk, which must have been of some length, or perhaps a bunch of hyssop twigs fastened to a rod with the sponge. (See CANE.)