reach

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See also REACH

Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Middle English rechen, from Old English rǣċan (“to reach”), from Proto-Germanic *raikijanan, from the Proto-Indo-European *rēigh- (“to stretch”). Cognate with Dutch reiken, German reichen.

Pronunciation [edit]

Verb [edit]

reach (third-person singular simple present reaches, present participle reaching, simple past and past participle reached or raught (archaic))

  1. To extend; to stretch; to thrust out; to put forth, as a limb, a member, something held, or the like.
    He reached for a weapon that was on the table.
    He reached for his shoe with his legs.
  2. Hence, to deliver by stretching out a member, especially the hand; to give with the hand; to pass to another; to hand over; as, to reach one a book.
  3. To attain or obtain by stretching forth the hand; to extend some part of the body, or something held by one, so as to touch, strike, grasp, or the like; as, to reach an object with the hand, or with a spear.
    The gun was stored in a small box on a high closet shelf, but the boy managed to reach it by climbing on other boxes.
    I can't quite reach the pepper, could you pass it to me?
  4. To strike, hit, or tough with a missile; as, to reach an object with an arrow, a bullet, or a shell.
  5. Hence, to extend an action, effort, or influence to; to penetrate to; to pierce, or cut, as far as.
  6. To extend to; to stretch out as far as; to touch by virtue of extent; as, his hand reaches the river.
  7. To arrive at by effort of any kind; to attain to; to gain; to be advanced to.
    In 3 years, he reached the position of manager.
  8. To understand; to comprehend.
    I didn't reach what he was trying to tell me.
  9. To stretch out the hand.
  10. To strain after something; to make efforts.
    Reach for your dreams.
  11. (intransitive) To extend in dimension, time etc.; to stretch out continuously (past, beyond, above, from etc. something).
    • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 4:
      The Thembu tribe reaches back for twenty generations to King Zwide.

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

to extend, to thrust out
to deliver by stretching out, to hand over
to obtain by stretching forth, to extend so as to touch
to hit with an arrow, a bullet etc.
to extend an action, effort, or influence to
to touch by virtue of extent
to arrive at
to understand; to comprehend
to stretch out the hand
to strain after something; to make efforts
to extend in dimension, time or action, so as to touch, attain to, or be equal to, something
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun [edit]

reach (plural reaches)

  1. The act of stretching or extending; extension; power of reaching or touching with the person, or a limb, or something held or thrown.
    The fruit is beyond my reach.
    to be within reach of cannon shot
    • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter VI
      […] and we have learned not to fire at any of the dinosaurs unless we can keep out of their reach for at least two minutes after hitting them in the brain or spine, or five minutes after puncturing their hearts—it takes them so long to die.
  2. The power of stretching out or extending action, influence, or the like; power of attainment or management; extent of force or capacity.
    • Hayward
      Drawn by others who had deeper reaches than themselves to matters which they least intended.
    • Alexander Pope
      Be sure yourself and your own reach to know.
  3. Extent; stretch; expanse; hence, application; influence; result; scope.
    • Milton
      And on the left hand, hell, / With long reach, interposed.
    • Shakespeare
      I am to pray you not to strain my speech / To grosser issues, nor to larger reach / Than to suspicion.
  4. (informal) An exaggeration; an extension beyond evidence or normal; a stretch.
    To call George eloquent is certainly a reach.
  5. (boxing) The distance a boxer's arm can extend to land a blow.
  6. An extended portion of land or water; a stretch; a straight portion of a stream or river, as from one turn to another; a level stretch, as between locks in a canal; an arm of the sea extending up into the land.
    • Tennyson
      The river's wooded reach.
    • Holland
      The coast […] is very full of creeks and reaches.
  7. (nautical) Any point of sail in which the wind comes from the side of a vessel, excluding close-hauled.
  8. (obsolete) An article to obtain an advantage.
    • Francis Bacon
      The Duke of Parma had particular reaches and ends of his own underhand to cross the design.
  9. The pole or rod connecting the rear axle with the forward bolster of a wagon.

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

act of stretching or extending; extension
power of stretching out or extending action
extent; stretch; expanse
exaggeration
boxing: distance a boxer's arm can extend
extended portion of land or water
nautical: point of sail
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Statistics [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

West Frisian [edit]

Noun [edit]

reach

  1. Spider-web
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