| 释义 |
▪ I. read, n.1 Obs. exc. dial. or techn.|riːd|
Also 4 (9 dial.) rede, 5, 9 Sc. reid, 8 red, 8–9 reed.
[OE. réada, of obscure origin.]
The stomach of an animal; in later use only spec. the fourth stomach of a ruminant.
It is probable that the special sense of the word is the original one, but the early examples are not sufficiently definite to establish this.
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 159/38 Ilia, smæle þearmas. Tolia, uel porunula, reada. c1320Sir Tristr. 489 He riȝt al þe rede, Þe wombe oway he bare. c1450Holland Howlat 839 He cryid: ‘Allace..revyn is my reid! I am vngraciously gorrit, baith guttis and gall!’ 1601Holland Pliny I. 342 All creatures hauing a Stomack or Read, are not without a belly vnder it. 1666J. Smith Old Age (1676) 84 That is that which Anatomists call, Omasum, and our Butchers, the Read. 1701Grew Cosmol. Sacra i. v. 29 Most of those [animals] which have no upper Teeth, or none at all; have Three Stomachs: As in Beasts, the Panch, the Read and the Feck. 1782A. Monro Compar. Anat. (ed. 3) 40 From this it passes into the fourth [stomach],..or the red, which is the name it commonly has because of its colour. 1808Jamieson s.v., A calf's reid, the fourth stomach of a calf, used for runnet or earning. 1836–9Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 11/1 The food is finally deposited in the fourth stomach, the abomasum..or reed. 1886W. Barnes Dorset Gloss., Read.
attrib.a1756Mrs. Heywood New Present (1771) 191 Get four pounds of reed tripe. 1895Daily News 13 Dec. 8/1 Such technical particulars (to be understanded by butchers only) as ‘weights of suet, caul, and reed fat’.
▪ II. read, n.2|riːd|
[f. read v.]
An act of perusal; a spell of reading; also Sc., a loan of a book, etc., for the purpose of reading it. transf., something for reading, esp. with ref. to its value as entertainment or information (freq. with qualifying adj.).
1825Jamieson Suppl. s.v., Will ye gie me a read of that book? 1838Thackeray Hist. Sam. Titmarsh x, When I arrived and took..my first read of the newspaper. 1862Darwin in Life (1887) II. 391, I have just finished, after several reads, your paper. 1870Lowell Stud. Wind. 39 A good solid read..into the small hours. 1902J. Milne Epistles Atkins i. 8 The soldiers..have ‘another good read’. 1958Observer 9 Feb. 15/3 A.G.'s usual solid, lively read. 1961John o' London's 21 Sept. 327/3 My Friend Sandy can be hugely recommended..as a pleasantly light, bright sophisticated read. 1963T. Parker Unknown Citizen v. 136 He'd come back to the prison, had his tea, and gone to bed to lie down and have a read. 1975L. Trilling in Times Lit. Suppl. (1976) 5 Mar. 250/4 Was she [sc. Jane Austen] perhaps to be thought of as nothing more than a good read?.. Now that we have before us that British locution, which Americans have lately taken to using, the question might be asked why the phrase should have come to express so much force of irony and condescension. 1977J. I. M. Stewart Madonna of Astrolabe xviii. 256 Tamburlaine is a tolerable read... As a stage play it is pretty hopeless. 1981Times 2 Mar. 12/6 The labels are informative to the point of saturation. If you do not like the wine, you might at least enjoy the read.
▪ III. read, v.|riːd|
Pa. tense and pa. pple. read (red). Forms: inf. 1 rǽdan, (-on, ræddan, north. reda, reða), 3 ræden(n), raden, 2–4 reden, 5 redyn; (and pres.) 2, 4 rade, 3–6 rede, 5–6 reede, Sc. red, reid, 6 (8 Sc.) reed; (3) 6–7 reade, 6– read. (Also 3 sing. pres. 1 ræt, 2–4 ret, 3 red, 3–4 rat.) pa. tense 1 pl. reordun; 1 rǽdde, 3–4, 6 radde, (4 rade), 4, 6 rad, (4 rat); 1 pl. red(d)on, 3, 6 (9) redd, 4 redde, 4–6 rede, 4–6 (7–8) red, 7– read. pa. pple. 1 rǽden, 4 reddynn, 6 readen; 1 rǽded, 3–4 redd, 3–6 redde, (4 radde), 3–6 (7–8) red, 4 rede, 6 reed(e, 6– read; 1 ᵹeredd, 3 ired, 3–4 irad, 4 iredde, yrade, 4–5 iradde.
[Comm. Teut.: OE. rǽdan = OFris. rêda, OS. râdan (MLG. raden, MDu. and Du. raden), OHG. râtan (MHG. râten, G. raten, rathen), ON. ráða (Sw. råda, Da. raade), Goth. -rêdan:—OTeut. *ræ̂đan, prob. related to OIr. im-rádim to deliberate, consider, OSl. raditi to take thought, attend to, Skr. rādh- to succeed, accomplish, etc.
The Comm. Teut. verb belonged to the reduplicating ablaut-class, with pa. tense *rerōđ and pa. pple. *garæ̂đono-z, whence Goth. -rairôþ, *-rêdans, ON. réð, ráðinn, OHG. riat, girâtan (G. riet, geraten), OS. ried or rêd, *girâdan (Du. ried, geraden). The corresponding forms in OE. are reord and (ᵹe)rǽden, but these are found only in a few instances in Anglian texts, the usual conjugation being rǽdde, ᵹerǽd(e)d, on the analogy of weak verbs such as lǽdan: cf. MLG. radde, redde, Sw. rådde, and G. rathete (for usual riet), Da. raadede. The typical ME. forms are redde or radde in the pa. tense, and (i)red or (i)rad in the pa. pple.; in the later language (from the 17th c.) all tenses of the verb have the same spelling, read, though in pronunication the vowel of the preterite forms differs from that of the present and infinitive. Individual writers have from time to time denoted this by writing red or redd for the pa. tense and pa. pple., but the practice has never been widely adopted.
The original senses of the Teut. verb are those of taking or giving counsel, taking care or charge of a thing, having or exercising control over something, etc. These are also prominent in OE., and the sense of ‘advise’ still survives as an archaism, usually distinguished from the prevailing sense of the word by the retention of the older spelling rede. The sense of considering or explaining something obscure or mysterious is also common to the various languages, but the application of this to the interpretation of ordinary writing, and to the expression of this in speech, is confined to English and ON. (in the latter perhaps under Eng. influence).]
I. Transitive uses.
* To consider, interpret, discern, etc.
†1.
a. To have an idea; to think or suppose that, etc. Obs. rare.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. x, Þa ongann he..þencean & rædan, þætte nan oðer intinga wære [etc.]. c1400Destr. Troy 3308 Tho truly þat are takon..Shalbe plesit with plenty..red ye non oþer. 1600Breton Pasquils Foolescappe (1879) 22/1 Let him be sure that better wits doe reede Such Madhead fellowes are but Fooles indeede. 1768Ross Helenore iii. 122 Goodwife, I reed your tale is true. Ibid. 125, I reed 'twas they that me a dreaming set.
†b. To guess, to make out or tell by conjecture what, who, why, etc. Obs.
a1000Riddles lxii. 9 Ræd, hwæt ic mæne! c1000ælfric Hom. II. 248 Iudei..heton hine rædan hwa hine hreopode. a1300Cursor M. 597 Þow mai ask..qui god him gaue sua mikel a nam; Parfay þat es bot eth to rede. 1530Palsgr. 681/2 Rede who tolde it me and I wyll tell the trouthe. 1564Child-Marriages 124 This deponent askid the said Margaret, who that shuld be; and the said Margaret bade this deponent reade if he cold. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 70 Right hard it was for wight which did it heare To reade what manner musicke that mote bee.
†c. To take for something. Obs. rare.
1591Spenser Ruins of Time 633, I saw a stately Bed,..That might for anie Princes couche be red. [1813Scott Rokeby iii. xvii, I read you for a blod Dragoon, That lists the tuck of drum.]
2. a. To make out or discover the meaning or significance of (a dream, riddle, etc.); to declare or expound this to another.
c1000ælfric Gram. (Z.) 179 Conicio..ic ræde swefn. a1300Cursor M. 4553, I haf soght..At find a man mi drem to rede. Ibid. 7122 If þai cuth right þat redel rede. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 69 Men þat can rede þes signes. c1440Promp. Parv. 426/2 Redyn or expownyn redellys, or parabol, and other privyteys, idem quod ondon'. 1593Drayton Ecl. iv. iii, Let vs passe this wearie winters day In reading Riddles. 1768Ross Helenore iii. 124 I'm right, I'm right! My dream is read. 1810Scott Lady of L. v. xiii, Then, by my word,..The riddle is already read. 1887Ruskin Præterita II. 24 Neither he nor I were given to reading omens, or dreading them.
refl.1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xiv. vii. (1872) V. 239 The small riddle reads itself to him so.
b. To foresee, foretell, predict. Chiefly in to read one's fortune.
In quot. 1647 passing into sense 10 c.
1591Spenser M. Hubberd 698 For he mongst Ladies could their fortunes read. 1647Cowley Mistress, My fate 19 You, who men's fortunes in their faces read. 1790Shirrefs Poems 122 Like gospel, Sir, she credits a' ye said, And says, she's sure 'twill happen as ye read.
†3. To count, reckon, estimate. Obs. rare.
a1225Juliana 51 (Bodl. MS.) Ne mahte hit na mon rikenin ne reden [v.r. tellen]. a1300Cursor M. 2570 Þe barns þat o þe sal bred Namar sal þou þam cun rede, þan sterns on light and sand in see. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 2484 Swa may we ay rekken and rede An hondreth syns agayne a gude dede. 1790Grose Prov. Gloss., Read, to judge of, guess. At what price do you Read this horse? Glouc.
†4. To see, discern, distinguish. Obs. rare (in Spenser only).
1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 21 Such vgly monstrous shapes elswhere may no man reed. Ibid. iii. ix. 2 Good, by paragone Of evill, may more notably be rad. 1596Ibid. v. xii. 39 Bit him behind, that long the marke was to be read.
** To peruse, without uttering in speech.
5. a. To inspect and interpret in thought (any signs which represent words or discourse); to look over or scan (something written, printed, etc.) with understanding of what is meant by the letters or signs; to peruse (a document, book, author, etc.); to understand (musical notation); spec. = sight-read s.v. sight n.1 17.
Formerly used in imperative (as in quot. 1563) in referring the reader to another book or author for information.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. Proem., He halsað ælcne þara þe þas boc rædan lyste. c950Lindisf. Gosp. John xix. 20 Ðiosne..taccon meniᵹo redon [Rushw. reddon]. c1200Ormin Ded. 328 Þa Crisstene menn Þatt herenn oþerr redenn Þiss boc. a1300Cursor M. 8495 Þis writte wit fele was red and sene, Bot fa it wist quat it wald mene. 1375Barbour Bruce i. 17 Auld storys that men redys, Representis to thaim the dedys Of stalwart folk. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. xxii. (1859) 23 He hath redde and knowen bothe wordes and werkes of the rather seyntes. 1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 684/2, I can proue that he red some commentours and holy doctours, that write exposicions vpon it. 1563Shute Archit. B ij, The Pyramides..and manye other beautifull buildinges of that nacion. Reade Diado. Sic. li. 1. 2. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 230 Because I am not sure whether you can perfectly reade her Maiesties hand, I send you the same in a coppy. 1646Hamilton Papers (Camden) 126 One word of it which I reade without my cipher. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 233 A perfect Judge will read each work of Wit, With the same spirit that its author writ. 1774Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 16 What has been printed on both Sides is little red. 1792H. Newdigate Let. Mar. in A. E. Newdigate-Newdegate Cheverels (1898) ix. 133 Her Voice was not strong but..they are quite astonish'd with her knowledge of Music & facility in reading it. 1864Sir H. Taylor Autobiog. (1885) I. 198 My father, who had read the work..in MS., rejoiced in it more and more when he came to read it in print. 1871Smiles Charac. i. (1876) 23 He was always the most national of the Italian poets,..the most read. 1894G. B. Shaw in Fortn. Rev. Feb. 258 To do half-a-dozen things much more difficult than reading music. 1918― in Nation 22 June 308/1 To wile away the time by reading at sight a bundle of band parts and vocal scores of a rather difficult opera. 1938D. Baker Young Man with Horn i. v. 56 Jeff's band didn't play from music, though they could all read music. 1974Listener 24 Jan. 106/3, I could read the music and be able to make it work right away with five minutes' rehearsal.
b. To peruse books, etc. written in (a certain language); esp. to have such knowledge of (a language) as to be able to understand works written in it. spec. to peruse books, newspapers, etc., for quotations suitable for inclusion as illustrative examples in a dictionary.
1530Palsgr. 681/2, I rede latyn better nowe than I wene I shall do frenche hence of a yere. 1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. iii. (1627) 22 Now they may goe thus forward..in reading English perfitly. 1692Locke Education §163 When he can speak and read French well..he should proceed to Latin. 1779Johnson L.P., Milton (1868) 62 He read all the languages which are considered either as learned or polite. a1862Hogg in Dowden Shelley I. 73 He [Shelley] had in truth read more Greek than many an aged pedant. 1873Hamerton Intell. Life iii. vii. 109 By far the shortest way to learn to read a language is to begin by speaking it. 1876J. A. H. Murray Let. 29 Nov. in K. M. E. Murray Caught in Web of Words (1977) vii. 146, I dont for words of that kind believe in the quotation test at all..because you know that not one millionth of current literature is read, & that it is the veriest chance or succession of chances which has caught carriageless..& missed a thousand others as good. 1961R. W. Burchfield in Essays & Studies XIV. 39 A large number of literary sources..are being systematically read against an Oxford dictionary. 1977K. M. E. Murray Caught in Web of Words xii. 235 Lowell's book of literary essays, My Study Windows, was one of those read for the Dictionary.
c. transf. and fig. in various applications.
1581J. Hamilton in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 87 Thou hes red (sayis he) the varkis of the varld. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 302 Ol. How now, art thou mad? Clo. No Madam, I do but reade madnesse. 1611― Wint. T. iv. iv. 172 Hee'l stand and reade, As 'twere, my daughters eyes. 1665Glanvill Scepsis Sci. xxv. 154 [They] are the Alphabet of Science, and Nature cannot be read without them. 1741–2Gray Agrip. 65 The dreadful powers That read futurity. 1782Cowper Charity 333 He reads the skies. 1818Shelley Rev. Islam iv. viii, All the ways of men among mankind he read. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxvi. 191 Indians can ‘read’ the smoke at a great distance. 1867Craig Palmistry 42 One of the greatest of all difficulties in reading the hand. 1890W. A. Wallace Only a Sister? 88 What's a man worth that cannot read his own watch? 1921P. L. Haworth Trailmakers of Northwest 206 As Brennan had lost one eye and could not see any too well out of the other, he was glad to have one of us ride in his canoe and read water for him. 1932L. Golding Magnolia St. ii. ii. 300 In the little town in..Lancashire where she was born quite as many people read tea-leaves as read their ABC. 1951E. Rickman Come racing with Me iii. 19 We are talking about ‘reading’ a race, which is the practice on the spectator's part of a comprehensive and discriminating view of a field of horses from start to finish, so that the performance of all or most of the runners, and their relative positions at various stages, are intelligently observed and memorised. 1965Priestley & Wisdom Good Driving xi. 81 You get into the habit of registering mentally all the signs..which enable you to ‘read’ the road in front of you. 1967Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. iv. 3/8 An optical scanner..may eliminate the sorting machines by ‘reading’ the zip code on the letter and dispatching it accordingly. 1967Karch & Buber Offset Processes ii. 20 An optical system ‘reads’ the photograph, and a heated stylus is directed to penetrate the plate to be printed, producing halftone dots. 1969R. Welsh Beginner's Guide Curling xvii. 120 The ability to read strange ice..and knowing exactly when to sweep are other qualities of a good skip. 1970G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard vi. 159 Ambition drowning the man was how she would read his promotion. 1971Sunday Express (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. 17/1 You read a putt, stroke it properly along the line you have chosen, and then the ball breaks off in the opposite direction. 1972Daily Tel. 5 May 3/3 A meter reader rang the bell and told my wife he wanted to read the meter in the garage. 1974Times 19 Feb. 15/3 Most people are not used to ‘reading’ plans..and have only slightly less difficulty with architectural photographs. 1977Time 14 Nov. 48/1 They broke down and then analyzed the RNA in the archaebacteria's ribosomes, the structures that ‘read’ the message of the master molecule DNA and produce the protein necessary for life. 1978Monitor (McAllen, Texas) 12 Feb. 1-b/1 This generation of Gypsies..will wake up to modern life and give up many of the old customs... My job was supposed to be reading palms. 1979SLR Camera Jan. 36/3 Like the now discontinued EF the AE-1 uses a silicon photocell to read the light.
d. transf. To make out the character or nature of (a person, the heart, etc.) by scrutiny or interpretation of outward signs.
1611Shakes. Wint. T. iii. iii. 73 Though I am not bookish yet I can reade Waiting-gentlewoman in the scape. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. Pref. (1739) 7 Historians..for the most part read Men. 1727Swift Letter on Eng. Tongue, This they call knowing the world, and reading men and manners. 1838Lytton Alice i. x, I wish you could read my heart at this moment. 1902Edna Lyall Hinderers ix, We ordinary mortals are at the mercy of you artists... You read us like books.
e. To interpret (a design) in terms of the setting up needed to reproduce it on a loom. Also with in.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 267 In both modes of manufacture, the piece is mounted by reading-in the warp for the different leaves of the heddles. 1895T. F. Bell Jacquard Weaving & Designing i. 9 The straight-edge EE..will slide up and down in the frame, to mark the line on the design paper that is next to be read by the lasher. 1897[see reading-machine s.v. reading vbl. n. 10 b]. 1924T. Woodhouse Jacquards & Harness iv. 107 Before describing the remaining parts of the machine, it will..be best to indicate how the design is read. 1958A. Hindson Designer's Drawloom xi. 105 The weaver can tie up the pattern single-handed, but it can be done more easily and quickly if there is a helper to read the pattern draft.
f. To study (a subject, a ‘school’) at a university; to read for (a degree). Cf. sense 15 c.
1884[see Greats s.v. great C. 10]. 1955Times 23 May 6/1 Agriculture is no longer a subject to be ashamed of; it produces no inferiority complex in those who read it. 1966Rep. Comm. Inquiry Univ. Oxf. II. 49 Graduates reading first degrees. Ibid. 85 Women undergraduates reading arts. 1970[see English n. 3 d]. 1977Professional Careers Bull. Autumn 1/1 Partially it has been due to an ever increasing demand from sixth formers to read law.
g. Phr. to read one's shirt (see quot. 1925). slang.
1918Nat. Geogr. Mag. June 499 They..speak of ‘reading their shirts’. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 237 To read a shirt, to search it for lice. 1931‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route xiii. 144 It is said, for instance, that the hobo spends a great deal of his time reading his shirt, seeking certain animals known as ‘seam squirrels’.
h. Computers. To copy or extract data on or in (any storage medium or device); to copy, extract, or transfer (data). Also const. into, out of.
1940W. J. Eckert Punched Card Methods Scientific Computation 4 The number are..read into the machines by..electrical contacts made through the holes. 1945Jrnl. Franklin Inst. CCXL. 277 When the punched tapes are ready, the problem is placed on the machine by automatic controls which ‘read’ the first tape and make the specified assembly. 1948Math. Tables & Other Aids to Computation III. 123 The speeds at which words can be read (or written) by the machine will be much less than the speeds at which the machine can transfer words internally. Ibid. 124 When additional instructions are received they can be read into the machine from an instruction tape. 1950High-Speed Computing Devices ix. 151 The tape reader automatically reads punched tape..and transcribes the data represented by the holes in the tape to a deck of cards. Other equipment can perform the reverse operation, reading the holes punched in the cards and producing a tape. 1959E. M. McCormick Digital Computer Primer ix. 135 The tape is then connected into the computer system and the information read from it to the computer. 1964F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers i. 2 The card or tape is then ‘read’. This may be done by allowing the holes to pass under tiny wire brushes. Ibid. iv. 59 To read a word out of the store we have to open a gate at the end, and this permits pulses to escape. 1964Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. CXV. 654 The length of time required to read information from or store information into one of the 1,024..12-bit memory locations. 1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xiv. 226 The computer time for file maintenance..is often mainly determined by the time for reading and writing magnetic tape. 1972Computer Jrnl. XV. 201/1 The commonest way of reading a file into the system. 1972Guardian 14 Aug. 10/3 Computers can already ‘read’ a high speed disc-store at around 500,000 characters a second. 1978J. K. Atkin Basic Computer Sci. vii. 92 To read a bit from the memory it is necessary to interrogate a particular core by sending current pulses..along the appropriate x- and y-wires.
i. To receive and understand the words of (a person) by radio or telephone, to hear; to detect (an object) by sonar; transf., to understand the words or intentions of (a person).
1956Amer. Speech XXXI. 228 [U.S.A.F. slang] Do you read me? As in conversation by radio, this means ‘Do you understand me?’ The answer might be, ‘Yes, five by five’, meaning loud and clear. 1956‘E. McBain’ Cop Hater (1958) ix. 85 ‘Are you stoned now, or can you read me?’ ‘I hear you,’ Ordiz said. 1960Master Detective July 83/1 Static-laced code crackle sounded from the speaker. ‘Poelzell. I read you. Keep the Dodge in sight.’ 1963Times 25 May 10/7 ‘Does anyone read poor Philip?’ A comforting voice from a glider, still airborne: ‘Humphrey to Philip. Loud and clear.’ 1967R. J. Serling President's Plane is Missing (1968) ix. 164 ‘Don't be so oversolicitous, Rod. It's as bad for a marriage as being too inconsiderate. Do you read me?’ ‘I read you, Nancy.’ 1968R. Severn Game for Hawks x. 120 ‘How d'you read her, Cass?’ he asked, sourly. ‘Could she be taking you for a ride?’ 1970B. Knox Children of Mist v. 103 ‘If you can hear..this is an emergency call.’.. Thane pressed the microphone button. ‘Fenn, we read you.’ 1972J. Porter Meddler & her Murder x. 131 The girl friend listening?.. Oh, I read you. Well, I'll make it short and sweet. 1974L. Deighton Spy Story xviii. 193 A couple of conventional subs steaming a parallel course... We read them on the sonar and ranged them. 1977D. Bennett Jigsaw Man xi. 203 As from the end of this call, this number will be discontinued. I am reading you back for the fast time.
6. With adverbs.
a. To go over (a letter, book, etc.) in the act of perusal. Also transf.
c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 1036 (1085) He..radde it over, and gan the lettre folde. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 133 The Lantgrave readinge over their booke and their letters, noted what he thought blame worthy. 1594Lyly Moth. Bomb. iii. iii, Fooles..Haue farre more knowledge To reade a woman ouer [etc.]. 1683H. Prideaux in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 185 Some booke or other..which he will read over, and then bring me again. 1768Gray Let. 28 Oct., The first act of Caractacus is just arrived here, but I have not read it over.
b. to read through († or read out): to peruse from beginning to end. † Also to read out, to read to the end of, to finish the reading of. Obs.
1638Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 196, I may boldly say, I never yet read a Gazetta through. 1652Gataker Antinom. 21 Had this Autor but writ or red out the text he cites he had found somewhat more then faith in it. 1662Newcome Diary 6 Sept. (Chetham Soc.) 120, I read out wt remained to be read in Rushworth. 1715Swift Let. 28 June, Wks. 1841 II. 526/1, I borrowed your Homer from the bishop, and read it out in two evenings. 1747S. Fielding Lett. David Simple II. 151 The pretence of being eager to read out some new Book which I have borrowed. 1858Froude Hist. Eng. vii. (1870) II. 113 He read it through, and replied that..for himself it was impossible [to take the oath].
c. to read off: to note in definite form (the result of inspection, esp. of a graduated instrument).
Perh. originally used as in sense 11 d.
1816J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 69 Before the height of the mercury is read off. 1834Penny Cycl. II. 525/2 The angle read off on the interior edge of the ecliptic is the longitude. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 435 Passing the tip of the finger over the outlines of the letters and so reading off the result. 1956E. H. Hutten Lang. Mod. Physics vi. 262 The empiricist prejudice..is, indeed, very strong, but it is obviously not true that we simply read off our hypotheses from data.
d. To mark or impress on (a fabric).
1831G. R. Porter Silk Manuf. 258 The workman proceeds to read on the design.
e. to read up: to study (a subject, a topic, etc.) intensively and systematically; to familiarize oneself with (a subject) by reading.
1842J. S. Mill Let. 22 Aug. in Wks. (1963) XIII. 542, I began to read up the subject. 1856C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ii. xxvii. 657, I dread reading up all I must read presently. 1869‘Mark Twain’ Innocents Abroad xv. 147, I shall throttle down my emotions hereafter, about this sort of people, until I have read them up. 1894‘R. Andom’ We Three & Troddles xvii. 149 Those miserable, hollow shams who read up the cricket news..in the evening papers. 1915R. Brooke Coll. Poems p. cxxxvii, I've been peacefully reading up the countryside all the morning. 1921K. Macaulay Dangerous Ages v. 103 You should read it up beforehand, and try if you can understand it. 1962D. Lessing Golden Notebk. ii. 280 Those Russians, they're pretty well up in my field, I read them up. 1977F. Branston Up & Coming Man xiv. 152 He would have covered his interests by reading up the minutes of all committees.
f. Computers. to read out, to extract (data); to transfer from internal storage; so to read in.
1946Ann. Computation Lab. Harvard Univ. I. 62 The storage counter cams..control the number impulses for reading out either from a switch or from a storage counter. Figure 26 shows the circuits for a read-out. Ibid. 159 The number of columns shifted is recorded in a counter and a predetermined number of significant digits and a power of ten are read out. 1957[see off-line a. and adv. A. 2]. 1959E. M. McCormick Digital Computer Primer ii. 7 When the problem is completely solved..the calculation is stopped, and the output, or answer, is read out. 1961[see read-out 1 a]. 1968Times 10 Dec. 6/8 On each orbit the storage system reads out the information to a ground station. 1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xiv. 222 When all the records have been read-in, all that is needed then is to print the contents of the 50 cells. 1971Physics Bull. Mar. 158/3 It covers those devices in which information can be stored for a limited or controlled time and then read out leaving the device capable of repeated use.
7. a. To attach a certain meaning or interpretation to (what is read); to take in a particular way.
1624Bp. R. Montagu Gagg 201 Secondly, read it how you will, it is not to purpose. 1890Sir N. Lindley in Law Times Rep. LXIII. 690/1, I think there are two methods of reading that order.
b. transf. To take a certain view of (a person, thing, event, etc.), to regard in a certain light. Also, to interpret or comprehend.
1847Helps Friends in C. (1851) I. 11 This is a matter which, as I read it, concerns only the higher natures. 1866J. Martineau Ess. I. 190 Every relative disability may be read two ways. 1962Listener 22 Nov. 886/3 When East removed the double into One Spade, West read his partner for a psychic opening and bid Three No Trumps. 1967Ibid. 28 Dec. 846/3 He..wants..the celebration of the Eucharist (so I read him) to take the form of a prayer meeting. 1970Sunday Tel. 20 Dec. 21/7 Gleeson mesmerises batsmen unable to read him, not into error but into strokelessness.
8. Const. with preps.
a. refl. To bring (oneself) into or to (a certain state) by reading.
1676Wycherley Pl. Dealer iii. i, We shall have you read yourself into a Humour of rambling and fighting. 1873Black Pr. Thule xxi. 345 Give me that book, that I may read myself into a nap.
b. To introduce (an additional idea or element) into what is being read or considered. (Freq. implying that the insertion is unwarranted or erroneous.) Also with in.
1879H. Spencer Princ. Sociol., Ceremonial Inst. §346 Men read back developed ideas into undeveloped minds. 1882Ainger Lamb 173 He reads something of himself into the composition he is reviewing. 1895Sir A. Kekewich in Law Times Rep. LXXIII. 663/1 This is a sensible limitation which can easily be read into deed or will. 1903Westm. Gaz. 13 Nov. 7/2 The learned counsel argued that his lordship must read in a negative... In a contract for personal service you must have in it a negative, express or implied. 1919‘C. Dane’ Legends 96 She said to me once that the critics had ‘read in’ things that she had never dreamed of—that it made her doubt her own motives. 1966G. N. Leech Eng. in Advertising xv. 141 In ‘lovely, oveny biscuits’, ‘oveny’ can only be made denotatively meaningful by reading in something extra. 1979E. H. Gombrich Sense of Order iv. 99 Finding it difficult, if not impossible, to tell at any point where we see elements and where texture..; where we are reading and where we are ‘reading in’.
9. a. To adopt, give, or exhibit as a reading in a particular passage.
1659Hammond Acts xv. Annot., The æthiopick and other interpreters retain.., what you would not have done to your selves, do not ye to another,..for which other Jewish writers read, doing as they would be done to. 1697Bentley Phal. 20, I cannot..comprehend why the most learned Is. Casaubon will read σπεύδοντα in this passage, and not σπένδοντα. 1759Ruddiman Animadver. Vind. Buchanan 60 Instead of..sexagesimo quinto, we should read,..sexagesimo nono. 1847Madden Layamon's Brut. III. 346 For Lovaine some copies of Wace read Alemaigne.
b. To register, indicate.
1887Gumming Electricity 44 A rider reading thousands of an ounce on the beam of a grocer's balance.
c. To convey (a statement) when read; to say. Cf. sense 18 b below.
1894[see it pron. 3 f]. 1904G. Parker Ladder of Swords xvi. 229 A footman..came to Angèle, bearing a note which read: ‘Your friend is very ill, and asks for you.’ 1916G. B. Shaw Androcles & Lion p. lxvi, Your examination paper will read ‘The time of Jesus was worth nothing... Dr. Crippen's time was worth, say, three hundred and fifty pounds a year. Criticize this arrangement.’ 1946Bible (Rev. Standard Version) Mark xv. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ 1961New English Bible Rom. xii. 19 There is a text which reads, ‘Justice is mine, says the Lord, I will repay.’
*** To learn by perusal.
10. a. To see or find (a statement) in a written or otherwise recorded form; to learn by perusal of a book or other document. († Formerly sometimes const. with obj. and inf. or pple.)
c975Rushw. Gosp. Matt. xxi. 42 Hwæt..ᵹe næfre reordun in ᵹewritum [etc.]. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xii. 3 Ne rædde ᵹe hwæt Dauid dyde þa hyne hingrede. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 11 We radeð on boc, þat elch man haueð to fere on engel of heuene. a1225Ancr. R. 170 Ase me ret in hire boc, heo was the kinge Assuer ouer alle icweme. a1300Cursor M. 1459 Cainan his sun, als it es redde, His lijf nine hundret yeir he ledd. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 77 So it is i-rad þat Ioseph dalf wiþ his fader moche tresour in þe erþe. c1440Generydes 1 In olde Romans and storys as I rede, Of Inde somtyme ther was a nobyll kyng. 1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 268 The terrible punishment..the like whereof I never read sent to any. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 133, I haue read the cause of his effects in Galen. 1621W. Sclater Tythes (1623) 76, I never read Christ speake so much of any Jewish Caeremonie as he did of Tythes. 1764Gray Jemmy Twitcher 27 The prophet of Bethel, we read, told a lie. 1839Longfellow Beleaguered City i, I have read, in some old marvellous tale,..That [etc.].
b. transf. or fig. in various applications.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 109 Vouchsafe to read the purpose of my comming. 1604― Oth. iii. iv. 57 She was a Charmer, and could almost read The thoughts of people. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 1011 For proof look up, And read thy Lot in yon celestial Sign. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop i, Her quick eye seemed to read my thoughts.
c. To discern or discover (something) in (or on) the face, look, etc., of a person.
1590Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 9 Muffle your false loue..Let not my sister read it in your eye. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 235 He might read in their eyes and countenance the severall faces of anger, love, feare [etc.]. 1713Guardian No. 137 ⁋4 You read his ancestry in his smile. 1768Woman of Honor II. 15, I red in her looks a willingness to come to an explanation. 1818Shelley Rev. Islam viii. xvii, I cannot name All that I read of sorrow, toil, and shame, On your worn faces. 1860Tennyson Sea Dreams 163 My eyes..Read rascal in the motions of his back.
**** To peruse and utter in speech.
11. a. To utter aloud (the words or sentences indicated by the writing, etc., under inspection); to render in speech (anything written, a book, etc.) according as the written or printed signs are apprehended by the mind. Also reading = being read.
to read aloud is frequently used to distinguish this sense of the vb. from 5.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xxi. §3 Mid ðy þæt ᵹewrit ða wæs ræded beforan þam cyninge. 971Blickl. Hom. 167 We ᵹehyrdon, þa þa Esaias se witᵹa ræden wæs [etc.]. c1000ælfric Exod. xxiv. 7 Moises..rædde his boc þam folce. c1175Lamb. Hom. 125 Al þet me ret and singeð on þisse timan in halie chirche. a1225Ancr. R. 428 Ȝe ancren owen þis lutle laste stucchen reden to our wummen eueriche wike enes. c1315Shoreham i. 1292 Ine þe alde laȝe þe redere Rede þe prophessye By wokke. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2955 When þei [laws] weren byfore hem I-radde, þei made hem wondir wroth. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 40 When he heard the dialogue of Plato entitleed Lysides, readen. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 152 Read the Will; wee'l heare it Antony. 1621in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) I. 249 While the proclamation was reading [etc.]. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 213 If we desired it, we might hear the Letter read. 1705Lond. Gaz. No. 4152/2 The Dean and Prebendaries sat within the Rails,..except such as Officiated in Reading Prayers. 1802–12Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) II. 285 Oftentimes have I observed them, while affidavits have been reading, looking about to their brethren on the bench. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 160 Socrates requested that the first thesis..might be read over again.
b. In phr. to read a lesson or lecture: (see these words). Freq. fig. To teach (one) something, to administer a reprimand or check (to one).
a1225Ancr. R. 66 Al þet lescun þet God hire hefde ilered [MS. C. ired hire]. a1460Gregory's Chron. in Hist. Coll. Citizen Lond. (Camden) 230 Doctor Ive..radde many fulle nobylle lessonnys to preve that Cryste was lorde of all. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iv. i. 232 Would it not shame thee, in so faire a troupe, To reade a Lecture of them? 1629Massinger Picture iii. ii, I'll be her tutor, And read her another lesson. c1632in Athenæum No. 2883. 121/3 Is this our Jurisdiction or'e the Sea To reade man Lectures of humanity? 1817Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. iv. 157 Dreadful was the fate..and important are the lessons which it reads. 1884W. E. Norris Thirlby Hall viii, To read him a lesson which should prevent him from doing the same a second time.
c. Used of submitting a proposed measure to a legislative assembly by reading the whole or some part of it. Cf. reading vbl. n. 2 c.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. iii. §129 The bill was..immediately read the first and the second time, and so committed. 1692[H. Scobell] Rules & Customs 4 The first business in the House is ordinarily to read a Bill that was not passed in the last Parliament proceeding. 1783Hansard Parl. Hist. (1814) XXIII. 1224 [Mr. Fox's East India Bill] was read for the first time, and ordered to be printed. 1863H. Cox Instit. i. ix. 166 A bill having been read a first time, is ordered to be read a second time on a future day.
d. With adverbs (cf. 6), esp. to read out (or read up).
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 193 Iaque. I beseech your Grace let this Letter be read... King. Berowne, read it ouer. 1600Holland Livy xxiv. xxv. 526 Before it was all red out and published, it passed cleare. 1626Breton Fantastickes (1879) 15/1 The first course is served in,..the dishes haue be red ouer. 1784R. Bage Barham Downs I. 224 Read it up, Timothy: I have not yet seen or heard a syllable of it. 1794Southey Wat Tyler iii. i, Tom Miller. Read it out—read it out. Hob. Ay, ay, let's hear the Charter. 1808C. Stower Printers' Gram. 395 That part of the copy..should be carefully transcribed or read off. 1862F. C. Husenbeth Life Milner 173 After dinner the Secretary of the Catholic Board read up certain Resolutions. 1890Hall Caine Bondman i. v, The clerk and sexton read out the askings for the marriage.
e. Phr. to take (something) as read: to treat (a statement, a subject, etc.) as if it has been agreed, without having a discussion about it; to take for granted. Occas. with other introductory vbs.
1886G. M. Hopkins Lett. to R. Bridges (1955) 244 Objections on your part, if any, are now too late and will be ‘taken as read’. 1928D. L. Sayers Unpleasantness at Bellona Club iii. 22 Don't let's harrow our feelings. Take it as read. 1930E. M. Brent-Dyer Chalet Girls in Camp x. 151 ‘It's really I who ought to say ‘sorry’, you know.’.. ‘We'll take it all as read,’ put in Miss Wilson hastily. 1938M. Allingham Fashion in Shrouds xxi. 397, I think we can almost take that as read, don't you? 1959‘M. M. Kaye’ House of Shade v. 59 I'll take it as read. 1973H. Miller Open City xvii. 187 You can regard your complaint of boorishness..as read.
†12.
a. To teach or impart (some art or branch of knowledge) to another by (or as by) reading aloud. Also const. with, and without const. Obs.
1560–1First Bk. Disc. in Knox's Wks. (1848) II. 210 A Colledge, in whiche the Artis..be read be sufficient Maisteris. a1586Sidney Astr. & Stella Sonn. xxviii, Loue onely reading unto me this arte. 1601B. Jonson Poetaster i. i, We may read constancy and fortitude To other souls. 1637― Sad Sheph. ii. ii, Are these the arts, Robin, you read your rude ones of the wood? 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 215 He understood Astrology, and read Euclid to some of his Disciples. 1885A. Edwardes Girton Girl I. iii. 68 Geoffrey Arbuthnot, B.A. Cantab., is willing to read classics and mathematics with Miss Bartrand. Terms, five shillings an hour.
†b. In pass. To be instructed, to become learned in. Obs. (Cf. read ppl. a. 2.)
1458Paston Lett. I. 431 William hath goon to scole..to lern and to be red in poetre or els in Frensh.
13. a. to read oneself in: to enter upon office as incumbent of a benefice in the Church of England, by reading publicly the Thirty-nine Articles and making the Declaration of Assent. Also transf.
1857Trollope Barchester T. xxiii. heading, Mr. Arabin reads himself in at St. Ewolds. 1890Baring-Gould Old Country Life 136 The rector is said to have visited one of his livings twice only..once to read himself in. 1977F. Branston Up & Coming Man xiv. 152 What could be more natural than for a keen new councillor to read himself in on past decisions?
b. to read out of: to expel from (a body, party, etc.), properly by reading out the sentence of expulsion. Chiefly in pass.; also refl. to read in: to admit or induct formally; to make (a person) a member of an armed service, to conscript.
1836W. Dunlap Thirty Years Ago I. xxi. 201 By the death of his parents, he was left in possession of some property, which he dissipated even before he ‘was read out of meeting’. 1841Congress. Globe 30 June 133/2 Mr. Alford concluded by warning the ‘tariff boys’ of the South, that instead of their reading him out of church, if they did not mind he would read them out of church. 1865Hunt Pop. Rom. W. Eng. Ser. i. 96 He left the ‘people’ that he mightn't be read out. 1875Whitney Life Lang. xv. 301 It is high time that any one who takes the wrong view be read out of the ranks. 1890Harper's Mag. Feb. 349/2 They said I wasn't no Christian; and so they got together and read me out o' the church. 1915F. Hopwood Let. 20 May in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1972) III. Compan. ii. 920 It is plain that a First Sea Lord remains in office until the new Patent appointing his successor is passed the Seal & he is ‘read in’ at the Board. 1938C. S. Forester Ship of Line viii. 110 Excellent, Mr. Bush. Read 'em in. 1942E. Paul Narrow St. xxii. 186 Men..who may be read into the army and shot as traitors if they try to strike, are difficult material. 1976Time 27 Dec. 14/2 Arafat also warned that any Palestinian group that rejected the idea..must read itself out of the P.L.O.
c. To bring or draw down to, by reading aloud.
1847Tennyson Princ. ii. 235 Are you That Psyche, wont to..read My sickness down to happy dreams?
†14.
a. To declare, as by reading aloud; to relate, tell, say. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 10198 In almis dede hir lijf sco ledd, Als we find in the stori redd. c1320Cast. Love 1359 No tonge ne mihte reden Ne þouȝt þenken his mihtful deden. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 14 Hure robe was ryccher þan ich rede couthe. c1400Destr. Troy 12579 Þan Palomydon..put was to dethe With the birre of his bow, as I aboue rede. a1586Sidney Astr. & Stella Sonn. lviii, Stella's sweet breath the same to me did reed. 1591Spenser M. Hubberd 604 But read, faire Sir, of grace, from whence come yee.
†b. To speak of or mention; to describe; to name or call. Obs.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 10801 Ȝe men..þat haue herde me rede þys sacrament, How ouer alle þyng hyt haþ powere. c1330― Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15099 In þat tyme, þat y now rede, þe date was [etc.]. c1460Launfal 299 May no man rede here atyre. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 46 Whose kingdomes seat Cleopolis is red. 1617Fletcher Valentinian iii. i, Good men [will] raze thee For ever being read again, but vicious.
II. Intransitive or absolute uses.
* In senses corresponding to 5–10 above.
15. a. To apprehend mentally the meaning of written or other characters; to be engaged in doing this; to be occupied in perusing a book, etc.; to read (sense 5 a) music. Also with advbs. as away, on.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xiii. 14 Seðe redes oncnauað [c 1000 Onᵹyte se þe ræt]. a1225Ancr. R. 286 Ofte, leoue sustren, ȝe schulen vren lesse uorte reden more. c1320Cast. Love 1241 Clerkes þat conne reden. c1386Chaucer Wife's Prol. 791 Sodeynly three leves have I plight Out of his book, right as he radde. 1483Caxton Cato A ij b, He that redeth and no thynge understondeth. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 54 Heere; read, read: perceiue how I might bee knighted. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 322 Who reads Incessantly,..Uncertain and unsettl'd still remains. 1757E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (1767) I. p. vi, I used to take out a parcel from this collection..and so read away. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho i, How often have I sat with my book in my hand, reading. 1865Mill in Evening Star 10 July, Those persons who quoted this passage were not candid enough to read on. 1887M. E. Braddon Like & Unlike i, She had read and thought much in those years. 1889G. B. Shaw in Star 24 May 4/2 The few who are really able to read at sight. 1976Star (Sheffield) 3 Dec. 16/7 (Advt.), Organist required for a 9-day period at Christmas. Must be able to read.
b. Coupled with write, usually with reference to education or instruction.
1490Caxton Eneydos xxii. 84 Cadynus inventour of the first lettres lerned the folke to rede and to write. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 196 Preistis, reid and wryte, And ȝour fals Cannowne law lat be. 1796H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 154, I applied myself night and day to the means of learning how to read and write. 1842J. Aiton Domest. Econ. (1857) 317 An English nursery governess,..to learn them to read and write.
c. To occupy oneself seriously with reading, esp. with a view to examination; to study. Also to read up, to collect information by reading.
1823M. Wilmot Let. 1 Oct. (1935) 202, I trust that Edwd may obtain the gold medal which he is reading for. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey i. vi, Vivian..promised, protested, and finally sat down ‘to read’. 1847Tennyson Princ. Prol. 175 We seven stay'd at Christmas up to read. 1859Farrar J. Home x, [He] was reading for honours. Ibid. xxxii, All three determined to read for Fellowships. 1863Mrs. Gaskell Dark Night's Work xv. 271 You knew him at Hamley, I suppose? I remember his reading there with Mr. Ness. 1874J. Codman Mormon Country i. 2 They buy a big book..and, having read up thoroughly, fill the cavities of their minds with details from these to supply what they did not learn from their extended visit of half a day. 1889Harper's Mag. Jan. 209/2 Men should..be compelled to ‘read up’ on questions of the time. 1890C. M. Yonge More Bywords 129 The two sisters are reading up for the Oxford exam. 1911J. London Let. 17 Aug. (1966) 350, I should advise you..to read up on socialism. 1938E. C. Lodge Terms & Vacations iv. 51 Those of us who read for University schools went to the different Colleges to lectures. 1962[see litteræ humaniores]. 1976‘M. Albrand’ Taste of Terror xviii. 103 Why don't you read up on it in the Britannica?
d. To act as a publisher's reader.
1850Thackeray Pendennis II. iii. 27 Warrington artfully inspired the two gentlemen who ‘read’ for Messrs. Bacon and Bungay with the greatest curiosity regarding ‘Walter Lorraine’. 1891G. Gissing New Grub Street I. vi. 122 She..liked to know who ‘read’ for the publishing-houses. 1956P. Scott Male Child ii. i. 112, I..asked her whether she had ever read for a publisher. 1978S. Hodge Gollancz iii. 64 They went on reading for him.
e. To receive and understand a message by radio, telephone, etc.
1930Amer. Speech V. 289 The receiving operator ‘receives’, ‘copies’ or ‘reads’. 1962J. Glenn in Into Orbit 213 Schirra: ‘John, leave your retro-package on through your pass over Texas. Do you read?’ Glenn: ‘Roger’. 1963Times 25 May 10/7 ‘Philip to Kitty—do you read?’ No reply. 1966D. Francis Flying Finish ii. 26, I said, ‘Port Ellen tower this is Golf Alpha Romeo Kilo November, do you read?’
16. a. to read on: to look on and read. Now rare or Obs.
c1200Vices & Virtues 141 Þanne we on boke radeð, ðanne spekeð godd wið us. a1225Ancr. R. 430 O þisse boc redeð eueriche deie hwon ȝe beoð eise. a1300Floriz & Bl. 578 Alniȝt heo set at hire boke And haþ þeron irad and loke. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Peter) 711 Angelis..brocht fra criste to hym a buk, and all þe wordis petir one rad. a1450Arthur 633 He þat wolle more loke, Reed on þe frensche boke. a1550Freiris Berwik 352 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 297 Quhylis still he satt in studeing, And vthir quhylis vpoun his buk reding. 1642Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1738 I. 108 To take them nightly to read on and after make them his pillow. 1764Reid Inquiry vi. §16 Before the other eye was placed a printed book, at such a distance as that he could read upon it.
b. Similarly, to read in. Now rare. Also transf.
c1470Henry Wallace vii. 902 As witnes weill in to the schort tretty Eftir the Bruce, quha redis in that story. 1485Caxton Malory's Arthur Pref. 3 Al noble lordes and ladyes..that shal see and rede in this sayd book. 1530Tindale Prol. Deuteron. Wks. 21/2 This is a booke worthy to be read in, daye and night. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iv. i. 276 Giue me that Glasse, and therein will I reade. 1820Southey Wesley (ed. 2) II. 140 Neither had he read in any devotional book.
c. fig. in phrases. † to read on one side of the leaf: to regard or apprehend only one side of the question. to read between the lines (see line n.2 23 a). you wouldn't read about it: exclamation used to express a mixture of incredulity and disgust (Austral. and N.Z. colloq.).
1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 218 Syndry folk redis apon a syde of the lef and nocht on the tothir. 1866,1880[see line n.2 23 a.] 1886Manch. Exam. 19 Jan. 5/4 People who have not the shrewdness to read a little between the lines..are grievously misled. 1950J. Cleary Just let me Be xiv. 135 Everything I backed ran like a no-hoper. Four certs I had, and the bludgers were so far back the ambulance nearly had to bring 'em home. You wouldn't read about it. 1962D. Cusack Picnic Races xxi. 249 He drew a deep breath. ‘You wouldn't read about it.’ 1973H. Williams My Love had Black Speed Stripe x. 69 You wouldn't read about it. A bloke his missus reckons was a doctor of philosophy, whatever that was, and just about the biggest dill you could meet.
†d. to read right: to have or take a correct view; to be right in one's ideas or expectations. Obs.
Perh. originally related to senses 1 and 2.
c1420Anturs of Arth. 525, I shal rewarde þe þi route, if I cone rede righte. 1508Dunbar Gold. Targe 255 O reuerend Chaucere,..quho redis rycht, Thou beris of makaris the tryumph riall. a1585Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 1191 Gif ȝe reid richt, it was not I.
17. To find mention or record of something by, or in the course of, reading.
[c1000ælfric Hom. II. 394 We rædað be sumon wife, þe wæs twelf ᵹear ᵹeuntrumod.] a1225Ancr. R. 244 Þe oðer deouel þet me redeð of þet he gredde lude to Seinte Bartholomeu. c1400Apol. Loll. 31 Þei were dekunis,..as Steuyn, & silk oþer þat is redd of in apostlis dedis. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 80 Places towarde the south coast, of which neither I have heard of any credible person, nor yet red. 1595Shakes. John iii. iv. 13 Who hath read, or heard Of any kindred action like to this? c1645Howell Lett. I. v. xxxvii, I have read of Caligula's Horse, that was made Consul. 1789Cowper Annus Mem. 3, I read of bright embattled fields. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xcv, I read Of that glad year which once had been.
ellipt.1611Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 424 Worse then the great'st Infection That ere was heard, or read.
18. a. To bear reading; to be readable.
1668Shadwell Sullen Lovers iii, 'Tis a play that shall read and act with any play that ever was born. 1727De Foe Hist. Appar. (1840) 340 The book will read without it. 1887A. Birrell Obiter Dicta 2nd Ser. viii. 260 When the dish is served, we only ask, Is it good?..when the book comes out, Does it read? 1931N. & Q. 17 Oct. 287/2 The translation is oddly unequal. It is often conspicuously clear and vigorous; sometimes it is halting and dull; occasionally, it does not ‘read’.
b. To turn out (well or ill), or have a specified character, when read; to produce a certain impression on the reader. Also, to convey a statement when read.
1731Gentl. Mag. I. 21 Thy comedies excell..And read politely well. 1789T. Twining Aristotle's Treat. Poetry (1812) I. 254 Whose productions..read better than they act. 1805W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. III. 231 This pamphlet is so pious as to read more like a sermon than a political address. 1828Examiner 84/2 Nothing can read more free and easy than his present translation. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 371 The joke does not read to us like a very good one. 1891F. H. Williams Atman v. 270 The letter reads as follows.
transf.1863J. Kavanagh Eng. Wom. Letters vii. I. 187 There are lives that read like one long sorrow.
c. To admit of interpretation.
1866J. Martineau Ess. I. 28 This rule reads both ways.
d. Of a measuring instrument: to have a graduated scale of a specified kind.
1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Industr. Dept., Brit. Div. II. No. 2941, Standard barometer on Fortin's principle, reading from an ivory zero point in the cistern.
** In senses corresponding to 11–14 above.
19. a. To render or give forth in speech the words one is reading (in sense 5). Const. to (a person), from or out of (a book, etc.; † formerly of, in, on), and with advbs. as away, on, out.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke iv. 16 [He] aras to redanne. c1200Ormin 17286 Eȝȝwhær þær mann rædeþþ þe Off haliȝ witeȝhunnge. c1315Shoreham i. 1306 He toke ysaies bok Ine þe synagoge, and radde. 1382Wyclif Neh. viii. 8 And thei radden in the boc of the lawe distinctli and apertli. ― Jer. xxxvi. 6 Go in therfore thou, and rede of the volum,..herende the puple. c1440York Myst. xx. 144 Late se, sirs, in youre sawes Howe right þat ȝe can rede. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 56 Cardmaker, that rede in Powlles iij. tymes a weke. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 329 That fault may be mended with a breakfast: read on. 1635E. Pagitt Christianogr. 30 Comming on a Sunday into one of their Congregations..he found one sitting in the midst of them,..reading on a Bible in the Chaldean tongue. 1718Freethinker No. 7 (1733) I. 30 The Bridegroom..deposited one Moiety; and the Doctor read away. 1787Burns Tam Samson's Elegy i, Has..Robinson again grown weel, To preach an' read? 1844Lady G. C. Fullerton E. Middleton vi, Sir Edmund and Henry alternately read out loud to us. 1879M. Pattison Milton 150 Then he went up to his study to be read to till six.
†b. Coupled with sing., in ref. to church-services. Obs.
c1250Hymn to God 1 in Trin. Coll. Hom. App. 258 Hit bilimped forte speke to reden & to singe Of him. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 8018 Whyle y haue ȝow prestes þre Þat me mow rede ande synge. c1420Anturs of Arth. 704 Dame Gaynour garte besly wryte in to þe weste, To all manere of relygeous, to rede and to synge. 1500–20Dunbar Poems x. 29 All clergy do to him inclyne,..Ensence his altar, reid, and sing In haly kirk.
c. to read in = 13 a.
1828J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) I. 180, I read in—i.e. read the Thirty-nine Articles. 1863H. W. Cripps Law Church & Clergy (1886) 481 marg., Certificate of reading in should be obtained.
d. Sc. Of a minister: To read sermons, instead of preaching extempore or from memory.
1781Reading not preaching ii. 6 To read, and not preach, is to deny the Spirit his office. 1888Barrie Auld Licht Idylls iii, To follow a pastor who ‘read’ seemed to the Auld Lichts like claiming heaven on false pretences.
e. Of an actor: to audition for, to rehearse for a role. Also, to read in for, to take the part of (another actor) at a rehearsal.
1943S. Lewis Gideon Planish 71 ‘And will you read for it?’.. ‘You mean try and see if I can act one of the parts?’ ‘Professionally, we call it ‘read for a part’.’ 1966A. E. Lindop I start Counting ii. 44 She'd had a letter..asking her to report to the Jubilee Hall, where she was to read for the Amateur Dramatic Society. 1968J. Bingham I love, I Kill iii. 32 Shirley, you read in for Sarah... You'll be understudying her anyway. 1970E. Berckman She asked for It ii. 18 ‘How's it done?’ ‘You ring your agent, and say you'll read for the part.’ Ibid. 19, I stood over her, literally, till she'd rung and said she'd read for the producer. 1971Guardian 10 Dec. 10/5 The [play] reading is on again... Somebody can read in for Graham.
†20. To give instruction by means of reading aloud; to lecture or discourse upon a subject. Obs.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 446/521 Ȝif þou me drifst out of þi lond..Ich can rede at parys..And þare-with winne me mete i-novȝ. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 341 In that College it was his happie lucke, to reade in the open schooles in Latine. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 46 Where is the Liuing..Which calls me Pupill, or hath read to me. 1618G. Strode Anat. Mortalitie 1 The Statute which I haue chosen to reade vpon. a1625Fletcher Elder Brother iv. iii, I shall dissect ye, And read upon your phlegmatic dull carcasses. 1691–2Wood Life 6 Jan. (O.H.S.) III, The Master of Pembroke College suffers him to read to Scholars of his house. 1700Collier 2nd Def. Short View (1738) 434 To read upon a putrified Carcass, and shew Nature, to the Affront of Religion.
†21. To rehearse, speak or tell of. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 4327 Sua did þis wijf, i yow of redd, Sco folud ioseph ai þar he fledd. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 10598 He wrot his dedes..& blamed boþe Gyldas & Bede Why þey wolde nought of hym rede. 1375Barbour Bruce x. 276, I think of hym to reid And till schaw part of his gud deid. c1425Wyntoun Cron. ii. x. heading, Or I forthere nowe procede, Of the Genealogi will I rede. 1570Henry's Wallace vi. 72 Heirof as now, I will na mair proceid..Of vther thing my purpois is to reid.
III. 22. Computers. The infin. used attrib. and in Comb. with the sense ‘reading’.
1953A. D. & K. H. V. Booth Automatic Digital Calculators xii. 115 Mounted close to the drum are a series of read/record heads. 1960Proc. Inst. Electr. Engineers (VII. b. 56) (heading) A digital computer store with very short read time. 1964F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers iv. 77 The resulting change of flux as the core switches will cause an electromotive force in the read wire which we can recognise. 1965Wireless World July 340/1 The read/write cycle time is 600 nsec. 1971J. H. Smith Digital Logic vi. 126 In practical core memories the X and Y co-ordinates are only used for identifying the core required and each core in the plane is threaded with additional ‘read’ and ‘write’ wires. 1979J. E. Rowley Mechanical In-House Information Syst. i. 64 Read-write heads..give direct access to the opposite track, and then this track may be searched sequentially.
23. read-around ratio Computers, the number of times that a particular bit in an electrostatic store can be read without degrading bits stored nearby.
1953Math. Tables & Other Aids to Computation VII. 112 The inherent coupling between adjacent storage locations on the face of any cathode ray tube places a limit on the number of times any point on the raster may be consulted before its neighbors are regenerated. For the Institute machine this number, called the ‘read around’ ratio, is in the neighborhood of 30. 1969P. B. Jordain Condensed Computer Encycl. 415 A high read-around ratio means greater reliability.
Add:[I.] [5.] j. Biol. To interpret or translate (genetic information); spec. to extract genetic information from (a particular sequence of nucleic acids), or to extract from a given sequence the genetic information necessary to synthesize (a particular substance).
[1957F. H. C. Crick et al. in Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. XLIII. 418 We further assume that all possible sequences of the amino acids may occur (that is, can be coded) and that at every point in the string of letters one can only read ‘sense’ in the correct way.] 1961Nature 30 Dec. 1227/1 The sequence of the bases is read from a fixed starting point. This determines how the long sequences of bases are to be correctly read off as triplets. 1965[see transcriptase n.]. 1977Time 14 Nov. 48/1 They broke down and then analyzed the RNA in the archaebacteria's ribosomes, the structures that ‘read’ the message of the master molecule DNA and produce the protein necessary for life. 1989Nature 14 Sept. 166/2 According to the wobble rule, not only CUG but also CUA may be read to specify serine in C[andida] cylindracea.
[9.] [a.] Add to def.: Hence, to substitute or understand for (what is said or written).
1868M. E. G. Duff Pol. Survey 16 For monasteries, we should read convents, mission-houses, and seminaries. 1966‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive xxi. 193 For snatch read abduction. For swop read exchange. Never a bloody spade. 1967Listener 4 May 593/2 Links between the cultures of ‘Indonesia’ (read southeast Asia) and west and central Africa.
▪ IV. read, ppl. a.|rɛd|
[f. read v.]
1. That is read, esp. that is read out (in contrast to being expressed spontaneously or repeated from memory). read line (Sc.): see line n.2 23 e.
1590G. Gifford Plain Declar. Title-p., A Replie to Master Greenwood touching read prayer. 1642S. Rutherfurd Peaceable Plea 326 None by any Act of our Church..is obliged to a stinted or read prayer. 1781Reading not preaching ii. 9 Your read papers is a lame service. 1901Westm. Gaz. 10 Dec. 11/1 The trouble of attending the meeting to hear a read speech. 1901Lawson Remin. Dollar Acad. 122, I have still a recollection of the read line being sung in that congregation.
2. In predicative use: Experienced, versed, or informed in a subject by reading. Also read up.
Used simply and with adverbs (see also well-read).
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 127 He ought..to be well languaged, to be sufficiently read in Histories and Antiquities. 1631Massinger Emperor East iii. iv, You are read in story: call to your remembrance [etc.]. 1682Dryden Relig. Laici Pref., Wks. (Globe) 187 Every man who is read in Church history. 1707Prior Epil. to Phaedra 3 An Oxford Man, extreamly read in Greek. 1749Fielding Tom Jones iii. iii, He was deeply read in the ancients. 1857Ecclesiologist XVIII. 208 Chaucer, who was evidently quite as read in the Latin classics, as a well-educated person would be in the present day. 1873‘Mark Twain’ Gilded Age xi. 112, I am better read up in most sciences, maybe, than the general run of professional men. 1883H. E. Manning Eternal Priesthood xx. 277 He is a welcome visitor..a ready and amusing guest, read up in the newspapers, and full of the events of the day. 1897Pall Mall Mag. Feb. 189 A man.., who was read in four Eastern languages.
3. (Chiefly predicative.) Informed by reading, acquainted with books or literature, learned.
Now only with adverbs (esp. well-read).
1588Shakes. Tit. A. iv. i. 33 Thou art deeper read and better skild. 1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. v. iii, You are read, my Lords. 1650B. Discolliminium 43 If any read Gentleman or Divine will assoile these doubts, I shall be very much beholding to him. 1676G. Etherege Man of Mode i. i, Shoom. Why shou'd not you Write your own Commentaries as well as Cæsar? Med. The Raskal's read, I perceive. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 612 The bookful block⁓head, ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head. 1824Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 398, I might defy the best read lawyer to produce another scrap of authority for this judiciary forgery.
▪ V. read
obs. f. red a. and n.1, var. rede n., obs. f. reed. |