Macmillan Dictionary

Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

read

 - definition
 
 
 
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
verb American English pronunciation: read /rid/ 
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theyread
he/she/itreads
present participlereading
past tenseread
past participleread
Other entries for this word
 
  1. 1
    [intransitive/transitive] to look at and understand words in a letter, book, newspaper, etc.

    I read a few chapters of a book every night.

    Here – read what his note says for yourself.

    He was sitting reading in the waiting room.

    Read on to find out more!

    read and write:

    By the age of five, he could read and write.

    read something from cover to cover (=all of something):

    I always read the paper from cover to cover.

    read widely/extensively (=to read a lot of books):

    She read extensively in science and economics.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read
    1. a.
      [intransitive/transitive] to speak the words that you are looking at
      read (something) to someone:

      Reading to young children helps develop their language skills.

      read someone something:

      Read me that last sentence again.

      read (something) aloud/out loud:

      I'm going to read this poem aloud.

      read from something:

      She will be reading from her latest novel.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read
    2. b.
      [intransitive/transitive] to get information from books, newspapers, etc.
      read (that):

      I read somewhere that she was born in Chicago.

      read something in something:

      We read it in the local paper.

      read about:

      He likes reading about wildlife.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read
    3. c.
      [transitive] used for telling someone about mistakes in printing
      for something, read something:

      On page 61, for "three thousand," read "three million."

      read something as something:

      The figure £600 should be read as $600.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read
  3. 3
    [transitive] to understand something in a particular way

    They had read the situation extremely accurately.

    read something as something:

    We had read their decision as an admission of failure.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read
  4. 4
    [transitive] if a short piece of writing reads something, it contains those particular words

    The label read, "Suitable only for children over three."

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read
  6. 6
    [transitive] if a piece of measuring equipment reads something, it shows a particular number or amount

    The thermometer has been reading over 90 degrees all day.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read
  7. 7
    [transitive] to be able to understand what someone is like or what they are thinking

    It was difficult to read his expression.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read
    See also  book1, mind1
  8. 8
    [intransitive] if something reads well or badly, you think it has been written well or badly

    In general, the script reads beautifully.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read
  9. 9
    [transitive] to hear someone who is speaking to you by radio

    This is Charlie Alpha Five. Do you read me?

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of read

phrases

This is the American English definition of read. View British English definition of read.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to British English.

View the pronunciation for read.

 

caxirola

a percussion instrument used by football fans which makes a rattling sound when shaken

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day

glean

to learn small pieces of information by asking questions or watching or listening carefully

Open Dictionary

pierce the corporate veil

… the decision to treat the rights and duties of a company as being the same as the rights and duties of its shareholders

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog