- read*/*/*/
- [riːd]
(past tense and past participle read [red] ) verb
I
1) [I/T] to look at and understand words in a letter, book, newspaper etcI read a few chapters every night.[/ex]He was sitting reading in the waiting room.[/ex]By the age of five, he was able to read and write.[/ex]2) [I/T] to speak the words that you are looking atI'm going to read this poem aloud.[/ex]Reading to young children helps develop their language skills.[/ex]Read me that last sentence again.[/ex]3) [I/T] to get information from books, newspapers etcHe likes reading about wildlife.[/ex]We read it in the local paper.[/ex]4) [T] to look at and understand the information, symbols, or numbers on a map or a piece of measuring equipmentHas the man been to read the gas meter?[/ex]5) [T] if a computer or other piece of electronic equipment reads something, it examines the information on it or copies it to a particular place6) [T] to understand something in a particular waySyn:interpretThey had read the situation accurately.[/ex]We had read their decision as an admission of failure.[/ex]7) [T] to be able to understand what someone is like or what they are thinkingIt was difficult to read his expression.[/ex]Her next comment surprised me. It was as if she had read my mind.[/ex]8) [T] if a short piece of writing reads something, it contains those particular wordsThe label read, ‘Suitable only for children over three'.[/ex]9) [T] if a piece of measuring equipment reads something, it shows a particular number or amountThe thermometer has been reading over 90 degrees all day.[/ex]•read between the lines — to guess something that is not expressed directly[/ex]- read sth into sth- read sth out- read sth through- read up on sthIInoun [singular]read [riːd]an act of reading something, or a period of time spent reading something
Dictionary for writing and speaking English. 2014.