reach
verb/ɹiːt͡ʃ/
Etymology From Middle English rechen, from Old English rǣċan (“to reach”), from Proto-West Germanic *raikijan, from Proto-Germanic *raikijaną, from the Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ- (“to bind, reach”). Cognate with Dutch reiken, German reichen.
17 senses
- 1To extend, stretch, or thrust out (for example a limb or…
- 2To give to someone by stretching out a limb, especially…
- 3To stretch out the hand.
- 4To attain or obtain by stretching forth the hand; to…
- 5To strike or touch.
- 6To extend an action, effort, or influence to; to…
- 7To extend to; to stretch out as far as; to touch by…
- 8To arrive at (a place) by effort of any kind.
- 9To make contact with.
- 10To connect with (someone) on an emotional level, making…
- 11To arrive at a particular destination.
- 12To continue living until or up to (a certain age).
- 13To understand; to comprehend.
- 14To strain after something; to make (sometimes futile or…
- 15To extend in dimension, time etc.; to stretch out…
- 16To sail on the wind, as from one point of tacking to…
- 17To arrive at a particular destination, especially to…
1
To extend, stretch, or thrust out (for example a limb or object held in the hand).
- He reached for a weapon that was on the table.
- He reached for his shoe with his legs.
2
To give to someone by stretching out a limb, especially the hand; to give with the hand; to pass to another person; to hand over.
- to reach someone a book
- When Svend Fælling had promised to do so, saying that he thought himself strong and active enough for the encounter, the Troll reached him a heavy iron bar, and bade him show his strength on that.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 204:
3
To stretch out the hand.
4
To attain or obtain by stretching forth the hand; to extend some part of the body, or something held, so as to touch, strike, grasp, etc.
- to reach an object with the hand, or with a spear
- “I can't quite reach the pepper. Could you pass it to me?”
1 more example
- 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.
5
Of a missile To strike or touch.
- His bullet reached its intended target.
6
Broadly To extend an action, effort, or influence to; to penetrate to; to pierce, or cut.
- A few words, lovingly, encouragingly spoken failed to reach her heart.1889, The Kindergarten-Primary Magazine, volume 1, page 119:
- Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
7
To extend to; to stretch out as far as; to touch by virtue of extent.
- his hand reaches the river
- When the forest reaches the river, you will be able to rest.
2 more examples
- Thy desire […] leads to no excess / That reaches blame.1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- Patent filings for neural networks grew at a rate of 46 percent from 2013 to 2016, reaching 6,506, the study found.2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2019:
8
To arrive at (a place) by effort of any kind.
- After three years, he reached the position of manager.
- The climbers reached the top of the mountain after a gruelling ten-day hike.
3 more examples
- I am very Senſible, the beſt accounts of the Appearances of Nature (in any ſingle Inſtance hovv minute or ſimple ſoever) Humane Penetration can reach, comes infinitely ſhort of its reality, and internal Conſtitution; for vvho can ſearch out the Almighty, or his vvorks to Perfection.1715, George Cheyne, “The Preface”, in Philosophical Principles of Religion: Natural and Revealed: […] Philosophical Principles of Natural Religion. Part I. […], 2nd edition, London: […] George Strahan […], →OCLC:
- But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,[…]. By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come. Mrs. Cooke came out from under the port-cochere to welcome her.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- On the trip out our car was full of railway workers, going out to work on the Lanchow-Sinkiang Railway which had already reached Yumen, China’s biggest oil field, and in 1960 will connect with the Soviet Union’s Turkestan-Siberia Railway; or to the Lanchow-Yinchuan section, which cuts through the Great Wall to reach Yinchuan, a major wool, hide and skin trading center in the Northwest.1956 October, Grace Liu, “A Train Trip in China”, in New World Review, volume 24, number 10, New York: S.R.T. Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20, column 1:
9
Figuratively To make contact with.
- I tried to reach you all day.
10
Figuratively To connect with (someone) on an emotional level, making them receptive of (one); to get through to (someone).
- What will it take for me to reach him?
- Whether by design or driven by the force of circumstances, they have always directed their main effort toward gaining the support of this "elite," while the more conservative groups have acted, as regularly but unsuccessfully, on a more naive view of mass democracy and have usually vainly tried directly to reach and to persuade the individual voter.1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 418:
- The particulars that reach from Eastern Bengal require corroboration.1907, George Clifford Whitworth, Indian English: An Examination of the Errors of Idiom made by Indians in Writing English, page 122:
- I reached at the right time.1958, India. Ministry of Education, A Basic Grammar of Modern Hindi: English Version, page 33:
4 more examples
- It should be noted that Hare Krishna Konar, an arch leftist, could not vote on the Bhupesh Gupta—S.K. Achaiya issue as he reached late.1960, Gene Donald Overstreet, Marshall Windmiller, Communism in India, page 144:
- In the event of your statement reaching later than 6th March, there will be chances of your requirement left and leading to difficulty of having to explain your excess or saving being as the case may be.1975, India. Parliament. Public Accounts Committee, Epitome of the Reports of the Central Committee of Public Accounts from 1967-68 to 1970-71 (Fourth Lok Sabha) and of the Government Orders Thereon, page 144:
- I suggest taking an earlier bus (say 6:00 p.m.), reaching at around midnight, then taking a taxi (might even be able to catch the last MRT) to Changi.2004 February 18, Mr. Free Notes, “Getting bus from KL to Singapore leaving night, likely to be any delays in arrival?”, in soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):
- When we reached at 7.30 a.m., we saw groups of men and women bracing themselves for the day's events by writing out posters or painting placards.2009, Boria Majumdar, Nalin Mehta, India and the Olympics, page 218:
12
To continue living until or up to (a certain age).
- You can only access the inheritance money when you reach the age of 25.
13
Obsolete To understand; to comprehend.
- Do what, sir? I reach you not.1612 January 5 (first performance, Gregorian calendar; published 1619), Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “A King, and No King”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii:
14
To strain after something; to make (sometimes futile or pretentious) efforts.
- Reach for your dreams.
- Reach for the stars!
1 more example
- Repetitious comments are other examples of introjects that we take on as if they were truths. These include: You're lazy; you're selfish; you'll never amount to anything; you have big dreams; don't you think you're reaching a bit; try something more attainable; you were never good in math; you're not quick on your feet; you're oblivious to the world around you.2015, Janet S. Steinwedel, The Golden Key to Executive Coaching:
15
To extend in dimension, time etc.; to stretch out continuously (past, beyond, above, from etc. something).
- The Thembu tribe reaches back for twenty generations to King Zwide.1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 4:
17
Multicultural London English, Slang To arrive at a particular destination, especially to join someone; to meet up.
- What time you reaching tomorrow?
- If you're calling out at your homies to come over and hang out, you just simply say "reach."2017 September 21, Kristina Ramcharran, “25 Toronto Slang Words You've Definitely Heard At Least Once”, in Narcity:
- Derived terms
33 terms
areach, atreach, broad-reaching, far-reaching, farreaching, forereach, highreaching, misreach, outreach, overreach, reachability, reachable, reach across the aisle, reach an early grave, reach down, reacher, reach for, reach for the moon, reach for the skies, reach for the sky, reach for the stars, reach-me-down, reach out, reach past, reach rock bottom, reach-through, rereach, underreach, unreach, unreachable, unreached, upreach, when I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun