words

American Heritage Dictionary

reach (rēch) pronunciation

v., reached, reach·ing, reach·es.

v.tr.

1. To stretch out or put forth (a body part); extend: reached out an arm.
2. To touch or grasp by stretching out or extending: can't reach the shelf.
3. To arrive at; attain: reached a conclusion; reached their destination.
4.
1. To succeed in getting in contact with or communicating with: They reached us by phone. Our newsletter reaches a specialized readership.
2. To succeed in having an effect on: No one seems able to reach her anymore.
5.
1. To extend as far as: The property reaches the shore.
2. To project as far as: A distant cry reached our ears.
3. To travel as far as: a long fly ball that reached the stadium's wall.
6. To aggregate or amount to: Sales reached the millions.
7. Informal. To grasp and hand over to another: Reach me the sugar.

v.intr.

1. To thrust out or extend something.
2. To try to grasp or touch something: reached for a book.
3.
1. To have extension in space or time: a coat that reaches to the knee; a career that reached over several decades.
2. To be extensive in influence or effect.
4. To make an excessive effort, as in drawing a conclusion or making a joke; overreach.
5. Nautical. To sail with the wind abeam.

n.

1. The act or an instance of stretching or thrusting out.
2. The extent or distance something can reach.
3.
1. Range of understanding; comprehension: a subject beyond my reach.
2. Range or scope of influence or effect.
4. An expanse: a reach of prairie; the lower reaches of the food chain.
5. A pole connecting the rear axle of a vehicle with the front.
6. Nautical. The tack of a sailing vessel with the wind abeam.
7. The stretch of water visible between bends in a river or channel.

[Middle English rechen, from Old English rǣcan.]
reachable reach'a·ble adj.
reacher reach'er n.

SYNONYMS reach, achieve, attain, gain, compass. These verbs mean to succeed in arriving at a goal or objective. Reach is the least specific: reached home before dark; reach an understanding. Achieve suggests the application of skill or initiative: achieved national recognition. Attain implies the impelling force of ambition, principle, or ideals: trying to attain self-confidence. Gain connotes considerable effort in surmounting obstacles: gained the workers' trust. Compass implies succeeding by circumventing impediments: will compass the task. See also synonyms at range.

logo The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. See reach on Answers.com
Jump to:
American Heritage Dictionary| Roget's Thesaurus| American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms| WordNet
Back To Top
Roget's Thesaurus

reach

verb

1. To extend, especially an appendage: outstretch, stretch (out). See reach/unreachable.
2. To succeed in doing: accomplish, achieve, attain, gain, realize. Slang score. See do/not do.
3. To succeed in communicating with: contact, get. Idioms: catch up with, get hold of, get in touch with, get through to, get to. See reach/unreachable.
4. To proceed on a certain course or for a certain distance: carry, extend, go, lead, run, stretch. See reach/unreachable.
5. To come to a particular place: arrive, check in, get in, pull in, show up, turn up. Slang blow in. Idioms: makeput inan appearance. See start/end.
6. To come to in number or quantity: aggregate, amount, number, run into, total. Idioms: add up to. See increase/decrease.

noun

1. The measure of how far or long something goes in space, time, or degree: extent, length, span, stretch. See big/small/amount.
2. The ability or power to seize or attain: capacity, compass, grasp, range, scope. See ability/inability.
3. The extent of one's perception, understanding, knowledge, or vision: horizon, ken, purview, range, scope. See ability/inability, knowledge/ignorance, see/not see.
4. An area within which something or someone exists, acts, or has influence or power: ambit, compass, extension, extent, orbit, purview, range, realm, scope, sphere, sweep, swing. See territory.
5. A wide and open area, as of land, sky, or water: distance, expanse, expansion, extent, space, spread, stretch, sweep. See place.


logo Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. See reach on Answers.com