reedyadj.

Brit.

/ˈriːdi/, U.S.

/ˈridi/

Forms: see reed n.¹ and -y suffix¹; also Middle English reeddi, Middle English reeddy.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: reed n.¹, -y suffix¹.

Etymology: < reed n.¹ + -y suffix¹.Attested earliest in topographical surnames (as in quots. 1307 and 1324 at sense 1). The suggestion in Bosworth-Toller that the following variant reading shows an Old English attestation of the word in the dative plural (hreodeum for *hrēodegum ) is unconvincing; in the manuscript the e is expunged, and the word is probably to be interpreted as an error for hrēodum , dative plural of hrēod reed n.¹ in the sense ‘reedy place’ (compare reed n.¹ 3):OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Corpus Cambr.) iv. xxviii. 364 On ðam tunum..þa ðe in heahmorum & hreodeum [eOE Tanner in heaum morum & in reðum; L. in arduis asperisque montibus] feorr gesette wæron. Compare Old English hrēodiht ( < reed n.¹ + the parallel Old English suffix -iht : see discussion at -y suffix¹) and its derivative hrēodihtig ( < hrēodiht + -y suffix¹), both in sense 1.

1. Full of reeds; characterized by the presence of reeds. Also: edged with reeds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [adjective] > having or full of

reedy1307

flaggy1382

reedena1387

sedgy1566

rushy1567

saggy1609

secky1610

cany1667

seavy1684

bentya1700

juncous1755

rushed1759

rush-grown1765

spritty1786

spratty1808

reeded1821

sedged1866

1307 in G. Kristensson Stud. Middle Eng. Topogr. Terms (1970) 84 Joh. del Rediker.

1324 in G. Kristensson Stud. Middle Eng. Topogr. Terms (1970) 83 Will. del Redihalgh.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. iii. 7 Thei shul shyne riȝtwis, and as sparcles in reeddy placis [L. in arundineto].

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 297 Some [sc. frogs] ben y-cleped Calamite, for þey wonen among rede..and in reedy places [L. calamis].

a1425 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 1900) (1879) VII. 487 A reody marreys [L. arundineam; a1387 St. John's Cambr. Whanne þey were unneþes i-passed Areden marys..þe eorle of Chestre spak to his men in þis manere].

a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) V. 76 Lesse then a Quarter of a Mile from that Place is a greate redy Poole.

1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. K3 To Simois reedie bankes the red bloud ran.

1635 in Amer. Speech (1940) 15 382/2 Beginning at a little valley butting upon a Reedy Swamp.

1657 T. Wall Comment on Times 30 Some perillous beast, which out of the cover of their reedy thickets, attends the opportunity of their desired prey.

1727 J. Thomson Summer 35 Th' adjoining Brook..Now scarcely moving thro' a reedy Pool.

1791 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 569 Ye heathy wastes immix'd with reedy fens.

1840 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. lv. 103 On the reedy margin of the lake stood here and there some monuments.

1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest III. xiv. 356 The Derwent itself, a reedy and somewhat sluggish stream.

1900 W. L. Sclater Mammals of S. Afr. I. 196 The reedbuck lives always in grassy or reedy valleys in the neighbourhood of streams and vleys.

1951 Argus (Melbourne) 14 Dec. (Suppl.) 2/5 The hollow boom so often heard on the margins of reedy swamps..is the mythical bunyip.

1998 Church Times 9 Apr. 24/4 The big horse-pond nearby, so often fished for golf-balls, is green and reedy.

a. Made from or consisting of reed or reeds. Now rare.

ΚΠ

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1969) Isa. xxxvi. 6 Lo, þou trostist vp on þis reedi [L. arundineum] staf tobroken.

c1450 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Bodl. 277) (1850) 4 Kings xviii. 21 Reedy staf [a1382 E.V. reeden staf; a1425 Royal Thou hopist in a staf of rehed and brokun, Egipt].

1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie xviii. 55 Is this thy golden scepter, against wrong, A reedie cane?

1651 E. Sherburne tr. Coluthus Rape of Helen in Poems 47 Ye Trojan Nymphs..on your Fathers Sands oft laying by Your sacred Armelets, and Heads reedy Tires.

1685 N. Tate tr. G. Sannazaro Third Piscatory Eclogue in Poems by Several Hands 362 Upon my Neck the reedy Pipe was hung.

a1763 W. Shenstone Wks. Verse & Prose (1764) I. 31 How must Velino shake his reedy crest!

1794 R. Southey Poems Slave Trade iv The o'erwearied slave..Rests on his reedy couch.

1853 C. C. Felton Familiar Lett. (1865) xxvii. 247 A shepherd, who charmed his weary hours..by playing rustic airs upon his reedy pipe.

1891 J. H. Pearce Esther Pentreath i. iii The clay-walled cottages..had their reedy coverings ‘riffled’ by almost every gust.

1921 P. S. Mowrer Balkanized Europe i. ii. 11 A shepherd sits by the willows on the low bank, playing his reedy pipe.

†b. Of sugar: having qualities of the cane from which it is derived; inferior. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 912 Do not use sugar that is earthly, reedy, and so full of dregs.

a. Of a plant or part of a plant: resembling (that of) a reed; of the nature of a reed; esp. (of straw or grass) stiff or coarse.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [adjective]

reedy1577

sedgy1625

arundinaceous1657

arundineous1657

benty1807

cyperaceous1852

juncaceous1855

juncagineous1855

typhaceous1909

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 32 There is an other like grayne that they call Indian Millet, with a great grayne, and a blacke and bigge reedy stalke.

1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) i. xlv. 63 In myne opinion it is rather to be iudged an vmbelliferous plant than a reedy.

1651 J. F. tr. H. C. Agrippa Three Bks. Occult Philos. i. xliii. 86 The root of the reedy Hearb Sagapen.

1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Dec. viii. 53 As..they make good Part of their Rent by the Sale of their Wheat-Straw, they are very careful to preserve it as reedy or long as they can.

1777 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. 5 Apr. (1778) Nothwithstanding it was weedy, and the barley-straw reedy, they have eaten it up very clean.

1810 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. i, in Poems (ed. 5) I. 53 The leek with crown globose and reedy stem.

1838–9 F. A. Kemble Jrnl. Resid. Georgian Plantation (1863) 58 A small bank of mud and sand covered with reedy coarse grass.

1961 Times 27 Jan. 14/6 Hares and foxes hid among the reedy grass of the sandy hills along the Black Sea.

1990 N. Dabell How we won Open (BNC) At the 14th he hits into the left-hand rough. It's knee-deep and reedy. Horrible stuff.

b. That resembles a reed or reeds in appearance, shape, or texture.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > [adjective] > long and narrow > like a rod, reed, etc.

stalky1552

strawish1562

rush-like1578

reeden1597

rodlike1611

virgated1752

vargeous1779

switchy1810

sudiform1822

reedy1834

rodded1841

pencillous1850

junciform1855

rhabdoidal1855

rhabdoid1859

1834 T. De Quincey Travelling in Eng. in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Suppl. No. 797 Carriages of our present light and reedy (almost, one might say, corky) construction.

1842 L. S. Costello Pilgrimage Auvergne I. 29 The groups of reedy pillars which support the body of the church.

1848 R. C. Taylor Statistics Coal 698 By the term ‘reedy coal’ is locally understood [sc. in South Wales] a coal in which the vegetable impressions are conspicuous and abundant in its substance.

1878 T. Hardy Return of Native I. i. iii. 50 A faltering man, with reedy hair, no shoulders, and a great quantity of wrist and ankle beyond his clothes.

1912 R. Brooke in Basileon June 3 To glimpse a Naiad's reedy head, Or hear the Goat-foot piping low.

2002 J. Viegas Mouth & Nose i. 13 The inside looks like a tube with a slit in the middle lined on both sides with white reedy material.

†a. Weak, fragile; unreliable, ineffectual. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > weakness > [adjective]

tender?c1225

feeble1340

infirmc1374

slight1393

weakc1400

sperec1440

silly1587

unsound1590

immaterial1609

paper1615

unsubstantiala1617

reedy1628

slighty1662

insufficient1700

flimsy1702

bandbox1727

unconfirmed1752

insubstantial1767

gossamery1790

thread-paper1803

gossamer1806

slimsy1845

unendurable1879

bandboxy1891

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > weak > of health

reedy1628

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > weak in character or will

nesheOE

feeblec1200

softc1275

weaka1425

infirm1526

lithya1533

unheaded1577

spiritless1595

pappy1597

irresolute1600

marrowless1607

seducible1613

wax-nosedc1615

unsinewy?1623

reedy1628

swayable1642

short-spirited1647

weak-headed1654

lath-backed1676

will-less?1680

tiffany-trader1702

weak-minded1716

lax1751

lax-fibred1762

nerveless1783

wishy-washy1801

marcid1822

molluscous1836

boneless1848

weedy1849

putty-headed1857

flabby1862

weak-kneed1863

fibreless1864

invertebrate1867

chinless1881

backboneless1882

featherweight1885

spineless1885

weak-willed1885

totter-kneed1887

akratic1896

effete1905

weakling1906

gutless1915

willowish1919

Milquetoast1932

nannified1960

ball-less1967

1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. xix. 61 She rests full, in her owne approuement, without the weake Worlds reedy vnder-propping.

1705 A. Seller Wind & Tempest 42 His poor, weak, Reedy principles, shaken with every Wind.

1832 Examiner 721/2 He is reedy—he wants strength of character.

1890 G. Meredith Let. 26 Mar. (1970) II. 993 A reedy state of health forbids my going to Dinners.

b. Of a person, animal, or part of the body: thin, skinny.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [adjective] > thin

leanc1000

thinc1000

swonga1300

meagrea1398

empty?c1400

(as) thin (also lean, rank) as a rakec1405

macilent?a1425

rawc1425

gauntc1440

to be skin and bone (also bones)c1450

leany?a1475

swampc1480

scarrya1500

pinched1514

extenuate1528

lean-fleshed1535

carrion-lean1542

spare1548

lank1553

carrion1565

brawn-fallen1578

raw-bone1590

scraggeda1591

thin-bellied1591

rake-lean1593

bare-boned1594

forlorn1594

Lented1594

lean-looked1597

shotten herring1598

spiny1598

starved1598

thin-belly1598

raw-boned1600

larbar1603

meagry?1603

fleshless1605

scraggy1611

ballow1612

lank-leana1616

skinnya1616

hagged1616

scraggling1616

carrion-like1620

extenuated1620

thin-gutted1620

haggard1630

scrannel1638

leanisha1645

skeletontal1651

overlean1657

emaciated1665

slank1668

lathy1672

emaciate1676

nithered1691

emacerated1704

lean-looking1713

scranky1735

squinny-gut(s)1742

mauger1756

squinny1784

angular1789

etiolated1791

as thin (also lean) as a rail1795

wiry1808

slink1817

scranny1820

famine-hollowed1822

sharp featured1824

reedy1830

scrawny1833

stringy1833

lean-ribbeda1845

skeletony1852

famine-pinched1856

shelly1866

flesh-fallen1876

thinnish1884

all horn and hide1890

unfurnished1893

bone-thin1899

underweight1899

asthenic1925

skin-and-bony1935

skinny-malinky1940

skeletal1952

pencil-neck1960

1830 E. Bulwer-Lytton Paul Clifford III. vii. 127 A horse..of the lengthy, reedy, lank, yet muscular race.

1873 Belgravia June 37 I knew one of these tuners, Mr Coop, very well:—a small, lithe, reedy man verging on sixty years.

1936 M. R. Anand Coolie iii. 171 Her silk dress immodestly exposed her thin arms, reedy legs and flat bosom.

1976 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird vii. 99 The reedy and braceletted hands.

1993 Inside Sports May 36/2 Barkley had smashed hell out of reedy teammate Cedric Ceballos in a scrimmage, apparently because he thought Ceballos had fouled him.

2006 A. Kuczynski Beauty Junkies i. 1 She's got the reedy, semi-starved body of an adolescent.

a. Of a tone: high, thin, penetrating; of a voice, sound, or instrument: having such a tone.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > [adjective]

hardOE

rudea1375

stern1390

rougha1400

discordanta1425

stoutc1440

hoarse1513

harsh1530

raughtish1567

rugged1567

dissonant1573

harshy1582

jarry1582

immelodious1601

cragged1605

raggeda1616

unmusicala1616

absonousa1620

unharmoniousa1634

inharmonical1683

unharmonic1694

inharmonious1715

craggy1774

pebbly1793

reedy1795

iron1807

dry1819

inharmonic1828

asperated1835

sawing1851

shrewd1876

coarse1879

callithumpian1886

dissonantal1946

ear-bending1946

sandpaper1953

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > [adjective] > timbre or quality > reedy

reedy1795

1795 J. Haslewood Secret Hist. Green-room (new ed.) I. 128 She has a reedy voice of great strength and certainty—but her taste is bad.

1823 T. Moore Mem. (1853) IV. 79 Ronzi, notwithstanding her thin reedy voice, [is] very charming.

1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood I. ii. 31 A good many tones that were rough..and reedy.

1880 C. A. Edwards Organs ii. xxii. 157 The Viol-di-Gamba is soft, reedy, and sweet.

1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love vi. 76 Her voice sounded out reedy and nonchalant, as she talked indifferently.

1943 T. W. Lawson Thirty Seconds over Tokyo viii. 138 Then out of the horn came a thin, reedy kind of chopsticky song.

2000 S. Broughton et al. World Music: Rough Guide II. i. 141/2 The instrumental..music that opens this disc, with its..reedy oboe melodies, is another delight.

†b. Of a person: having a high, thin voice. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. xxxi. 270 A poor little reedy piping old gentleman, like a worn-out bird.

6. Of wrought or malleable iron: consisting of small rods imperfectly joined together. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > iron > [adjective] > types of wrought iron

best1822

bundled1831

reedy1847

1847 J. Bourne Catech. Steam Engine 119 Angle iron should not be used in the construction of boilers, as in the manufacture it becomes reedy, and is apt to split up in the direction of its length.

1895 Engin. Mag. 9 1158/2 Punching and drifting out are risky in reedy iron, opening out the grain, dividing the fibres, and producing cracks more or less wide according to circumstances.

1968 J. H. White Amer. Locomotives viii. 98/1 It was a reedy material fabricated from small strips or rods that were piled,heated, and (with luck) rolled together into homogeneous plates.

7. Weaving. Of cloth: that is flawed as a result of uneven distribution of the warp threads. Cf. reed-marked adj. at reed n.¹ Compounds 2. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [adjective] > woven > unevenly woven

rewey1552

reed-marked1894

reedy1907

1907 Fibre & Fabric 12 Jan. 3/1 Cams too late, on heavy goods, will almost always give trouble with the selvedges as well as make reedy cloth.

1931 E. Midgley Techn. Terms Textile Trade I. 261 Reedy, a term applied to a cloth which shows reed marks.

Compounds

Parasynthetic and similative (in sense 5a), as reedy-sounding, reedy-voiced, etc., adjs.

ΚΠ

1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. Reedy-toned, an epithet for any voice which..partakes of the tone of the reed.

1905 Westm. Gaz. 1 Nov. 1/3 The valley of the reedy-voiced little Ervola.

1989 C. S. Murray Crosstown Traffic iii. 58 Reedy-voiced youths like The Yardbirds' singer Keith Relf.

1995 Alternative Press May 36/2 All my EQ settings on the amp are flat because the Marshall's are always trebly and almost reedy-sounding.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	reedy
释义	reedyadj. Brit. /ˈriːdi/, U.S. /ˈridi/ Forms: see reed n.¹ and -y suffix¹; also Middle English reeddi, Middle English reeddy. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: reed n.¹, -y suffix¹. Etymology: < reed n.¹ + -y suffix¹.Attested earliest in topographical surnames (as in quots. 1307 and 1324 at sense 1). The suggestion in Bosworth-Toller that the following variant reading shows an Old English attestation of the word in the dative plural (hreodeum for hrēodegum ) is unconvincing; in the manuscript the e is expunged, and the word is probably to be interpreted as an error for hrēodum* , dative plural of hrēod reed n.¹ in the sense ‘reedy place’ (compare reed n.¹ 3):OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Corpus Cambr.) iv. xxviii. 364 On ðam tunum..þa ðe in heahmorum & hreodeum [eOE Tanner in heaum morum & in reðum; L. in arduis asperisque montibus] feorr gesette wæron. Compare Old English hrēodiht ( < reed n.¹ + the parallel Old English suffix -iht : see discussion at -y suffix¹) and its derivative hrēodihtig ( < hrēodiht + -y suffix¹), both in sense 1. 1. Full of reeds; characterized by the presence of reeds. Also: edged with reeds. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [adjective] > having or full of reedy1307 flaggy1382 reedena1387 sedgy1566 rushy1567 saggy1609 secky1610 cany1667 seavy1684 bentya1700 juncous1755 rushed1759 rush-grown1765 spritty1786 spratty1808 reeded1821 sedged1866 1307 in G. Kristensson Stud. Middle Eng. Topogr. Terms (1970) 84 Joh. del Rediker. 1324 in G. Kristensson Stud. Middle Eng. Topogr. Terms (1970) 83 Will. del Redihalgh. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. iii. 7 Thei shul shyne riȝtwis, and as sparcles in reeddy placis [L. in arundineto]. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 297 Some [sc. frogs] ben y-cleped Calamite, for þey wonen among rede..and in reedy places [L. calamis]. a1425 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 1900) (1879) VII. 487 A reody marreys [L. arundineam; a1387 St. John's Cambr. Whanne þey were unneþes i-passed Areden marys..þe eorle of Chestre spak to his men in þis manere]. a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) V. 76 Lesse then a Quarter of a Mile from that Place is a greate redy Poole. 1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. K3 To Simois reedie bankes the red bloud ran. View more context for this quotation 1635 in Amer. Speech (1940) 15 382/2 Beginning at a little valley butting upon a Reedy Swamp. 1657 T. Wall Comment on Times 30 Some perillous beast, which out of the cover of their reedy thickets, attends the opportunity of their desired prey. 1727 J. Thomson Summer 35 Th' adjoining Brook..Now scarcely moving thro' a reedy Pool. 1791 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 569 Ye heathy wastes immix'd with reedy fens. 1840 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. lv. 103 On the reedy margin of the lake stood here and there some monuments. 1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest III. xiv. 356 The Derwent itself, a reedy and somewhat sluggish stream. 1900 W. L. Sclater Mammals of S. Afr. I. 196 The reedbuck lives always in grassy or reedy valleys in the neighbourhood of streams and vleys. 1951 Argus (Melbourne) 14 Dec. (Suppl.) 2/5 The hollow boom so often heard on the margins of reedy swamps..is the mythical bunyip. 1998 Church Times 9 Apr. 24/4 The big horse-pond nearby, so often fished for golf-balls, is green and reedy. 2. a. Made from or consisting of reed or reeds. Now rare. ΚΠ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1969) Isa. xxxvi. 6 Lo, þou trostist vp on þis reedi [L. arundineum] staf tobroken. c1450 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Bodl. 277) (1850) 4 Kings xviii. 21 Reedy staf [a1382 E.V. reeden staf; a1425 Royal Thou hopist in a staf of rehed and brokun, Egipt]. 1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie xviii. 55 Is this thy golden scepter, against wrong, A reedie cane? 1651 E. Sherburne tr. Coluthus Rape of Helen in Poems 47 Ye Trojan Nymphs..on your Fathers Sands oft laying by Your sacred Armelets, and Heads reedy Tires. 1685 N. Tate tr. G. Sannazaro Third Piscatory Eclogue in Poems by Several Hands 362 Upon my Neck the reedy Pipe was hung. a1763 W. Shenstone Wks. Verse & Prose (1764) I. 31 How must Velino shake his reedy crest! 1794 R. Southey Poems Slave Trade iv The o'erwearied slave..Rests on his reedy couch. 1853 C. C. Felton Familiar Lett. (1865) xxvii. 247 A shepherd, who charmed his weary hours..by playing rustic airs upon his reedy pipe. 1891 J. H. Pearce Esther Pentreath i. iii The clay-walled cottages..had their reedy coverings ‘riffled’ by almost every gust. 1921 P. S. Mowrer Balkanized Europe i. ii. 11 A shepherd sits by the willows on the low bank, playing his reedy pipe. †b. Of sugar: having qualities of the cane from which it is derived; inferior. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 912 Do not use sugar that is earthly, reedy, and so full of dregs. 3. a. Of a plant or part of a plant: resembling (that of) a reed; of the nature of a reed; esp. (of straw or grass) stiff or coarse. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [adjective] reedy1577 sedgy1625 arundinaceous1657 arundineous1657 benty1807 cyperaceous1852 juncaceous1855 juncagineous1855 typhaceous1909 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 32 There is an other like grayne that they call Indian Millet, with a great grayne, and a blacke and bigge reedy stalke. 1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) i. xlv. 63 In myne opinion it is rather to be iudged an vmbelliferous plant than a reedy. 1651 J. F. tr. H. C. Agrippa Three Bks. Occult Philos. i. xliii. 86 The root of the reedy Hearb Sagapen. 1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Dec. viii. 53 As..they make good Part of their Rent by the Sale of their Wheat-Straw, they are very careful to preserve it as reedy or long as they can. 1777 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. 5 Apr. (1778) Nothwithstanding it was weedy, and the barley-straw reedy, they have eaten it up very clean. 1810 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. i, in Poems (ed. 5) I. 53 The leek with crown globose and reedy stem. 1838–9 F. A. Kemble Jrnl. Resid. Georgian Plantation (1863) 58 A small bank of mud and sand covered with reedy coarse grass. 1961 Times 27 Jan. 14/6 Hares and foxes hid among the reedy grass of the sandy hills along the Black Sea. 1990 N. Dabell How we won Open (BNC) At the 14th he hits into the left-hand rough. It's knee-deep and reedy. Horrible stuff. b. That resembles a reed or reeds in appearance, shape, or texture. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > [adjective] > long and narrow > like a rod, reed, etc. stalky1552 strawish1562 rush-like1578 reeden1597 rodlike1611 virgated1752 vargeous1779 switchy1810 sudiform1822 reedy1834 rodded1841 pencillous1850 junciform1855 rhabdoidal1855 rhabdoid1859 1834 T. De Quincey Travelling in Eng. in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Suppl. No. 797 Carriages of our present light and reedy (almost, one might say, corky) construction. 1842 L. S. Costello Pilgrimage Auvergne I. 29 The groups of reedy pillars which support the body of the church. 1848 R. C. Taylor Statistics Coal 698 By the term ‘reedy coal’ is locally understood [sc. in South Wales] a coal in which the vegetable impressions are conspicuous and abundant in its substance. 1878 T. Hardy Return of Native I. i. iii. 50 A faltering man, with reedy hair, no shoulders, and a great quantity of wrist and ankle beyond his clothes. 1912 R. Brooke in Basileon June 3 To glimpse a Naiad's reedy head, Or hear the Goat-foot piping low. 2002 J. Viegas Mouth & Nose i. 13 The inside looks like a tube with a slit in the middle lined on both sides with white reedy material. 4. †a. Weak, fragile; unreliable, ineffectual. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > weakness > [adjective] tender?c1225 feeble1340 infirmc1374 slight1393 weakc1400 sperec1440 silly1587 unsound1590 immaterial1609 paper1615 unsubstantiala1617 reedy1628 slighty1662 insufficient1700 flimsy1702 bandbox1727 unconfirmed1752 insubstantial1767 gossamery1790 thread-paper1803 gossamer1806 slimsy1845 unendurable1879 bandboxy1891 the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > weak > of health reedy1628 the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > weak in character or will nesheOE feeblec1200 softc1275 weaka1425 infirm1526 lithya1533 unheaded1577 spiritless1595 pappy1597 irresolute1600 marrowless1607 seducible1613 wax-nosedc1615 unsinewy?1623 reedy1628 swayable1642 short-spirited1647 weak-headed1654 lath-backed1676 will-less?1680 tiffany-trader1702 weak-minded1716 lax1751 lax-fibred1762 nerveless1783 wishy-washy1801 marcid1822 molluscous1836 boneless1848 weedy1849 putty-headed1857 flabby1862 weak-kneed1863 fibreless1864 invertebrate1867 chinless1881 backboneless1882 featherweight1885 spineless1885 weak-willed1885 totter-kneed1887 akratic1896 effete1905 weakling1906 gutless1915 willowish1919 Milquetoast1932 nannified1960 ball-less1967 1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. xix. 61 She rests full, in her owne approuement, without the weake Worlds reedy vnder-propping. 1705 A. Seller Wind & Tempest 42 His poor, weak, Reedy principles, shaken with every Wind. 1832 Examiner 721/2 He is reedy—he wants strength of character. 1890 G. Meredith Let. 26 Mar. (1970) II. 993 A reedy state of health forbids my going to Dinners. b. Of a person, animal, or part of the body: thin, skinny. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [adjective] > thin leanc1000 thinc1000 swonga1300 meagrea1398 empty?c1400 (as) thin (also lean, rank) as a rakec1405 macilent?a1425 rawc1425 gauntc1440 to be skin and bone (also bones)c1450 leany?a1475 swampc1480 scarrya1500 pinched1514 extenuate1528 lean-fleshed1535 carrion-lean1542 spare1548 lank1553 carrion1565 brawn-fallen1578 raw-bone1590 scraggeda1591 thin-bellied1591 rake-lean1593 bare-boned1594 forlorn1594 Lented1594 lean-looked1597 shotten herring1598 spiny1598 starved1598 thin-belly1598 raw-boned1600 larbar1603 meagry?1603 fleshless1605 scraggy1611 ballow1612 lank-leana1616 skinnya1616 hagged1616 scraggling1616 carrion-like1620 extenuated1620 thin-gutted1620 haggard1630 scrannel1638 leanisha1645 skeletontal1651 overlean1657 emaciated1665 slank1668 lathy1672 emaciate1676 nithered1691 emacerated1704 lean-looking1713 scranky1735 squinny-gut(s)1742 mauger1756 squinny1784 angular1789 etiolated1791 as thin (also lean) as a rail1795 wiry1808 slink1817 scranny1820 famine-hollowed1822 sharp featured1824 reedy1830 scrawny1833 stringy1833 lean-ribbeda1845 skeletony1852 famine-pinched1856 shelly1866 flesh-fallen1876 thinnish1884 all horn and hide1890 unfurnished1893 bone-thin1899 underweight1899 asthenic1925 skin-and-bony1935 skinny-malinky1940 skeletal1952 pencil-neck1960 1830 E. Bulwer-Lytton Paul Clifford III. vii. 127 A horse..of the lengthy, reedy, lank, yet muscular race. 1873 Belgravia June 37 I knew one of these tuners, Mr Coop, very well:—a small, lithe, reedy man verging on sixty years. 1936 M. R. Anand Coolie iii. 171 Her silk dress immodestly exposed her thin arms, reedy legs and flat bosom. 1976 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird vii. 99 The reedy and braceletted hands. 1993 Inside Sports May 36/2 Barkley had smashed hell out of reedy teammate Cedric Ceballos in a scrimmage, apparently because he thought Ceballos had fouled him. 2006 A. Kuczynski Beauty Junkies i. 1 She's got the reedy, semi-starved body of an adolescent. 5. a. Of a tone: high, thin, penetrating; of a voice, sound, or instrument: having such a tone. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > [adjective] hardOE rudea1375 stern1390 rougha1400 discordanta1425 stoutc1440 hoarse1513 harsh1530 raughtish1567 rugged1567 dissonant1573 harshy1582 jarry1582 immelodious1601 cragged1605 raggeda1616 unmusicala1616 absonousa1620 unharmoniousa1634 inharmonical1683 unharmonic1694 inharmonious1715 craggy1774 pebbly1793 reedy1795 iron1807 dry1819 inharmonic1828 asperated1835 sawing1851 shrewd1876 coarse1879 callithumpian1886 dissonantal1946 ear-bending1946 sandpaper1953 society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > [adjective] > timbre or quality > reedy reedy1795 1795 J. Haslewood Secret Hist. Green-room (new ed.) I. 128 She has a reedy voice of great strength and certainty—but her taste is bad. 1823 T. Moore Mem. (1853) IV. 79 Ronzi, notwithstanding her thin reedy voice, [is] very charming. 1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood I. ii. 31 A good many tones that were rough..and reedy. 1880 C. A. Edwards Organs ii. xxii. 157 The Viol-di-Gamba is soft, reedy, and sweet. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love vi. 76 Her voice sounded out reedy and nonchalant, as she talked indifferently. 1943 T. W. Lawson Thirty Seconds over Tokyo viii. 138 Then out of the horn came a thin, reedy kind of chopsticky song. 2000 S. Broughton et al. World Music: Rough Guide II. i. 141/2 The instrumental..music that opens this disc, with its..reedy oboe melodies, is another delight. †b. Of a person: having a high, thin voice. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. xxxi. 270 A poor little reedy piping old gentleman, like a worn-out bird. 6. Of wrought or malleable iron: consisting of small rods imperfectly joined together. rare. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > iron > [adjective] > types of wrought iron best1822 bundled1831 reedy1847 1847 J. Bourne Catech. Steam Engine 119 Angle iron should not be used in the construction of boilers, as in the manufacture it becomes reedy, and is apt to split up in the direction of its length. 1895 Engin. Mag. 9 1158/2 Punching and drifting out are risky in reedy iron, opening out the grain, dividing the fibres, and producing cracks more or less wide according to circumstances. 1968 J. H. White Amer. Locomotives viii. 98/1 It was a reedy material fabricated from small strips or rods that were piled,heated, and (with luck) rolled together into homogeneous plates. 7. Weaving. Of cloth: that is flawed as a result of uneven distribution of the warp threads. Cf. reed-marked adj. at reed n.¹ Compounds 2. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [adjective] > woven > unevenly woven rewey1552 reed-marked1894 reedy1907 1907 Fibre & Fabric 12 Jan. 3/1 Cams too late, on heavy goods, will almost always give trouble with the selvedges as well as make reedy cloth. 1931 E. Midgley Techn. Terms Textile Trade I. 261 Reedy, a term applied to a cloth which shows reed marks. Compounds Parasynthetic and similative (in sense 5a), as reedy-sounding, reedy-voiced, etc., adjs. ΚΠ 1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. Reedy-toned, an epithet for any voice which..partakes of the tone of the reed. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 1 Nov. 1/3 The valley of the reedy-voiced little Ervola. 1989 C. S. Murray Crosstown Traffic iii. 58 Reedy-voiced youths like The Yardbirds' singer Keith Relf. 1995 Alternative Press May 36/2 All my EQ settings on the amp are flat because the Marshall's are always trebly and almost reedy-sounding. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.1307
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