Dictionary Definition
rod
Noun
2 a long thin implement made of metal or
wood
3 any rod-shaped bacterium
5 visual receptor cell sensitive to dim light
[syn: rod
cell, retinal
rod]
6 a gangster's pistol [syn: gat]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɒd
Noun
- A straight,
round stick, shaft or bar.
- The circus strong man proved his strength by bending an iron rod, and then straightening it again.
- In the context of "fishing": A long slender pole used for angling; fishing rod.
- When I realized that I had hooked a snake and not a fish, I got so scared I dropped my rod in the water.
- A stick, switch or
rather a bundle of
switches or twigs, such as
a birch, used for lashing someone, especially as a
corporal
punishment, often metonymically called the rod, even extended
regardless of the actual implement.
- The judge imposed a sentence of fifteen strokes with the rod for the thief.
- A stick used to measure length; a measuring
rod.
- I fashioned a rod to measure the length of rope to cut by filing a notch at the proper yardage.
- A unit of length. Equal
to a pole, a perch, ¼ chain or 5½ yards.
- 1865:
Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-pubeng?specfile=/texts/english/modeng/publicsearch/modengpub.o2w&act=surround&offset=617578738&tag=Thoreau,+Henry+David:+Cape+Cod,+1865&query=+rods+long&id=ThoCape
- In one of the villages I saw the next summer a cow tethered by a rope six rods long...
- 1865:
Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-pubeng?specfile=/texts/english/modeng/publicsearch/modengpub.o2w&act=surround&offset=617578738&tag=Thoreau,+Henry+David:+Cape+Cod,+1865&query=+rods+long&id=ThoCape
- A unit of area equal to
a square
rod, 30¼ square yards
or 1/160 acre.
- The house had a small yard of about six rods in size.
- A straight bar that connects moving parts of a
machine; a connecting
rod.
- The engine threw a rod, and then went to pieces before our eyes, springs and coils shooting in all directions.
- In the context of "anatomy": Rod-shaped cells in the eye that are sensitive to light.
- The rod cells are more sensitive than the cones, but do not discern color.
- In the context of "biology": Any of a number of long, slender
microorganisms.
- He applied a gram positive stain, looking for rods indicative of Listeria.
- In the context of "chemistry": A stirring rod: a glass rod, typically about 6 inches to 1 foot long and 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter that can be used to stir liquids in flasks or beakers.
- A pistol; a gun.
- A penis; the male rod.
- Short for hot rod, a car modified to run faster, especially one based on a pre-1940s model.
Translations
straight round stick, shaft, or bar
fishing rod or pole
stick or bundle used for punishment
stick to measure length
connector, part of a machine
part of the retina of the eye
- Czech: tyčinka
- German: Stäbchen
- Hebrew: ppמקלון, תא בבסיס העין
- Japanese: 杆体, 桿体
- Russian: палочка
- Swedish: stav
microbiology: rod shaped microorganism
- Danish: stavbakterie
- Hebrew: יצור זעיר בצורת מוט
- Japanese: 杆菌, 桿菌
- Russian: палочка
unit of linear measure
- Dutch: roede
- Hebrew: מידת אורך י כ-5 מטר
unit of area measure
- Dutch: roede
- French: verge
- Hebrew: מידת שטח ישנה
Bosnian
Noun
rod sBreton
Noun
rodCroatian
Noun
rod sCzech
Derived terms
Danish
Etymology 1
From the verb rodeNoun
rodEtymology 2
From old Norse rótNoun
rodRelated terms
Old English
Etymology
From Germanic *roda-. Cognate with Old Frisian rōd, Old Saxon rōda (Dutch roede ‘rod’), Old High German ruota (German Rute), Old Norse róða ‘rod, cross’ (Danish rode ‘gauge, rod’).Pronunciation
IPA: /ro:d/Noun
rōd (p rōda or rōde)Related terms
Romanian
Etymology
From a language.Noun
rod f and mSerbian
Noun
rod sCyrillic spelling
Extensive Definition
Rod may mean:
- Rod (geometry), a straight and slender stick; a wand; a cylinder; hence, any slender bar
- Rod cell, a cell found in the retina that is sensitive to light/dark (black/white)
- Rod (length), an Imperial unit of length, also known as the pole or perch
- Rod (cryptozoology), observational artifacts produced by rapidly flying animals
- Rod (god), a Slavic god
- Rods (Tarot Suit)
- Railway Operating Division
- Fishing rod
- Lightning rod
- Connecting rod, in an internal combustion engine
- Divining rod, two rods believed by some to find water in a practice known as dowsing
- Birch rod, made out of twigs from birch or other trees for corporal punishment
- Switch (rod), a piece of wood as used as a staff or for corporal punishment, or a bundle of such switches
- Ring of Death, a common malfunction of the Xbox 360
Rod may also be:
- Eubacterium with the shape of a rod; a bacillus in the loose sense
- Penis (slang)
- Gun (slang)
People with the given name Rod
Often as an abbreviation of such names as Roderick and Rodney:- Rod Stewart, rock musician
- Rod Laver (born 1938), Australian former tennis player
- Rod Steiger (1925–2002), American actor
- Rod Flanders, a fictional character on The Simpsons
- Rod From Avenue Q, a character in the stage musical Avenue Q
- Rod Serling, Creator of the 1960's show The Twilight Zone
- Rod Quantock, Australian stand-up comedian
- Rod Roddy, Game show annoouncer, best known for The Price is Right
People with the surname Rod
- Edouard Rod, French-Swiss novelist, 1857-1910
- Johnny Rod, American bass guitar player
See also
- Hrod
- Dowel
- Hot rod, often also referred to as 'rod'
- Pole
- Rebar
- Rood, an old English unit equal to quarter an acre
- Stick, any long object
- Structural steel
- R.O.D., an acronym for the Read or Die anime
rod in Czech: Rod
rod in Danish: Rod
rod in German: Rod
rod in Spanish: Rod
rod in Esperanto: ROD
rod in Croatian: Rod
rod in Italian: ROD
rod in Japanese: ロッド
rod in Polish: Rod
rod in Simple English: Rod
rod in Serbo-Croatian: Rod
rod in Vietnamese: Rod
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Maypole, atomic pile, automatic, bar, baton, billet, birch, blowgun, blowpipe, breeder reactor,
bricks, caduceus, cane, cap of dignity, cap of
maintenance, castigation, chain of
office, chain reactor, chain-reacting pile, chastisement, club, coronet, correction, crook, crosier, cross-staff, crown, diadem, discipline, ermine, fasces, fast pile, ferule, firearm, flagstaff, flamethrower, furnace, gat, gavel, great seal, gun, handgun, heater, heterogeneous reactor,
homogeneous reactor, ingot, intermediate pile, lattice, mace, mantle, musket, neutron factory, nuclear
furnace, orb, paddle, pandybat, peashooter, piece, pile, pistol, plutonium reactor,
pole, portfolio, power reactor,
power-breeder reactor, privy seal, province, punition, purple, purple pall, radioactive
waste, rattan, reactor, reactor pile, regalia, repeater, revolver, rifle, robe of state, rod of
empire, rod of office, rods, royal crown, ruler, sawed-off shotgun, scape, scepter, seal, shaft, shooting iron, shotgun, signet, six-gun, six-shooter,
slab, slow pile, staff, stalk, stellarator, stem, stick, strip, switch, tiara, tongue, totem pole, triple plume,
truncheon, uraeus, uranium reactor, wand, wand of
office