Definitions for: Reach


[n] the act of physically reaching or thrusting out
[n] an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"; "the ambit of municipal legislation"; "within the compass of this article"; "within the scope of an investigation"; "outside the reach of the law"; "in the political orbit of a world power"
[n] the limit of capability; "within the compass of education"
[n] the limits within which something can be effective; "range of motion"; "he was beyond the reach of their fire"
[v] to exert much effort or energy; "straining our ears to hear."
[v] be in communication with, establish communication with; "Our advertisements reach millions"; "He never contacted his children after he emigrated to Australia"
[v] move forward or upward in order to touch; also in a metaphorical sense; "Government reaches out to the people"
[v] reach a point in time, or a certain state or level; "The thermometer hit 100 degrees"; "This car can reach a speed of 140 miles per hour"
[v] reach a destination, either real or abstract; "We hit Detroit by noon"; "The water reached the doorstep"; "We barely made the plane"; "I have to hit the MAC machine before the weekend starts"
[v] reach a goal, e.g., "make the first team"; "We made it!"; "She may not make the grade"
[v] place into the hands or custody of; "Turn the files over to me, please"; "He turned over the prisoner to his lawyers"
[v] to gain with effort; "she achieved her goal despite setbacks."
[v] to extend as far as, "The sunlight reached the wall";"Can he reach?"



Webster (1913) Definition: Reach, n.
An effort to vomit. [R.]


Reach, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reached(Raught, the old
preterit, is obsolete); p. pr. & vb. n. Reaching.] [OE.
rechen, AS. r[=ae]can, r[=ae]cean, to extend, stretch out;
akin to D. reiken, G. reichen, and possibly to AS. r[=i]ce
powerful, rich, E. rich. [root]115.]
1. To extend; to stretch; to thrust out; to put forth, as a
limb, a member, something held, or the like.

Her tresses yellow, and long straughten, Unto her
heeles down they raughten. --Rom. of R.

Reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side.
--John xx. 27.

Fruit trees, over woody, reached too far Their
pampered boughs. --Milton.

2. Hence, to deliver by stretching out a member, especially
the hand; to give with the hand; to pass to another; to
hand over; as, to reach one a book.

He reached me a full cap. --2 Esd. xiv.
39.

3. To attain or obtain by stretching forth the hand; too
extend some part of the body, or something held by one, so
as to touch, strike, grasp, or the like; as, to reach an
object with the hand, or with a spear.

O patron power, . . . thy present aid afford, Than I
may reach the beast. --Dryden.

4. To strike, hit, or tough with a missile; as, to reach an
object with an arrow, a bullet, or a shell.

5. Hence, to extend an action, effort, or influence to; to
penetrate to; to pierce, or cut, as far as.

If these examples of grown men reach not the case of
children, let them examine. --Locke.

6. To extend to; to stretch out as far as; to touch by virtue
of extent; as, his hand reaches the river.

Thy desire . . . leads to no excess That reaches
blame. --Milton.

7. To arrive at by effort of any kind; to attain to; to gain;
to be advanced to.

The best account of the appearances of nature which
human penetration can reach, comes short of its
reality. --Cheyne.

9. To understand; to comprehend. [Obs.]

Do what, sir? I reach you not. --Beau. & Fl.

10. To overreach; to deceive. [Obs.] --South.


Reach, v. t.
1. To stretch out the hand.

Goddess humane, reach, then, and freely taste!
--Milton.

2. To strain after something; to make efforts.

Reaching above our nature does no good. --Dryden.

3. To extend in dimension, time, amount, action, influence,
etc., so as to touch, attain to, or be equal to,
something.

And behold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the top
of it reached to heaven. --Gen. xxviii.
12.

The new world reaches quite across the torrid zone.
--Boyle.

4. (Naut.) To sail on the wind, as from one point of tacking
to another, or with the ind nearly abeam.

To reach after or at, to make efforts to attain to or
obtain.

He would be in the mind reaching after a positive
idea of infinity. --Locke.


Reach, n.
1. The act of stretching or extending; extension; power of
reaching or touching with the person, or a limb, or
something held or thrown; as, the fruit is beyond my
reach; to be within reach of cannon shot.

2. The power of stretching out or extending action,
influence, or the like; power of attainment or management;
extent of force or capacity.

Drawn by others who had deeper reaches than
themselves to matters which they least intended.
--Hayward.

Be sure yourself and your own reach to know. --Pope.

3. Extent; stretch; expanse; hence, application; influence;
result; scope.

And on the left hand, hell, With long reach,
interposed. --Milton.

I am to pray you not to strain my speech To grosser
issues, nor to larger reach Than to suspicion.
--Shak.

4. An extended portion of land or water; a stretch; a
straight portion of a stream or river, as from one turn to
another; a level stretch, as between locks in a canal; an
arm of the sea extending up into the land. ``The river's
wooded reach.'' --Tennyson.

The coast . . . is very full of creeks and reaches.
--Holland.

5. An article to obtain an advantage.

The Duke of Parma had particular reaches and ends of
his own underhand to cross the design. --Bacon.

6. The pole or rod which connects the hind axle with the
forward bolster of a wagon.

Synonyms: accomplish, achieve, ambit, arrive at, attain, attain, compass, compass, contact, extend to, gain, get hold of, get through, get to, give, grasp, hand, hit, make, orbit, pass, pass on, progress to, range, range, range, reach out, reaching, scope, strain, stretch, strive, touch, turn over

See Also: access, accomplish, achieve, approximate range, arrive, average, ballpark, be, begin, bother, bottom out, break even, breast, capability, capableness, catch up, come, come through, come through, come to, commit, communicate, communicate, compass, confide, confines, contrast, culminate, culminate, deal, deliver, distribute, drive, earreach, earshot, entrust, expanse, extend, extend oneself, extent, eyeshot, finagle, find, free, gamut, get, get at, get in, get through, get to, give away, give out, give up, go, ground, hand down, hand out, hand over, hearing, horizon, impart, inconvenience oneself, intercommunicate, internationalism, internationality, intrust, ken, kill oneself, labor, labour, latitude, leave, limit, locomote, make, manage, max out, motility, motion, move, move, move, movement, outreach, overexert oneself, overstrain, palette, pallet, peak, poke out, potentiality, progress to, purview, push, put across, raise, reach, reach, reach a peak, reach into, reach out, release, relegate, relinquish, render, resign, rifle range, rifle shot, run aground, scale, score, sight, slip, sneak, spectrum, stick out, strike, submit, succeed, surmount, sweep, transfer, travel, trouble, trouble oneself, trust, tug, turn in, view, view, wangle, win

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