Reed - Definition and Overview

The word "reed" has many different possible meanings in English. The primary meaning of reed is a plant with a tall strong hollow stem that grows in large groups in shallow water or on marshy ground. See reed (plant).

Reed also denotes the stem itself that is used for making the roofs of houses. See thatching.

A reed is also a thin strip of material which vibrates to make music, often made from the stem of the reed plant. See reed (music).

Reed College is located in Portland, Oregon.

Reed is the name of some places in the United States of America including

• Reed, Arkansas
• Reed, Maine

People whose surname is or was Reed include:

• Alfred Reed -- American composer
• Carol Reed -- British film director
• David P. Reed -- telecommunications expert, creator of Reed's law
• Donna Reed -- American actress
• Fred Reed -- American journalist
• Fred Reed -- British poet
• Henry Reed -- British poet and journalist
• Ishmael Reed -- American poet, novelist and scholar
• Jimmy Reed -- American blues singer
• John Reed -- American journalist
  *John Reed -- longtime principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
• John Reed Sr., John Reed Jr. -- U.S. politicians, father and son
• John F. Reed -- U.S. politician, senator
• John Shedd Reed -- former head of Santa Fe Industries
• John Shepard Reed -- former head of Citibank and chairman of the New York Stock Exchange
• Lawrence Reed -- president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy
• Loy Reed -- American singer and songwriter
• Peyton Reed -- American film director
• Robert Reed -- American actor
• Thomas Brackett Reed -- U.S. politician, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives