| read | |
| 1. v. (transitive, or intransitive) To look at and interpret letters or other information that is written. | |
| have you read this book?; he doesn’t like to read | |
| 2. v. (transitive, or intransitive) To speak aloud words or other information that is written. Often construed with a to phrase or an indirect object. | |
| He read us a passage from his new book. | |
| All right, class, who wants to read next? | |
| 3. v. To interpret or infer a meaning, significance, thought, intention, etc. | |
| She read my mind and promptly rose to get me a glass of water. | |
| I can read his feelings in his face. | |
| 4. v. To consist of certain text. | |
| On the door hung a sign that reads "No admittance". | |
| The passage reads differently in the earlier manuscripts. | |
| 5. v. (intransitive) Of text, etc., to be interpreted or read in a particular way. | |
| Arabic reads right to left. | |
| That sentence reads strangely. | |
| 6. v. To substitute (a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one); used to introduce an emendation of a text. | |
| 7. v. (informal usually ironic) Used after a euphemism to introduce the intended, more blunt meaning of a term. | |
| 8. v. (transitive, telecommunications) To be able to hear what another person is saying over a radio connection. | |
| Do you read me? | |
| 9. v. (transitive, Commonwealth, except Scotland) To make a special study of, as by perusing textbooks. | |
| I am reading theology at university. | |
| 10. v. (computing, transitive) To fetch data from (a storage medium, etc.). | |
| to read a hard disk; to read a port; to read the keyboard | |
| 11. v. (obsolete) To think, believe; to consider (that). | |
| 12. v. (obsolete) To advise; to counsel. See rede. | |
| 13. v. (obsolete) To tell; to declare; to recite. | |
| 14. v. (transitive, transgender) To recognise (someone) as being transgender. | |
| Every time I go outside, I worry that someone will read me. | |
| 15. v. (at first especially in the black LGBT community) To call attention to the flaws of (someone) in either a playful, a taunting, or an insulting way. | |
| 16. v. past tense of read | |
| 17. v. past participle of read | |
| 18. s. A reading or an act of reading, especially an actor's part of a play. | |
| 19. s. (in combination) Something to be read; a written work. | |
| His thrillers are always a gripping read. | |
| 20. s. (at first especially in the black LGBT community) An instance of read, reading, calling attention to someone's flaws; a taunt or insult. | |
