reach
pronunciation
How to pronounce reach in British English:
UK [riːtʃ]
How to pronounce reach in American English:
US [riːtʃ]
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- Noun:
- the limits within which something can be effective
- an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"
- the act of physically reaching or thrusting out
- the limit of capability
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- Verb:
- reach a destination, either real or abstract
- reach a point in time, or a certain state or level
- move forward or upward in order to touch; also in a metaphorical sense
- be in or establish communication with
- to gain with effort
- to extend as far as
- reach a goal, e.g., "make the first team"
- place into the hands or custody of
- to exert much effort or energy
Word Origin
- reach
- reach: [OE] Reach goes back ultimately to a prehistoric West Germanic *raikjan, a word of uncertain origin which also produced German reichen and Dutch reiken. It originally meant ‘stretch out the hand’, and ‘attain’ and ‘arrive at’ are secondary semantic developments.
- reach (v.)
- Old English ræcan, reccan "reach out, stretch out, extend, hold forth," also "succeed in touching, succeed in striking; address, speak to," also "offer, present, give, grant," from West Germanic *raikjan "stretch out the hand" (cognates: Old Frisian reka, Middle Dutch reiken, Dutch reiken, Old High German and German reichen), from Proto-Germanic *raikijanau, perhaps from PIE root *reig- "to stretch out" (cognates: Sanskrit rjyati "he stretches himself," riag "torture" (by racking); Greek oregein "to reach, extend;" Lithuanian raižius "to stretch oneself;" Old Irish rigim "I stretch"). Shakespeare uses the now-obsolete past tense form raught (Old English ræhte). Meaning "arrive at" is early 14c.; that of "succeed in influencing" is from 1660s. Related: Reached; reaching. Reach-me-down "ready-made" (of clothes) is recorded from 1862, from notion of being on the rack in a finished state.
- reach (n.)
- 1520s, from reach (v.); earliest use is of stretches of water. Meaning "extent of reaching" is from 1540s; that of "act of reaching" is from 1560s. Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? [Browning, "Andrea del Sarto"]
Antonym
Example
- 1. We will reach a good understanding .
- 2. But eventually , the economy would reach a turning-point .
- 3. But risk management can never reach perfection .
- 4. Other firms are extending the reach of mobile money .
- 5. This year it may not reach even that .