rhea
noun
the ramie plant or fiber.
rhea
1 American
[ree-uh]
/ ˈri ə /
noun
-
rheas
plural
Rhea
2
American
[ree-uh]
/ ˈri ə /
noun
-
Classical Mythology. a Titan, the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, the wife and sister of Cronus, and the mother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hades, Demeter, and Hestia: identified with Cybele and, by the Romans, with Ops.
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Astronomy. one of the moons of Saturn.
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(lowercase) either of two South American, ratite birds, Rhea americana or Pterocnemia pennata, resembling the African ostrich but smaller and having three toes.
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a female given name.
-rhea
3
American
Rhea
1
British
/ ˈrɪə /
noun
Rhea
2
British
/ ˈrɪə /
noun
rhea
3
British
/ ˈrɪə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rhea1
First recorded in 1850–55, rhea is from the Assamese word rihā
Origin of Rhea2
First recorded in 1700–10; from Latin Rhea, from Greek Rhéa; further origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Their peer-reviewed paper on rhea will be presented at the International Society for Computational Biology's annual conference, which will take place July 12-16 in Montreal.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2024
The rhea, nicknamed Chris, escaped from a farm in Diss, Norfolk, in November.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2024
Di Leonardo said the man told him he ordered the rhea egg online while he was drunk.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
The Tehuelche were innovators, too: Outsiders marveled at their bolas, weighted rope snares they swung and launched from horseback to hunt llamalike guanaco and flightless rhea birds.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 7, 2023
The creature was an emu; of the same family as the African ostrich, the rhea of America, and the cassowary of the Indian archipelago.
From Twice Lost by C.J. Stanilard
“That would have been a bummer. Rhea is the manager that makes the show work.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
"Pluribus" star Rhea Seehorn, who won a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award earlier this year for the show, is an early favorite for the Emmy for best drama actress.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
That said, Rhea Seehorn’s long overdue award recognition for her work on “Pluribus” was beyond welcome.
From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2026
A marvelous Rhea Seehorn stars in the Apple TV sci-fi series, which explores the nature of happiness and an individual’s right to be discontented.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2025
What Masten and Rhea do is tell companies how to manipulate our first impressions, and it’s hard not to feel a certain uneasiness about their efforts.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Darwin saw two species of rheas in South America.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2018
In South America, Darwin saw flightless, ground-dwelling birds called rheas.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2018
Ostriches and emus are members of the ratites, a group of flightless birds that also includes rheas and kiwis.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 8, 2011
Greater rheas graze in savanna grass in South America.
From National Geographic
Darwin has hunted rheas in Patagonia, studied owls outside Buenos Aires, and scaled a waterfall in Tahiti.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
