rod
noun
a stick, wand, staff, or the like, of wood, metal, or other material.
rod
1 American
[rod]
/ rɒd /
noun
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rods
plural
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a stick, wand, staff, or the like, of wood, metal, or other material.
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a straight, slender shoot or stem of any woody plant, whether still growing or cut from the plant.
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(in plastering or mortaring) a straightedge moved along screeds to even the plaster between them.
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a stick used for measuring.
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Archaic. a unit of linear measure, 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet (5.029 meters); linear perch or pole.
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Archaic. a unit of square measure, 30.25 square yards (25.29 sq. m); square perch or pole.
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a stick, or a bundle of sticks or switches bound together, used as an instrument of punishment.
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punishment or discipline.
Not one to spare the rod, I sent him to bed without dinner.
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a wand, staff, or scepter carried as a symbol of office, authority, power, etc.
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authority, sway, or rule, especially when tyrannical.
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a slender bar or tube for draping towels over, suspending a shower curtain, etc.
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Bible. a branch of a family; tribe.
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a pattern, drawn on wood in full size, of one section of a piece of furniture.
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Slang.
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a pistol or revolver.
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Vulgar. the penis.
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Anatomy. one of the rodlike cells in the retina of the eye, sensitive to low intensities of light.
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Bacteriology. a rod-shaped microorganism.
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Also called stadia rod, leveling rod. Surveying. a light pole, conspicuously marked with graduations, held upright and read through a surveying instrument in leveling or stadia surveying.
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Metallurgy. round metal stock for drawing and cutting into slender bars.
verb (used with object)
rodded,
rodding
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to furnish or equip with a rod or rods, especially lightning rods.
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to even (plaster or mortar) with a rod.
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Metallurgy. to reinforce (the core of a mold) with metal rods.
Rod
2
American
[rod]
/ rɒd /
noun
rod
British
/ rɒd /
noun
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a slim cylinder of metal, wood, etc; stick or shaft
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a switch or bundle of switches used to administer corporal punishment
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any of various staffs of insignia or office
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power, esp of a tyrannical kind
a dictator's iron rod
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a straight slender shoot, stem, or cane of a woody plant
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See fishing rod
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Also called: pole, perch.
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a unit of length equal to 5 1/ 2 yards
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a unit of square measure equal to 30 1/ 4 square yards
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a straight narrow board marked with the dimensions of a piece of joinery, as the spacing of steps on a staircase
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a metal shaft that transmits power in axial reciprocating motion Compare shaft
piston rod, con(necting) rod
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surveying another name (esp US) for staff 1
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Also called: retinal rod. any of the elongated cylindrical cells in the retina of the eye, containing the visual purple (rhodopsin), which are sensitive to dim light but not to colour Compare cone
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any rod-shaped bacterium
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a slang word for penis
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slang name for pistol
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short for hot rod
rod
Scientific
/ rŏd /
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One of the rod-shaped cells in the retina of the eye of many vertebrate animals. Rods are more sensitive to light than cones and are responsible for the ability to see in dim light. However, rods are insensitive to red wavelengths of light and do not contribute greatly to the perception of color.
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Compare cone
rod
Idioms
Usage
What else does rod mean? Rod can refer to a stick, handgun, car, parts of the eye, and even, well, the penis, among many other things. ROD can additionally serve as an acronym for the slang expression ride or die.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of rod
before 1150; Middle English rodd, late Old English; akin to Old Norse rudda club
Explanation
A rod is a bar or a stick, like the curtain rods in your windows or the steel rods inside the structure of a building that help make it sturdy. A rod can be a staff, like a walking stick, or a metal bar used in construction projects. In tarot card decks, rods are are a suit that's also known as "wands" or "batons." You fish with a rod too, a long flexible pole. Most parents today disagree with the old-fashioned saying, "Spare the rod and spoil the child," which basically means "your kid will be spoiled if you don't hit them with a stick now and then."
Vocabulary lists containing rod
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:
That begs the question: How much responsibility does a filmmaker have to take a clear stance in their work, especially in a film that is overtly intended to be a lightning rod for heated debate?
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
Fifteen months later, her death, and what many view as a suspicious silence surrounding it, has become a lightning rod for discontent among Vietnam's youth.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
And yet Clark, too, has become a lightning rod, a role she’s never courted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
I’ve been a lightning rod for pain a couple of times in my career.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Grabbing the rod, he shoved it into the muzzle once more, pressing the load tightly.
From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi
“Doctors are pleased with his recovery, and Rod is doing very well and has returned to his normal daily activities,” his representatives shared on Instagram then.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
“Compaq wouldn’t have done what we did without Ben,” said Rod Canion, Compaq’s co-founder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
But while the different razors are often manufactured in the same factory, different technology, parts and production lines are used, according to Edgewell CEO Rod Little.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
Other noteable gigs there have been Rod Stewart, Status Quo and Joe Cocker in 1991, Bryan Adams and Prince in 1992, U2 and Utah Saints in 1993.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
“May I please speak to Rod Quinn? It’s important.”
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
A pyramid of gold-colored rods was situated over the bed.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
The meetup, billed as the biggest weekly car show in the world, frequently draws hundreds of vehicles to the Outlets at San Clemente including hypercars, supercars, hot rods, muscle cars and motorcycles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
This all unfolds next to four or so men casting their fishing rods into the increasingly choppy waters.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
While fixing the plastic connectors on his washing machine struts, which are like suspension rods for the appliance, he first printed a test part and then made adjustments before printing the rest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
The reactor vessel, which holds the fuel, control rods, and coolant, lies at the center of a nuclear reactor building.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
The best continuous work on rodding was done between October 22d and 29th, 1908, when in 7 working days, 105,600 duct ft. were rodded, an average of a little more than 15,000 ft. per day.
From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 The Bergen Hill Tunnels. Paper No. 1154 by F. Lavis
About 10% of the conduit lines were rodded twice, owing to partial sections having been rodded once before completion.
From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 The Bergen Hill Tunnels. Paper No. 1154 by F. Lavis
One Forquer, who was Lincoln's opponent, had recently rodded his house—and every one knew it.
From The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Henry Ketcham
The lines were rodded in both directions from alternate manholes, thus avoiding uncoupling the rods and allowing every pull to be effective in pushing the mandrel through the ducts.
From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 The Bergen Hill Tunnels. Paper No. 1154 by F. Lavis
"And then she will return with him to India, I take it" She rodded.
From A Rent In A Cloud by Charles James Lever
The fruitful association has made Stielow a household name in hot rodding.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2023
In his spare time, Mr. Stielow’s fantastical, knee-weakening Camaro restorations — with names like “Tri-Tip” and “the Mule” — inspired an entire rodding movement called Pro Touring.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2023
I love that culture of hot rodding and classic cars.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 12, 2021
Thaemert believes rat rodding is more popular now.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 16, 2014
The best continuous work on rodding was done between October 22d and 29th, 1908, when in 7 working days, 105,600 duct ft. were rodded, an average of a little more than 15,000 ft. per day.
From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 The Bergen Hill Tunnels. Paper No. 1154 by F. Lavis
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.
