rod
noun
a stick, wand, staff, or the like, of wood, metal, or other material.
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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:
Unlike rod cells, which are particularly important for seeing in dim light, cones support daytime vision and allow us to perceive color.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
Since its 2020 release, “Promising Young Woman” has become a lightning rod for heated conversation — quite a far cry from its initially warm reception, which led to five Oscar nominations and one win.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
At Climate Week, dozens of events center on blunting the energy demands of data centers–a lightning rod that has galvanized local communities and lawmakers across the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The eccentric executive cast his criticism as friendly, invoking the French proverb "qui aime bien chatie bien" -- spare the rod, spoil the child.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
The tops were fitted with a bronze rod that held silky white curtains.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Ambassador Rod Brazier said the countries were "enduring friends" and recalled support that Indonesia sent to help battle Australia's own devastating bushfires in 2020.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
How the Gold Rush transformed America, Rod Serling’s television breakthrough, a painter of loneliness and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Dolen Teifi manager Rod Bowen says older people are not comfortable driving themselves to hospitals in "unfamiliar territory"
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
After researching your book, what have you found about people’s common understanding of Rod Serling and “The Twilight Zone” that might not be entirely accurate?
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026
They were never the popular ones, of course—never Cinderella or Beauty Queen Barbie, but instead one-off oddities that bargain hunters could find on clearance: Hot Rod Barbie, Jungle Barbie.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
A pyramid of gold-colored rods was situated over the bed.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
This all unfolds next to four or so men casting their fishing rods into the increasingly choppy waters.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
In the chapter titled “Cerium,” Levi describes how, wracked with hunger, he stole iron-cerium rods to make flints for cigarette lighters so that he could exchange them for bread.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Videos and photos circulating on social media show piles of rocks, chunks of concrete and rusted metal rods after waves removed layers of sand along the shoreline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
And he set off up the steps, nodding left and right to the wizards, who raised the golden rods and passed them up and down his body.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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
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
"And then she will return with him to India, I take it" She rodded.
From A Rent In A Cloud by Charles James Lever
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
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
The fruitful association has made Stielow a household name in hot rodding.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2023
Thus, in 1930 — long before hot rodding went mainstream after World War II — a hopped-up car was a gow job.
From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2021
I love that culture of hot rodding and classic cars.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 12, 2021
“We’re returning to the roots of hot rodding, basically, where you’re trying to build something cool with what you had,” Thaemert said.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 16, 2014
I had received many a smart rodding, before I was able to repeat it over; but I at length succeeded in getting it pit-pat.
From The Boy Tar by Edward Read
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