a stick, wand, staff, or the like, of wood, metal, or other material.
a straight, slender shoot or stem of any woody plant, whether still growing or cut from the plant.
(in plastering or mortaring) a straightedge moved along screeds to even the plaster between them.
a stick used for measuring.
Archaic. a unit of linear measure, 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet (5.029 meters); linear perch or pole.
Archaic. a unit of square measure, 30.25 square yards (25.29 sq. m); square perch or pole.
a stick, or a bundle of sticks or switches bound together, used as an instrument of punishment.
punishment or discipline.
Not one to spare the rod, I sent him to bed without dinner.
a wand, staff, or scepter carried as a symbol of office, authority, power, etc.
authority, sway, or rule, especially when tyrannical.
a slender bar or tube for draping towels over, suspending a shower curtain, etc.
Bible. a branch of a family; tribe.
a pattern, drawn on wood in full size, of one section of a piece of furniture.
Slang.
a pistol or revolver.
Vulgar. the penis.
Anatomy. one of the rodlike cells in the retina of the eye, sensitive to low intensities of light.
Bacteriology. a rod-shaped microorganism.
Also called stadia rod. Also called leveling rod. Surveying. a light pole, conspicuously marked with graduations, held upright and read through a surveying instrument in leveling or stadia surveying.
Metallurgy. round metal stock for drawing and cutting into slender bars.
to furnish or equip with a rod or rods, especially lightning rods.
to even (plaster or mortar) with a rod.
Metallurgy. to reinforce (the core of a mold) with metal rods.
a slim cylinder of metal, wood, etc; stick or shaft
a switch or bundle of switches used to administer corporal punishment
any of various staffs of insignia or office
power, esp of a tyrannical kind
a dictator's iron rod
a straight slender shoot, stem, or cane of a woody plant
See fishing rod
Also called: pole. perch.
a unit of length equal to 5 1/ 2 yards
a unit of square measure equal to 30 1/ 4 square yards
a straight narrow board marked with the dimensions of a piece of joinery, as the spacing of steps on a staircase
a metal shaft that transmits power in axial reciprocating motion Compare shaft
piston rod, con(necting) rod
surveying another name (esp US) for staff 1
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
any rod-shaped bacterium
a slang word for penis
slang name for pistol
short for hot rod
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.
Compare cone
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.
before 1150; Middle English rodd, late Old English; akin to Old Norse rudda club
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He became a millionaire in the process and his legacy in southern Africa has become a lightning rod for discussions about "decolonising" institutions which continue to bear his name.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The portrait—often known as “Whipped Peter”—became a lightning rod for the Abolitionist cause, galvanizing many Northerners who had yet to see the effects of slavery firsthand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
At the other end of the room, Ahmat Adam Ateib, 22, has a metal rod in his right leg, to mend a double fracture of his femur.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
ElAttrache performed surgery on McGregor in July 2021, inserting a rod, plates and screws into his left leg after the fighter broke his tibia and fibula during a bout against Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
A wooden platform had been constructed along its back, and the ferryman stood at the front of this holding a long rod that dipped into the river.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
The tribute began with comments from Roddenberry's son Rod, who heads the production and distribution company Roddenberry Entertainment.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Former Twins and Angels star Rod Carew, 80, powered through to attend the induction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Celtic Park staged a spectacular opening ceremony in 2014 which featured Rod Stewart, dancing Tunnock's Tea Cakes and a Red Arrows fly over.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Biotech investor Rod Wong, managing partner at RTW Investments, argues that intensifying competition from China could become a catalyst for that shift.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
During the meal, Rod says, “Anyone in the neighborhood bothering you?”
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
The company and CEO Alex Karp have become political lightning rods, but that didn’t slow it down in the first quarter.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
We passed by hot rods, apartments listed for sale to foreigners and fishermen reeling in fresh catches off the coastal boulevard, El Malecón.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
"It's like comparing steel sheets to metal pipes or rebar. One needs sheets to make car bodies, but to pump water or reinforce concrete, long tubes or rods are needed."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 31, 2026
They’re lighting rods reshaped as truth tellers, none bigger than the one at St. John’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
Wash held the fishing rods and tackle box loose in his hand as he walked down the path to the river.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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 Lavis, F.
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 Lavis, F.
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 Lavis, F.
One Forquer, who was Lincoln's opponent, had recently rodded his house—and every one knew it.
From The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Ketcham, Henry
"And then she will return with him to India, I take it" She rodded.
From A Rent In A Cloud by Lever, Charles James
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
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
The mandrel used in the final rodding was made as shown at G, Fig.
From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 The Bergen Hill Tunnels. Paper No. 1154 by Lavis, F.
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.
