View source for Read - reed

'''Read''' and '''reed''' are two [[homophone]]s that are rarely confused - except by spellcheckers, and careless typing.
*'To '''read'''' (a [[Verb (word class)|verb]]) is to receive information from a written source - a book, paper or computer monitor, for example.  (You are '''read'''ing now.) Further [[figurative]] meanings flow from this, for example the idea that your computer may be 'reading' data from the world-wide web in order to give you the material to read. (Note the two pronunciations, described at [[read (homograph)]]. You may also want to see [[read (irregular verb)]].)
*The primary meaning of the [[noun]] '''reed''' is as the name of a plant, normally the Common Reed (''Phragmites australis''), which grows in wetlands. It forms long straight stalks, and has been much used in roofs and other building applications, paper-making, and as arrows. 
**From its use as a raw material for vibrating mouthpieces in musical instruments like the [[saxophone]], the word '''reed''' has come to be used [[elliptical]]ly to mean some of the instruments in the woodwind section of an orchestra (notably bassoon, clarinet and oboe). The mouthpieces themselves are also called 'reeds': a 'reed player' spends time preparing his 'reeds'.
[[category:homophones]]