reach

/ɹiːt͡ʃ/

reach verb: to extend, stretch, or thrust out (for example a limb or object held in the hand). Also the alternative form of retch.

Image: Edwards, E. Price, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

reach (third-person singular simple present reaches, present participle reaching, simple past and past participle reached or (obsolete) raught)

(intransitive) To extend, stretch, or thrust out (for example a limb or object held in the hand).
- He reached for a weapon that was on the table.
- He reached for his shoe with his legs.
(transitive) To give to someone by stretching out a limb, especially the hand; to give with the hand; to pass to another person; to hand over.
- to reach someone a book
- When Svend Fælling had promised to do so, saying that he thought himself strong and active enough for the encounter, the Troll reached him a heavy iron bar, and bade him show his strength on that.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 204
(intransitive) To stretch out the hand.
(transitive) To attain or obtain by stretching forth the hand; to extend some part of the body, or something held, so as to touch, strike, grasp, etc.
- to reach an object with the hand, or with a spear
- “I can't quite reach the pepper. Could you pass it to me?”
(transitive) To strike or touch.
- His bullet reached its intended target.
(broadly, transitive) To extend an action, effort, or influence to; to penetrate to; to pierce, or cut.
- A few words, lovingly, encouragingly spoken failed to reach her heart.1889, The Kindergarten-Primary Magazine, volume 1, page 119
- Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
(transitive) To extend to; to stretch out as far as; to touch by virtue of extent.
- his hand reaches the river
- When the forest reaches the river, you will be able to rest.
(transitive) To arrive at (a place) by effort of any kind.
- After three years, he reached the position of manager.
- The climbers reached the top of the mountain after a gruelling ten-day hike.
(figuratively, transitive) To make contact with.
- I tried to reach you all day.
Synonyms:

contact, get hold of, get in touch
(figuratively, transitive) To connect with (someone) on an emotional level, making them receptive of (one); to get through to (someone).
- What will it take for me to reach him?
- Whether by design or driven by the force of circumstances, they have always directed their main effort toward gaining the support of this "elite," while the more conservative groups have acted, as regularly but unsuccessfully, on a more naive view of mass democracy and have usually vainly tried...1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 418
(India, Singapore, intransitive) To arrive at a particular destination.
- The particulars that reach from Eastern Bengal require corroboration.1907, George Clifford Whitworth, Indian English: An Examination of the Errors of Idiom made by Indians in Writing English, page 122
- I reached at the right time.1958, India. Ministry of Education, A Basic Grammar of Modern Hindi: English Version, page 33
(transitive) To continue living until or up to (a certain age).
- You can only access the inheritance money when you reach the age of 25.

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(obsolete) To understand; to comprehend.
- Do what, sir? I reach you not.1612 January 5 (first performance, Gregorian calendar; published 1619), Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “A King, and No King”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and...
To strain after something; to make (sometimes futile or pretentious) efforts.
- Reach for your dreams.
- Reach for the stars!
(intransitive) To extend in dimension, time etc.; to stretch out continuously (past, beyond, above, from etc. something).
- The Thembu tribe reaches back for twenty generations to King Zwide.1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 4
To sail on the wind, as from one point of tacking to another, or with the wind nearly abeam.
(Multicultural-London-English, slang) To arrive at a particular destination, especially to join someone; to meet up.
- What time you reaching tomorrow?
- If you're calling out at your homies to come over and hang out, you just simply say "reach."2017 September 21, Kristina Ramcharran, “25 Toronto Slang Words You've Definitely Heard At Least Once”, in Narcity
Synonyms:

link up

Noun

reach (countable and uncountable, plural reaches)

The act of stretching or extending; extension.
The ability to reach or touch with the person, a limb, or something held or thrown.
- The fruit is beyond my reach.
- to be within reach of cannon shot
The power of stretching out or extending action, influence, or the like; power of attainment or management; extent of force or capacity.
- Drawn by others who had deeper reaches than themselves to matters which they least intended.a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] for Iohn Partridge, […], published 1630, →OCLC
- Be sure yourself and your own reach to know.1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC
Extent; stretch; expanse; hence, application; influence; result; scope.
- And on the left hand, hell, / With long reach, interposed.1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker...
- I am to pray you not to strain my speech / To grosser issues, nor to larger reach / Than to suspicion.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
(informal) An exaggeration; an extension beyond evidence or normal; a stretch.
- To call George eloquent is certainly a reach.
The distance a boxer's arm can extend to land a blow.
Any point of sail in which the wind comes from the side of a vessel, excluding close-hauled.
The distance traversed between tacks.
A stretch of a watercourse which can be sailed in one reach (in the previous sense). An extended portion of water; a stretch; a straightish portion of a stream, river, or arm of the sea extending up into the land, as from one turn to another. By extension, the adjacent land.
- the gulfe Iasius, and all the coast thereof is very full of creekes and reaches.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C....
- The river's wooded reach.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “(please specify |part=Prologue or Epilogue, or |canto=I to CXXIX)”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
A level stretch of a watercourse, as between rapids in a river or locks in a canal. (examples?)
An extended portion or area of land or water.
- Lower down, in a little reach of the lagoon there grew a clump of casuarinas, those timid isolates that withdraw from other trees, selecting their own privacy, which is for ever whispering secrets up in their feathery fronds, set in motion by the slightest breeze.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 134
- Through eerie reach of ancient woods / Where lumbering mists arise / I journey for nines moons of the year / To where a land of legend lies2002, Russell Allen, "Incantations of the Apprentice", on Symphony X, The Odyssey.
(obsolete) An article to obtain an advantage.
- The Duke of Parma had particular reaches and ends of his own, under hand, to cross the design.a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a Warre with Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount...
The pole or rod connecting the rear axle with the forward bolster of a wagon.
- They leaped ahead just as Ruth came to the side of the long reach that connected the small pair of front wheels with the huge wheels in the rear.1913, Alice B. Emerson, Ruth Fielding at Snow Camp, Chapter 7

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Reach

Reach

A village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire district, Cambridgeshire, England (OS grid ref TL5666).
A former township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada, now part of the township of Scugog.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: REACH

REACH

(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals.
- A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which is responsible for the UK’s registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (UK Reach), said: “UK Reach allows the UK to make its own decisions on the regulation of chemicals that are based...

Also used as

reach is also the alternative form of retch.

reach is also the alternative form of riichi.

reach meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

reach in Hindi

to arrive at by effort: पहुँचना pahũcnā
extent; stretch; expanse: पहुंच pahuñc, पहुँच pahuñc

reach in Tamil

to arrive at by effort: போய்சேர் pōycēr
to extend, to thrust out: எட்டு eṭṭu
to stretch out the hand: நீட்டு nīṭṭu

reach in Bengali

পৌঁছনো, পৌঁছোতে, পৌঁছে যাওয়া

More languagesFewer languages

reach in Malayalam: എത്തുക ettuka, ആകുക ākuka
reach in Punjabi: ਪਹੁੰਚੋ
reach in Odia: ପହଞ୍ଚନ୍ତୁ, ପହଁଚନ୍ତୁ
reach in Nepali: पुग्नुहोस्, पुग्नु, पुग्न
reach in Arabic: بَلَغَ balaḡa
reach in Malay: tiba
reach in Vietnamese: với

Examples of reach in a sentence

The gun was stored in a small box on a high closet shelf, but the boy managed to reach it by climbing on other boxes.
Thy desire […] leads to no excess / That reaches blame.1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert...
Patent filings for neural networks grew at a rate of 46 percent from 2013 to 2016, reaching 6,506, the study found.2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2019:
By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...
I suggest taking an earlier bus (say 6:00 p.m.), reaching at around midnight, then taking a taxi (might even be able to catch the last MRT) to Changi.2004 February 18, Mr. Free Notes, “Getting bus from KL to Singapore leaving night, likely to be any delays in arrival?”, in...

All 40 example sentences with reach

Synonyms of reach

Forms of reach

third-person singular present	reaches
present participle	reaching
past participle	reached
past	reached
past participle (obsolete)	raught
past (obsolete)	raught
first-person singular past (archaic)	raught
first-person singular past (archaic)	rought
first-person singular past (archaic)	retcht
second-person singular present (archaic)	reachest
second-person singular past (archaic)	reachedst
second-person singular past (archaic)	raught
second-person singular past (archaic)	raughtest

Past tense of reach: reached

Plural of reach: reaches

Origin of reach

From Middle English rechen, from Old English rǣċan (“to reach”), from Proto-West Germanic *raikijan, from Proto-Germanic *raikijaną, from the Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ- (“to bind, reach”). Cognate with Dutch reiken, German reichen.

From Japanese 立直 (rīchi), from Chinese 立直 (lìzhí).

Words formed from reach

Phrases with reach

Words that rhyme with reach

17 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about reach

What does reach mean?: Reach means to extend, stretch, or thrust out (for example a limb or object held in the hand).
What is reach in Hindi?: Reach in Hindi is पहुँचना (pahũcnā), पहुंच (pahuñc), पहुँच (pahuñc). See Reach meaning in Hindi.
How do you use reach in a sentence?: The gun was stored in a small box on a high closet shelf, but the boy managed to reach it by climbing on other boxes.
What part of speech is reach?: Reach can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce reach?: Reach is pronounced /ɹiːt͡ʃ/.
What is the past tense of reach?: The past tense of reach is reached.

Words near reach in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: reach (page history and authors); Reach (page history and authors); REACH (page history and authors); reach (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reach (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reach (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reach (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reach (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-reach.ogg.

Cite this entry: “reach.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reach. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.