Word.ws English Dictionary

reech

/ɹiːt͡ʃ/

reech is the alternative form of reek.

reech is the obsolete form of reach.

Meaning of reek

Verb

reek (third-person singular simple present reeks, present participle reeking, simple past and past participle reeked)

  1. (intransitive) To have or give off a strong, unpleasant smell.
    • You reek of perfume.
  2. (figuratively, intransitive) To be evidently associated with something unpleasant.
    • The boss appointing his nephew as a director reeks of nepotism.
    Synonyms:
    smack
  3. (archaic, intransitive) To be emitted or exhaled, emanate, as of vapour or perfume.
  4. (archaic, intransitive) To emit smoke or vapour; to steam.
    • […] innumerable Legions of his Angels of Light, the warm gleames of whose presence is able to make the Mountains to reek and smoak, and to awake that fiery principle that lies dormient in the Earth into a devouring flame.1660, Henry More, An Explanation of the Grand Mystery of Godliness, page 236
  5. (rare, transitive) To cause (something) to smell.
    • The slaughter of lambs in offering reeked the fore-courts of the Temple.1880, Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur
  6. (archaic) To fall in such a way (e.g. particularly finely or heavily) as to resemble smoke.
    • ... the snow still darkens the air, and reeks along the curling wreaths, as if each were a furnace.1837, Robert Mudie, Spring, or the causes, appearances, and effects, of the seasonal renovations of nature in all climats, page 266

See all 10 meanings of reek

Meaning of reach

Verb

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

  1. (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.
  2. (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
  3. (intransitive) To stretch out the hand.
  4. (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
  5. (transitive) To strike or touch.
    • His bullet reached its intended target.
  6. (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

See all 32 meanings of reach

Noun

reech (uncountable)

  1. (dialectal) Smoke.

Forms of reech

third-person singular presentreeches
present participlereeching
past participlereeched
pastreeched

Words formed from reech

Words that rhyme with reech

17 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about reech

What does reech mean?
Reech means smoke.
What is reech the alternative form of?
Reech is the alternative form of reek.
What part of speech is reech?
Reech is a noun.
How do you pronounce reech?
Reech is pronounced /ɹiːt͡ʃ/.

Words near reech in the dictionary

  1. reebs
  2. reebuck
  3. reebucks
  4. Reece
  5. Reeces
  6. reech
  7. reeched
  8. reeches
  9. reeching
  10. reecho
  11. reechoed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: reech (page history and authors); reek (page history and authors); reach (page history and authors). 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.

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