Word.ws English Dictionary

rod

UK/ɹɒd/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ɹɔd/

rod noun: a straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff.

Noun (1)

rod (plural rods)

  1. A straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff.
    • The circus strong man proved his strength by bending an iron rod, and then straightening it.
    • Which makes the concept known as Rods From God the ultimate form of kinetic weaponry. This theoretical weapon would drop telephone pole sized rods of dense tungsten from a satellite in orbit.
      Picking up speed with each passing second, the rod would then penetrate the ground and generate an...2025 May 12, Jeff Edwards, “Rods from God: Unleashing Orbital Kinetic Bombardment as a Theoretical Defense System”, in Mira Safety
  2. A longitudinal pole used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent.
  3. A long slender usually tapering pole used for angling; fishing rod.
    • When I hooked a snake and not a fish, I got so scared I dropped my rod in the water.
  4. A stick, pole, or bundle of switches or twigs (such as a birch), used for personal defense or to administer corporal punishment by whipping.
    • So was I brought up: they tell mee, that in all my youth, I never felt rod [translating verges] but twice, and that very lightly.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 8, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
  5. An implement resembling and/or supplanting a rod (particularly a cane) that is used for corporal punishment, and metonymically called the rod, regardless of its actual shape and composition.
    • The judge imposed on the thief a sentence of fifteen strokes with the rod.
  6. A stick used to measure distance, by using its established length or task-specific temporary marks along its length, or by dint of specific graduated marks.
    • I notched a rod and used it to measure the length of rope to cut.
  7. (archaic) A unit of length equal to 1 pole, a perch, ¹⁄₄ chain, 5+¹⁄₂ yards, 16+¹⁄₂ feet, or exactly 5.0292 meters (these being all equivalent).
    • ‘And this thicket, so full of a natural art, was in the immediate vicinity, within a few rods, of the dwelling of Madame Deluc, whose boys were in the habit of closely examining the shrubberies about them in search of the bark of the sassafras.’1842, Edgar Allan Poe, The Mystery of Marie Rogêt
    • In one of the villages I saw the next summer a cow tethered by a rope six rods long[…].1865, Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod
  8. An implement held vertically and viewed through an optical surveying instrument such as a transit, used to measure distance in land surveying and construction layout; an engineer's rod, surveyor's rod, surveying rod, leveling rod, ranging rod. The modern (US) engineer's or surveyor's rod commonly is eight or ten feet long and often designed to extend higher. In former times a surveyor's rod often was a single wooden pole or composed of multiple sectioned and socketed pieces, and besides serving as a sighting target was used to measure distance on the ground horizontally, hence for convenience was of one rod or pole in length, that is, 5+¹⁄₂ yards.
  9. (archaic) A unit of area equal to a square rod, 30+¹⁄₄ square yards or ¹⁄₁₆₀ acre.
    • The house had a small yard of about six rods in size.
  10. A straight bar that unites moving parts of a machine, for holding parts together as a connecting rod or for transferring power as a driveshaft.
    • The engine threw a rod, and then went to pieces before our eyes, springs and coils shooting in all directions.
  11. A rod cell: a rod-shaped cell in the eye that is sensitive to light.
    • The rods are more sensitive than the cones, but do not discern color.
  12. Any of a number of long, slender microorganisms.
    • He applied a gram positive stain, looking for rods indicative of Listeria.
Show 8 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A stirring rod: a glass rod, typically about 6 inches to 1 foot long and ¹⁄₈ to ¹⁄₄ inch in diameter that can be used to stir liquids in flasks or beakers.
  2. (slang) A pistol; a gun.
    • One of them strode to his side and ran experienced fingers through his clothes. "No rod," he reported, "where's the jewelry?"1916 August, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 249, column 1
  3. (slang, vulgar) The penis.
    • [I'm gonna][…]throw some vaseline right in the crack a your ass, then I'm gonna shove my rod in your open hole and try to pacify your ornery soul.2004, Bruce Jackson, Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me
  4. (slang) A hot rod, an automobile or other passenger motor vehicle modified to run faster and often with exterior cosmetic alterations, especially one based originally on a pre-1940s model or (currently) denoting any older vehicle thus modified.
  5. A rod-shaped object that appears in photographs or videos traveling at high speed, not seen by the person recording the event, often associated with extraterrestrial entities.
    • These cylindrical rods fly through the air at incredible speeds and can only be picked up by high-speed cameras.2000, Jack Barranger, Paul Tice, Mysteries Explored: The Search for Human Origins, Ufos, and Religious Beginnings, Book Three, p.37
    • During one such broadcast in 1997, the esteemed radio host bellowed, “I got a fax earlier today from MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) in Arizona and they said what you think are rods are actually insects!”2009, Barry Conrad, An Unknown Encounter: A True Account of the San Pedro Haunting, Dorrance Publishing, pages 129–130
    Synonyms:
    skyfish
  6. A Cuisenaire rod.
  7. A coupling rod or connecting rod, which links the driving wheels of a steam locomotive, and some diesel shunters and early electric locomotives.
    • In the early days troubles were experienced with oscillation from the rod drive and with the transformers, but were overcome later, and these machines performed useful service until superseded by more modern locomotives less costly in maintenance.1960 December, Cecil J. Allen, “Operating a mountain main line: the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 743
  8. A drain rod, being a set of segmented rods with interlocking connectors designed to remain attached even under rotation in use.

Verb

rod (third-person singular simple present rods, present participle rodding, simple past and past participle rodded)

  1. To reinforce concrete with metal rods.
  2. (transitive) To furnish with rods, especially lightning rods.
  3. (slang, transitive, vulgar) To penetrate sexually.
    • On impulse he moved around to the opposite side of the couple, in the direction which Grace's broad buttocks were pointed, for a full view of the big boned woman's back side. Now Grace wouldn't mind one iota if he rodded her from the rear.1968, David Lynn, Bull nuts
  4. (slang) To hot rod.
    • There were three clear sets, more than what you might expect at Heartbreak Point, given all the juvies rodding in and out of there with their girlfriends.2007, Dana Stabenow, A Deeper Sleep, →ISBN, page 45

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Rod

Rod

  1. A nickname for the male given names Rodney and Roderick.
    • President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was sent to prison on corruption charges surrounding his time in office.2025 February 10, Michael Williams, “Trump pardons former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich”, in CNN

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Rod

Rod

  1. The god of the family, ancestors and fate in Slavic mythology.

Noun (2) capitalized: ROD

ROD

  1. (Singapore, abbreviation) Abbreviation of run-out date (“date on which one completes one's national service”).

rod meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

rod in Hindi

straight round stick, shaft, or bar
डंडा ḍaṇḍā, बल्ली ballī

rod in Urdu

راڈ

rod in Bengali

রড

rod in Telugu

రాడ్
More languagesFewer languages
rod in Malayalam
കമ്പി kampi
rod in Kannada
ರಾಡ್
rod in Odia
ରଡ୍, ରାଡ୍, ରାଡ
rod in Nepali
रड
rod in Arabic
عَصًا ʕaṣan
rod in Thai
แท่ง tɛ̂ng, คัน kan
rod in Vietnamese
que, cần, gậy, cần câu

Examples of rod in a sentence

  • I could hear the engine’s valves hammering once the timing rod was thrown.
  • He hooked a snake accidentally, and was so scared he dropped his rod into the water.
  • This rod is free to swing at the joint with the platform.

All 40 example sentences with rod

Synonyms of rod

Forms of rod

Noun
pluralrods
Verb
third-person singular presentrods
present participlerodding
past participlerodded
pastrodded

Plural of rod: rods

Origin of rod

From Middle English rodde, from Old English *rodd or *rodde (attested in dative plural roddum (“rod, pole”)), of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Germanic *rudd- (“stick, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewdʰ- (“to clear land”). Compare Old Norse rudda (“club”). For the root, compare English rid. Presumably unrelated to Proto-Germanic *rōdō (“rod, pole”).

Abbreviated form of Rodney and of Roderick, both with roots originating from Germanic *hrōþiz (“fame”).

Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *rȍdъ.

Words formed from rod

Phrases with rod

35 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with rod

26 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about rod

What does rod mean?
Rod means a straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff.
What is rod in Hindi?
Rod in Hindi is डंडा (ḍaṇḍā), बल्ली (ballī). See Rod meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is rod?
Rod can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce rod?
Rod is pronounced /ɹɒd/ (UK).
What is the plural of rod?
The plural of rod is rods.

Words near rod in the dictionary

  1. rocquet
  2. rocquets
  3. rocs
  4. rocta
  5. rocuronium
  6. rod
  7. rod cell
  8. rod cells
  9. rod for one's back
  10. rod for one's breech
  11. rod for one's own back

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rod (page history and authors); Rod (page history and authors); ROD (page history and authors); rod (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rod (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rod (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rod (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rod (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rod (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-rod.wav.

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