rods

Noun

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.
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.

See all 26 meanings of rod