reach

[Raught, the ancient preterit, is obsolete. The verb is now regular; pp. reached. L. rego, to rule or govern, to make right or straight, that is, to strain or stretch, the radical sense. The English sense of reach appears in L. porrigo and porricio. Greek, to reach, to stretch, the radical sense of desiring. L. fragro. But the primary sense is the same, to reach, to extend, to shoot forth, to urge.]

reach

To extend; to stretch; in a general sense; sometimes followed by out and forth; as, to reach out the arm. Hence,

reach

To extend to; to touch by extending either the arm alone, or with an instrument in the hand; as, to reach a book on the shelf; I cannot reach the object with my cane; the seaman reaches the bottom of the river with a pole or a line.

reach

To strike from a distance. O patron power, thy present aid afford, that I may reach the beast.

reach

To deliver with the hand by extending the arm; to hand. He reached me an orange. He reached me a full cup.

reach

To extend or stretch from a distance. Reach hither thy finger - reach hither thy hand. John 20:27.

reach

To arrive at; to come to. The ship reached her port in safety. We reached New York on Thursday. The letter reached me at seven o'clock.

reach

To attain to or arrive at, by effort, labor or study; hence, to gain or obtain. Every artist should attempt to reach the point of excellence. The best accounts of the appearances of nature which human penetration can reach, come short of its reality.

reach

To penetrate to. Whatever alterations are made in the body, if they reach not the mind, there is no perception.

reach

To extend to so as to include or comprehend in fact or principle. The law reached the intention of the promoters, and this act fixed the natural price of money. If these examples of grown men reach not the case of children, let them examine.

reach

To extend to. Thy desire leads to no excess that reaches blame.

reach

To extend; to spread abroad. Trees reach’d too far their pampered boughs.

reach

To take with the hand. Lest therefore now his bolder hand reach also of the tree of life and eat.

reach

To overreach; to deceive.

reach

verb intransitive

To be extended. The new world reaches quite across the torrid zone. The border shall descend, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. Numbers 34:17. And behold, a ladder set on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. Genesis 28:12.

reach

To penetrate. Ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth to heaven. 2 Chronicles 28:9.

reach

To make efforts to vomit. To reach after, to make efforts to attain to or obtain. He would be in a posture of mind, reaching after a positive idea of infinity.

reach

noun

In a general sense, extension; a stretching; extent.

reach

The power of extending to, or of taking by the hand, or by any instrument managed by the hand. The book is not within my reach. The bottom of the sea is not within the reach of a line or cable.

reach

Power of attainment or management, or the limit of power, physical or moral. He used all the means within his reach. The causes of phenomena are often beyond the reach of human intellect. Be sure yourself and your own reach to know.