reedy, a.
(ˈriːdɪ)
Also 4 reeddy, 6 redy.
[f. reed n.1 + -y1.]
1. Abounding with, full of, reeds; characterized by the presence of reeds.
| 1382 Wyclif Wisd. iii. 7 As sparcles in reeddy places [L. in arundineto] thei shuln renne hider and thider. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xc. (Bodl. MS.), Some [frogs] beþ icleped calamite for þei wone among reede..& in reedy places. 1538 Leland Itin. (1769) V. 91 Lesse then a Quarter of a Mile from that Place is a greate redy Poole. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1437 To Simois reedie bankes the red bloud ran. 1658 T. Wall Charact. Enemies Ch. 30 Some perillous beast, which out of the cover of their reedy thickets, attends the opportunity of their desired prey. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 482 The adjoining brook..Now scarcely moving through a reedy pool. 1840 Thirlwall Greece lv. VII. 103 On the reedy margin of the lake stood here and there some monuments. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xiv. 357 The Derwent itself, a reedy and somewhat sluggish stream. |
2. Made or consisting of reed or reeds; reeden.
| a 1763 Shenstone Elegies x. 31 How must Velino shake his reedy crest! 1794 Southey Poems Slave Trade iv, The o'erwearied slave..Rests on his reedy couch. 1853 Felton Fam. Lett. xxvii. (1865) 247 A shepherd, who charmed his weary hours..by playing rustic airs upon his reedy pipe. |
3. Resembling a reed or reeds in some respect:
a. Weak like a reed.
| 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. xix. 61 She rests full, in her owne approuement, without the weak Worlds reedy under⁓propping. 1832 Examiner 721/2 He is reedy—he wants strength of character. 1890 G. Meredith Let. 26 Mar. (1970) II. 993 A reedy state of health forbids my going to Dinners. |
b. Of straw or grass: Stiff or coarse like reeds.
| 1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Dec. viii. 419 As..they make good Part of their Rent by the Sale of their Wheat Straw, they are very careful to preserve it as reedy or long as they can. 1778 W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 5 Apr. an. 1777 Nothwithstanding it was weedy, and the barley-straw reedy, they have eaten it up very clean. 1863 F. A. Kemble Resid. Georgia 50 A small bank of mud and sand, covered with reedy coarse grass. 1883 F. M. Peard Contrad. viii, She had pulled a root of reedy grass from the sand. |
c. Having the form or texture of a reed.
| 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 140 The leek with crown globose and reedy stem. 1830 Lytton P. Clifford xxxi, A horse..of the lengthy, reedy, lank, yet muscular race. 1834 De Quincey in Tait's Mag. I. 797 Carriages of our present light and reedy (almost, one might say, corky) construction. 1842 L. S. Costello Pilgr. Auvergne I. 29 The groups of reedy pillars which support the body of the church. |
d. Of iron bars or plates: Having the character of being formed of small rods imperfectly united.
e. Of cloth: having the warp threads unevenly distributed.
| 1931 E. Midgley Techn. Terms Textile Trade I. 261 Reedy, a term applied to a cloth which shows reed marks. |
† 4. Partaking of the nature of reed (as being derived from the sugar-cane).
Obs.—1| 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 912 Do not use sugar that is earthly, reedy, and so full of dregs. |
5. a. Having a tone resembling that produced by a musical reed.
| 1811 Busby Dict. Mus. (ed. 3) s.v. Reed, A kind of tongue..which..produces a reedy thickness of tone. 1823 Moore Mem. (1853) IV. 79 Ronzi, notwithstanding her thin reedy voice, [is] very charming. 1866 A. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. ii, A good many tones were rough..and reedy. |
| Comb. 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict., Reedy-toned, an epithet for any voice which..partakes of the tone of the reed. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 1 Nov. 1/3 The valley of the reedy-voiced little Ervola. |
b. Having a reedy voice.
| 1855 Dickens Dorrit i. xxxi, A poor little reedy piping old gentleman, like a worn-out bird. |