READING

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Reading mean? 

• READING (noun)
  The noun READING has 8 senses:

1. the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message

2. a particular interpretation or performance

3. a datum about some physical state that is presented to a user by a meter or similar instrument

4. written material intended to be read

5. a mental representation of the meaning or significance of something

6. a city on the River Thames in Berkshire in southern England

7. a public instance of reciting or repeating (from memory) something prepared in advance

8. the act of measuring with meters or similar instruments

  Familiarity information: READING used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• READING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

suggestions for further reading

Hypernyms ("reading" is a kind of...):

language; linguistic process (the cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic communication)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reading"):

speed-reading (reading at speeds significantly faster than normal)

perusal; perusing; poring over; studying (reading carefully with intent to remember)

browse; browsing (reading superficially or at random)

skim; skimming (reading or glancing through quickly)

Derivation:

read (interpret something that is written or printed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A particular interpretation or performance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

he was famous for his reading of Mozart

Hypernyms ("reading" is a kind of...):

interpretation (an explanation that results from interpreting something)

Derivation:

read (interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A datum about some physical state that is presented to a user by a meter or similar instrument

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

indication; meter reading; reading

Context example:

the barometer gave clear indications of an approaching storm

Hypernyms ("reading" is a kind of...):

data point; datum (an item of factual information derived from measurement or research)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reading"):

clock time; time (a reading of a point in time as given by a clock)

miles per hour; mph (a speedometer reading for the momentary rate of travel)

Derivation:

read (indicate a certain reading; of gauges and instruments)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Written material intended to be read

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

reading; reading material

Context example:

he bought some reading material at the airport

Hypernyms ("reading" is a kind of...):

black and white; written communication; written language (communication by means of written symbols (either printed or handwritten))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reading"):

bumf; bumph (reading materials (documents, written information) that you must read and deal with but that you think are extremely boring)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A mental representation of the meaning or significance of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

interpretation; reading; version

Hypernyms ("reading" is a kind of...):

internal representation; mental representation; representation (a presentation to the mind in the form of an idea or image)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reading"):

reinterpretation (a new or different meaning)

anagoge (a mystical or allegorical interpretation (especially of Scripture))

Sense 6

Meaning:

A city on the River Thames in Berkshire in southern England

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Instance hypernyms:

city; metropolis; urban center (a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts)

Holonyms ("Reading" is a part of...):

England (a division of the United Kingdom)

Berkshire (a county in southern England)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A public instance of reciting or repeating (from memory) something prepared in advance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

reading; recital; recitation

Context example:

the program included songs and recitations of well-loved poems

Hypernyms ("reading" is a kind of...):

oral presentation; public speaking; speaking; speechmaking (delivering an address to a public audience)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reading"):

declamation (recitation of a speech from memory with studied gestures and intonation as an exercise in elocution or rhetoric)

Derivation:

read (look at, interpret, and say out loud something that is written or printed)

Sense 8

Meaning:

The act of measuring with meters or similar instruments

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

meter reading; reading

Context example:

he has a job meter reading for the gas company

Hypernyms ("reading" is a kind of...):

measure; measurement; measuring; mensuration (the act or process of assigning numbers to phenomena according to a rule)

Derivation:

read (indicate a certain reading; of gauges and instruments)

 Context examples 

It was mere chance; the subject on which we had been reading had interested me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Together, these two readings indicated higher levels of stiffness in both peripheral arteries in the extremities, as well as in central arteries, tied to higher sodium consumption.

(Too Much Salt? Unhealthy Blood Vessels Changes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Nor in the reading of thought.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They based their results on brain scan of people reading a Harry Potter book.

(Researchers identify brain regions that encode words, grammar, story, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Now, the team has new readings from a third wave from the sun, first registered in March of this year.

(Sun sends more 'tsunami waves' to Voyager 1, NASA)

At the same time, the children also had MRI scans taken and took part in three standard tests that measured language, including their vocabulary, reading and speed of information retrieval skills.

(Too Much Screen Time Changes Structure of Toddlers' Brains, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

They also had higher systolic blood pressure — the number in a person’s blood pressure reading — the next day.

(Deep Sleep May Play Role in Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

These earthquake 'echoes' were compared to many others from different readings of the same earthquakes and this produced a 'fingerprint of the Earth'.

(Earth's Core Confirmed to Be Solid After 80 Years of Study, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

His reading has done him no harm, for he has fought as well as read.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

You are fond of that kind of reading?

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)