What does "rod" mean?
A straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff.
Rod
/ɹɑd/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff.
- Grammar: rod is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: perch, pole, rod cell, atomic pile.
- Useful contrasts: plate, platte.
- Usage evidence: Fortune is the rod of the weak, and the staff of the brave.
How to use "rod"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "rod" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "rod" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "rod" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "rod" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "rod" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "perch" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "rod", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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 Abbreviation of run-out date (“date on which one completes one's national service”). Singapore, abbreviation, alt-of
- 3 any rod-shaped bacterium wordnet
- 4 A longitudinal pole used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent.
- 5 a gangster's pistol wordnet
Show 22 more definitions
- 6 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."
- 7 a long thin implement made of metal or wood wordnet
- 8 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."
- 9 a visual receptor cell that is sensitive to dim light wordnet
- 10 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."
- 11 a square rod of land wordnet
- 12 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."
- 13 a linear measure of 16.5 feet wordnet
- 14 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). archaic
"‘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.’"
- 15 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.
- 16 A unit of area equal to a square rod, 30+¹⁄₄ square yards or ¹⁄₁₆₀ acre. archaic
"The house had a small yard of about six rods in size."
- 17 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."
- 18 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."
- 19 Any of a number of long, slender microorganisms.
"He applied a gram positive stain, looking for rods indicative of Listeria."
- 20 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.
- 21 A pistol; a gun. slang
"One of them strode to his side and ran experienced fingers through his clothes. "No rod," he reported, "where's the jewelry?""
- 22 The penis. slang, vulgar
"[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."
- 23 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. slang
- 24 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."
- 25 A Cuisenaire rod.
- 26 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."
- 27 A drain rod, being a set of segmented rods with interlocking connectors designed to remain attached even under rotation in use.
Verb
- 1 To reinforce concrete with metal rods.
- 2 To furnish with rods, especially lightning rods. transitive
- 3 To penetrate sexually. slang, transitive, vulgar
"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."
- 4 To hot rod. slang
"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."
Proper Noun
- 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."
- 2 The god of the family, ancestors and fate in Slavic mythology.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Fortune is the rod of the weak, and the staff of the brave."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "rod"?
Common synonyms include: perch, pole, rod cell, atomic pile, automatic, bar.
How do you use "rod" in a sentence?
Fortune is the rod of the weak, and the staff of the brave.
How do you pronounce "rod"?
Pronounced /ɹɑd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”).
Etymology 2
Abbreviated form of Rodney and of Roderick, both with roots originating from Germanic *hrōþiz (“fame”).
Etymology 3
Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *rȍdъ.