A reading or an act of reading, especially of an actor's part of a play or a piece of stored data.
"The director asked the lead actor to read their lines from the script before we began filming the scene."
In plain English: A read is a situation where someone's actions clearly show what they are thinking or planning to do.
"She was tired from reading all day."
Usage: Use the singular form a read when referring to one instance of checking text, but typically use the plural reads for multiple instances in professional contexts like journalism or publishing. Avoid confusing this noun with the verb; it often appears as part of fixed phrases such as "take a reading" (for instruments) rather than simply saying something is "a read."
interpret something that is written or printed
"read the advertisement"
"Have you read Salman Rushdie?"
look at, interpret, and say out loud something that is written or printed
"The King will read the proclamation at noon"
interpret the significance of, as of palms, tea leaves, intestines, the sky; also of human behavior
"She read the sky and predicted rain"
"I can't read his strange behavior"
"The fortune teller read his fate in the crystal ball"
audition for a stage role by reading parts of a role
"He is auditioning for `Julius Caesar' at Stratford this year"
make sense of a language
"She understands French"
"Can you read Greek?"
To look at and interpret letters or other information that is written.
"I read that book last night before bed."
simple past tense
In plain English: To read means to look at written words and understand what they say.
"I like to read a book before going to bed."
A surname, from Old English, a less common spelling variant of Reid.
"After years of being mistaken for his friend Reid, Arthur finally introduced himself as Read to avoid any confusion."
The word "read" comes from Old English, where it originally meant to counsel or advise. Over time, the meaning shifted from giving advice to interpreting written text before traveling into Middle English and modern usage.