n. A shoot or slender stem of any woody plant, more especially when cut off and stripped of leaves or twigs; a wand; a straight slender stick; a cane; also, anything of similar form: as, a brass rod.n. Specifically— An instrument of punishment or correction; a single switch or stick, or a bundle of switches; hence, chastisement.n. The badge of office of certain officials who are in a sense guardians or controllers of others, or ushers, marshals, and the like. The use of rods of certain colors gives names to their bearers: as, in England, black-rod, green-rod, etc. See black-rod.n. A scepter; hence, figuratively, authority; sway.n. An enchanter's wand, or a wand possessing the power of enchantment.n. A long, light, tapering, elastic pole used in angling, to which the line is attached, now usually made in adjustable sections or joints, and fitted with guides and a reel. There are eight woods commonly used for rods, of which four are solid (greenheart, hickory, ash, and willow) and four are hollow (East Indian bamboo, Carolina and West Indian cane, white cane, and jungle-cane). Rods have also been made of hard rubber and of steel. Jointed rods are made in three or four pieces, of which the largest and heaviest is the butt, and the slenderest is the tip. The joints are fitted with metal rings or ferrules, and with small rings called guides to receive the line. The reel is stepped into the butt, near its end, or otherwise suitably attached, as by a reel-plate. The special makes of rods are very numerous, and their names almost equally so. Besides being named and classed according to the material of which they are composed, as bamboo rod, etc., they are commonly identified with the name of the fish for which they are specially designed: as, salmon-rod, trout-rod, bass-rod, etc. All rods are, however, divisible into three classes, according to their make and purpose. These are the fly-rod, which is long, slender, tapering, tough, and highly elastic; the trolling-rod, which is comparatively short, stout, and stiff; and the bait-rod, which is a mean between the other two. Fly-rods are most used, with artificial flies. Split-bamboo rods are now manufactured for all kinds of angling. See fly-rod, and cut under reel.n. An instrument for measuring.n. In mech., any bar slender in proportion to its length, particularly such a bar used as a brace or a tie between parts for connecting them, or for strengthening a connection between them.n. Specifically, in a steam-engine, the pitman which connects the cross-head with the crank: also and more generally called connecting-rod. The connection is made at the cross-head to the cross-head pin, and at the crank to the crank-wrist. See cut under steam-engine.n. A measure of length equal to 5½ yards, or 16½ feet. (Also called pole and perch.) A square rod is the usual measure of brickwork, and is equal to 272¼ square feet.n. A shoot or branch of a family; a tribe or race.n. In anatomy, one of numerous slender rod-like or bacillary structures which collectively form, together with similar but conical bodies called cones, one of the layers of which the retina of the eye is composed, called the layer of rods and cones, essential to the function of vision. See cut under retina.n. In entomology, specifically, any differentiation of the anterior end of a retinal cell of the eye, which may unite to form a rhabdom. See rhabdomere.n. A fishing-rod made in sections of split bamboo strips.To furnish with a rod or rods; specifically, in recent use, to furnish or equip with lightning-rods.To operate upon with a rod, in any way.n. A Middle English form of road.n. A Middle English form of rode, preterit of ride.n. The central cone or peg in a gustatory cup on an insect's epipharynx.n. Any gorgonian with long, cylindrical branches.