out angrily, hitting anyone within his reach. #, if, Jjf£

, JE A It fj o 0 Use shears with a long reach for cutting high hedges.

►                 OF POWER/INFLUENCE fcgfj; #/B|r] 2 [sing., U] the limit to which sb/sth has the power or influence to do sth tfcR

H; ^ B|rI l£ ffl: Such matters are beyond the reach of the law.   O Victory is now

out of her reach. ttf'JSElS  BISS'S! Ra 0

The basic model is priced well within the reach of most people.   0 The

company has now overtaken IBM in terms of size and reach, tmmft mm&nJo

►                 OF RIVER Mv/it 3 [C, usually pi.] a straight section of water between two bends on a river MS; zK if : the upperAower reaches of the Nile (= the part that is furthest from/nearest to the sea) M±$? /

►                 PLACE FAR FROM CENTRE i££f: 4 reaches [pi ] the outer,

further, etc. ~ of sth the parts of an area or a place that are a long way from the centre  ifizBi&E:

the outer reaches of space JU A -S? 0 (figurative) an exploration of the deepest reaches of the human mind M

►                 SECTIONS OF ORGANIZATION     ' 5 reaches [pi ] the

higher, lower, etc. ~ of sth the higher, etc. sections of an organization, a system, etc. (     ) §5

is£, §|fn: There are still few women in the upper reaches of the civil service.

A o 0 Many clubs in the lower reaches of the league are in financial difficulty. &MT

®mz*0

IT»T?1 within (easy) 'reach (of sth) close to sth £;

H i£ : The house is within easy reach of schools and sports facilities.

reach-able /'riitjabl/ adj. [not before noun] that is possible to reach M R; MfiJiis; % 3\: The farm is only reachable by car.

reacquaint /.riia'kweint/ verb [VN] ~ sb/yourself with

sth to let sb/yourself find out about sth again or get used to sth again ( {£ ) ItirTt?; (   I’ll

need to reacquaint myself with this program—it’s a long time since I’ve used it.

o

react 0-w /ri'aekt/ verb [V]

1 ~ (to sth) (by doing sth) to change or behave in a particular way as a result of or in response to sth ^EJx JS ;     ( ZfJ ••• ) tt] fx & ; HO M : Local residents have

reacted angrily to the news. A ift @ E - M H A A

o I nudged her but she didn’t react. jf] fl&KMfi TMixlSo o You never know how he is going to react, % fll A A it Ilk M lx. j£Z 0        0 The

market reacted by falling a further two points. Tjj J&; Ji # T £& M A If ft & o 2 to become ill/sick after eating, breathing, etc. a particular substance (

if S/: People can react badly to certain food additives. AifiM^^tonr.

3 ~ (with sth) | ~ (together) (chemistry ft) (of substances tyj) H) to experience a chemical change when coming into contact with another substance j&itjfiisLM', A A it A it: Iron reacts with water and air to produce rust.     rafllffg react

a'gainst sb/sth to show dislike or opposition in response to sth, especially by deliberately doing the opposite of what sb wants you to do JfLffl; Ixirt: He reacted strongly against the artistic conventions of his time.

react ance /ri'aektans/ noun [U, C] (physics tyf) (symb X) the opposition of a piece of electrical equipment, etc. to the flow of an alternating current feit — compare

RESISTANCE^)

reactant /ri'aektant/ noun (chemistry it) a substance that takes part in and is changed by a chemical reac­tion IxjSZ#/

re-action (H* /ri'aekjn/ noun

TO EVENT/SITUATION A f /1 [C, U] ~ (to sb/sth) what you do, say or think as a result of sth that has happened Jx M; 0 M : What was his reaction to the

news? ftfcA.EMEMMS.jSl? o My immediate reaction was one of shock.       o A

spokesman said the changes were not in reaction to the company’s recent losses. AvAWAift,    AlHt

o There has been a

mixed reaction to her appointment as director. itAinW£&^I£*-o 0 The decision provoked an angry reaction from local residents.

SWiMo 01 tried shaking him but there was no reaction.      73§Htfe,

►                 CHANGE IN ATTITUDES   2 [C, usually sing., U]

~ (against sth) a change in people’s attitudes or behav­iour caused by disapproval of the attitudes, etc. of the past (The return to traditional family values is a reaction against the permissiveness of recent decades.

►                 TO DRUGS 3 [C, U] a response by the body, usually a bad one, to a drug, chemical substance, etc. ^JiixlS; gijf^^l: to have an allergic reaction to a drug

►                 TO DANGER X5! 7 fa P&' 4 reactions [pi ] the ability to move quickly in response to sth, especially if in danger IxjSfbA: a skilled driver with quick reactions

mmmji

►                 AGAINST PROGRESS Z'tAAM 5 [U] opposition to social or

political progress or change fx. Xt;     ; ffl. : The

forces of reaction made change difficult.     A

i&mfm.

►                 SCIENCE 6 [C, U] (chemistry \t) a chemical change produced by two or more substances acting on each other it ¥ lx : a chemical/nuclear reaction it^t / ® JxJSt —see also chain reaction 7 [u, C] (physics #/) a force shown by sth in response to another force, which is of equal strength and acts in the opposite direction

re ac-tion-ary /ri’aekjanri; NAmE -neri/ noun (pi. -ies) (disapproving) a person who is opposed to political or social change      U6 (

► re-ac-tion-ary adj.: a reactionary government

re-acti-vate /ri'aektiveit/ verb [VN] to make sth start working or happening again after a period of time c

M-m-, &mmm

re-act-ive /ri'aektiv/ adj. 1 (formal) showing a reaction or response lx JSt fKJ; tSSW; 0 JS W : The police presented a reactive rather than preventive strategy against crime.

M,     — compare proactive 2 (chem­

istry It) tending to show chemical change when mixed with another substance tb ^ ft A S. J£Z W; IS IxfS&A highly reactive substances

re-activ-lty /.riiaek'tiviti/ noun (chemistry it) the degree to which sth reacts, or is likely to react IxlStt: Oxygen has high reactivity.

re-act-or /ri'aekta(r)/ (also .nuclear re'actor) noun a large structure used for the controlled production of nuclear energy ]^|xjSf£

read verb /ri:d/ noun /ri:d/ adj. /red/

m verb /ri:d/ (read, read /red/)

►                  WORDS/SYMBOLS A A;  A 1 (not used in the progres­

sive tenses AiftflBt) to look at and understand the meaning of written or printed words or symbols A A; l$i^;   : [V] She’s still learning to read.

iR Ao o Some children can read and write before they go to school.        o [vn]

I can’t read your writing.    0 Can you

read music? ifcMifMAIfm ? o I’m trying to read the map.      2~ (sth) (to sb/yourself) to go

through written or printed words, etc. in silence or speaking them to other people ; lUvA [V] I’m going to go to bed and read.  o He liked

reading to his grandchildren.     To

O [VN] to read a book/a magazineAhe newspaper MQM /  0 Have you read any Steinbeck (= novels

by him)?   0 He read the poem

aloud.       O [VN, VNN] Go on—read it to

us.    £&W]mo 0 She read us a story. MA

mmr— see also PROOFREAD