broken reed

bro·ken reed

B b

Definitions of broken reed words

noun broken reed a weak, unreliable, or ineffectual person 3
noun broken reed the straight stalk of any of various tall grasses, especially of the genera Phragmites and Arundo, growing in marshy places. 1
noun broken reed any of the plants themselves. 1
noun broken reed such stalks or plants collectively. 1
noun broken reed anything made from such a stalk or from something similar, as an arrow. 1
noun broken reed Music. a pastoral or rustic musical pipe made from a reed or from the hollow stalk of some other plant. a small, flexible piece of cane or metal that, attached to the mouth of any of various wind instruments, is set into vibration by a stream of air and, in turn, sets into vibration the air column enclosed in the tube of the instrument. reed instrument. 1

before 900

One of the 4% oldest English words

before 900; Middle English; Old English hrēod; cognate with German, Dutch riet

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 98% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer