▪ a wand or staff as a symbol of office, authority, or power: "the royal insignia included the ring, the scepter, and the rod"Similarstaffwandmacesceptercaduceus
▪ a slender straight stick or shoot growing on or cut from a tree or bush: "the roof is formed of willow and hazel rods woven between willow rafters"
▪ a stick used for caning or flogging: "he swung the rod again in a threatening arc"
▪ the use of a stick as punishment: "if you'd been my daughter, you'd have felt the rod"Similarcorporal punishmentthe canethe lashthe birchthe beltthe strapbeatingfloggingcaningbirching
▪ a penis.vulgar slang
2. a fishing rod: "he hooked an enormous fish which almost pulled the rod from out of his hands"
3. a linear measure, especially for land, equal to 51/2 yards (approximately 5.029 m).historicalBritish
▪ a square measure, especially for land, equal to 160th of an acre or 301/4 square yards (approximately 25.29 sq m).
4. a pistol or revolver.informalUS
5. a light-sensitive cell of one of the two types present in large numbers in the retina of the eye, responsible mainly for monochrome vision in poor light.
Word Originlate Old Englishrodd ‘slender shoot growing on or cut from a tree’, also ‘straight stick or bundle of twigs used to inflict punishment’; probably related to Old Norse rudda ‘club’.
