reach

{{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}}

noun

1 distance over which you can stretch, travel, etc.

ADJECTIVE

▪ long

▪

Gorillas have a very long reach.

VERB + REACH

▪ have

PREPOSITION

▪ beyond (sb/sth's) reach

▪

The latch was just beyond her reach.

▪ in (sb/sth's) reach, within (sb/sth's) reach

▪

The riverbank was almost in reach.

▪

There was a knife within his reach.

▪

a beach resort within reach of Bangkok

▪

The house is within easy reach of the train station.

▪ out of sb/sth's reach

▪

Keep all medicines out of reach of children.

PHRASES

▪ within arm's reach

▪

I always keep my phone within arm's reach.

2 power/influence

ADJECTIVE

▪ vast, wide

▪

The organization has a wide reach.

▪ global

▪

The global reach of the Internet has exceeded what anyone could have predicted.

▪ geographic, geographical

▪

The business is looking at ways to extend its geographic reach.

VERB + REACH

▪ have

▪

The company has a worldwide reach.

▪ broaden, expand, extend, increase

▪

Humans have extended their reach into space.

▪ limit

▪

As an artist, his reach was not limited to Britain.

PREPOSITION

▪ beyond (sb/sth's) reach

▪

He fled abroad, beyond the reach of German prosecutors.

▪ in sb/sth's reach, within sb/sth's reach

▪

Our $30 000 target is now well within our reach.

▪ out of sb/sth's reach

▪

The price puts it out of the reach of most people.

3 reaches far place

ADJECTIVE

▪ far, farthest, furthest

▪ nether, outer, outermost, upper, uppermost

▪

the upper reaches of the river

▪

the upper reaches of the music charts (figurative)

▪ northern, southern, etc.

▪ northernmost, southernmost, etc.

VERB + REACHES

▪ explore

▪

He dreamed of exploring the outermost reaches of space.

PREPOSITION

▪ reach of

▪

the farthest reaches of our universe

{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}

verb

1 arrive at a place/condition

ADVERB

▪ eventually, finally

▪ easily, quickly

▪

The cost can easily reach six figures.

▪ almost, nearly

▪

The city's population had nearly reached a million by 1920.

▪ barely

▪

He had barely reached the door when he collapsed.

VERB + REACH

▪ attempt to, try to

▪ be expected to, be likely to, expect to

▪

Profits are expected to reach £2 billion this year.

▪ be unlikely to

▪ be able to

▪ be unable to, fail to

▪

The jury was unable to reach a verdict.

2 stretch out your arm to touch/get sth

ADVERB

▪ gingerly, hesitantly, tentatively

▪ slowly

▪

Slowly he reached out and picked up the gun.

▪ automatically, instinctively

▪

He instinctively reached for his camera.

▪ blindly

▪

She reached blindly for the light switch.

▪ across, down, forward, out, over

▪

He reached out gingerly to touch it.

▪

A hand reached down to help her up the ladder.

PREPOSITION

▪ for

▪

She reached for the telephone and picked it up.

▪ inside

▪

I reached inside my pocket for a pen.

▪ into

▪

He reached into his bag and took out a book.

3 be able to touch sth

ADVERB

▪ easily

▪

She had arranged her desk so that she could reach everything easily.

▪ almost, nearly

▪

Her skirt almost reached the ground.

▪ halfway

▪

His hair reached halfway to his waist.

VERB + REACH

▪ can

▪

I can't reach the top shelf.

Reach is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑elevator, ↑expedition, ↑inflation, ↑letter, ↑message, ↑news, ↑population, ↑procession, ↑receipt, ↑sale, ↑stock, ↑temperature, ↑toll, ↑train, ↑troops, ↑turnover, ↑unemployment

Reach is used with these nouns as the object: ↑accommodation, ↑accord, ↑adolescence, ↑adulthood, ↑age, ↑agreement, ↑altitude, ↑audience, ↑birthday, ↑boiling point, ↑border, ↑bottom, ↑ceiling, ↑climax, ↑coast, ↑completion, ↑compromise, ↑conclusion, ↑consensus, ↑consumer, ↑crescendo, ↑crest, ↑crossroads, ↑culmination, ↑deadlock, ↑deal, ↑decision, ↑degree, ↑depth, ↑destination, ↑diagnosis, ↑ear, ↑earth, ↑edge, ↑end, ↑exit, ↑expectation, ↑expression, ↑extent, ↑extreme, ↑figure, ↑final, ↑finale, ↑floor, ↑freezing, ↑frontier, ↑fruition, ↑goal, ↑grade, ↑ground, ↑height, ↑high, ↑highway, ↑impasse, ↑judgement, ↑land, ↑length, ↑level, ↑limit, ↑low, ↑mainstream, ↑mark, ↑market, ↑maturity, ↑maximum, ↑menopause, ↑middle age, ↑milestone, ↑minimum, ↑moon, ↑objective, ↑office, ↑old age, ↑orbit, ↑orgasm, ↑outskirts, ↑peak, ↑per cent, ↑perfection, ↑phase, ↑pinnacle, ↑pitch, ↑plateau, ↑point, ↑port, ↑position, ↑potential, ↑profitability, ↑proportion, ↑puberty, ↑quota, ↑rank, ↑resolution, ↑retirement, ↑room, ↑round, ↑safety, ↑saturation, ↑scene, ↑settlement, ↑shelf, ↑shore, ↑showroom, ↑size, ↑solution, ↑speed, ↑spot, ↑stage, ↑stalemate, ↑standard, ↑state, ↑stop, ↑summit, ↑surface, ↑target, ↑teens, ↑temperature, ↑threshold, ↑top, ↑total, ↑trough, ↑truce, ↑turning point, ↑understanding, ↑valley, ↑velocity, ↑verdict, ↑viewer, ↑watershed