rod
/ɹɒd/noun, verb
rod is spelled R-O-D: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rod means “A straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rod is rods.
How many letters and syllables are in rod?
| Letters | 3: R-O-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is rod?
Rod appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rod?
- UK /ɹɒd/
- British /ɹɔd/
- /ɾɔd/
Rod has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-rod.wav, En-us-rod.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with rod?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as rod from its last stressed vowel (/ɒd/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ord, dor, dro.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of rod
- rods plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- rodding participle, present
- rodded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rod mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff.
The circus strong man proved his strength by bending an iron rod, and then straightening it.
- 2
A longitudinal pole used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent.
- 3
A long slender usually tapering pole used for angling; fishing rod.
When I hooked a snake and not a fish, I got so scared I dropped my rod in the water.
- 4
A stick, pole, or bundle of switches or twigs (such as a birch), used for personal defense or to administer corporal punishment by whipping.
- 5
An implement resembling and/or supplanting a rod (particularly a cane) that is used for corporal punishment, and metonymically called the rod, regardless of its actual shape and composition.
The judge imposed on the thief a sentence of fifteen strokes with the rod.
- 6
A stick used to measure distance, by using its established length or task-specific temporary marks along its length, or by dint of specific graduated marks.
I notched a rod and used it to measure the length of rope to cut.
- 7
archaicA unit of length equal to 1 pole, a perch, ¹⁄₄ chain, 5+¹⁄₂ yards, 16+¹⁄₂ feet, or exactly 5.0292 meters (these being all equivalent).
- 8
An implement held vertically and viewed through an optical surveying instrument such as a transit, used to measure distance in land surveying and construction layout; an engineer's rod, surveyor's rod, surveying rod, leveling rod, ranging rod. The modern (US) engineer's or surveyor's rod commonly is eight or ten feet long and often designed to extend higher. In former times a surveyor's rod often
verb
- 1
To reinforce concrete with metal rods.
- 2
To furnish with rods, especially lightning rods.
- 3
slangvulgarTo penetrate sexually.
- 4
slangTo hot rod.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of run-out date (“date on which one completes one's national service”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rod in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tige , canne à pêche , verges , verge , bite, paf |
| German | Stange, Stock, Stab, Latte |
| Portuguese | vara, bastão, haste , verga |
| Spanish | barra, rodillo, vara, fierro, vírgula, verga |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does rod come from?
From Middle English rodde, from Old English *rodd or *rodde (attested in dative plural roddum (“rod, pole”)), of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Germanic *rudd- (“stick, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewdʰ- (“to clear land”). Compare Old Norse rudda (“club”). For the root, compare English rid. Presumably unrelated to Proto-Germanic *rōdō (“rod, pole”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).