reading

read|ing [ `ridıŋ ] noun ***

▸ 1 ability to read

▸ 2 act of reading something

▸ 3 books etc. you read

▸ 4 when someone reads to group

▸ 5 amount measured

▸ 6 way of looking at something

▸ 7 in making law

1. ) uncount the process of recognizing written or printed words and understanding their meaning:

My little boy is having difficulty with his reading.

a ) only before noun relating to the process of reading:

a test for assessing children's reading skills

2. ) singular or uncount the act of reading or studying a book, newspaper, document, etc.:

I haven't done much reading lately.

background reading (=books, articles, etc. containing general information about a subject): Included in the book are suggestions for background reading.

a ) make (for) interesting/tedious etc. reading to be interesting/boring, etc. to read:

The latest survey makes grim reading.

3. ) uncount something that you read:

This report is my bedtime reading at the moment.

reading material/matter: The prisoners have limited reading material.

4. ) count an event at which someone reads something to a group of people:

We attended the reading of my uncle's will.

give a reading: She is giving a poetry reading tonight.

a ) something that someone reads to a group of people, for example at a public event or to a religious group:

This morning's reading is from the Old Testament.

5. ) count a number or amount shown on a piece of measuring equipment:

The magnetism in the rock could produce distorted compass readings.

6. ) count a particular way of thinking about a situation, statement, or event: INTERPRETATION:

a modern reading of Freud's work

7. ) count one of three occasions when a BILL is read and discussed in a legislature in the U.S. before it can become law:

receive a reading: The Clean Air Act will receive its second reading today.