2 N‑COUNT A reading is an event at which poetry or extracts from books are read to an audience. □ …a poetry reading.
3 N‑COUNT Your reading of a word, text, or situation is the way in which you understand or interpret it. □ [+ of ] My reading of her character is that she is a responsible person.
4 N‑COUNT The reading on a measuring device is the figure or measurement that it shows. □ The gauge must be giving a faulty reading.
5 N‑COUNT In the British Parliament or the U.S. Congress, a reading is one of the three stages of introducing and discussing a new bill before it can be passed as law. □ The bill is expected to pass its second reading with a comfortable majority.
6 PHRASE If you say that a book or an article makes interesting reading or makes for interesting reading , you mean that it is interesting to read. □ The list of drinks, a dozen pages long, makes fascinating reading.
rea d|ing glasses N‑PLURAL [oft a pair of N ] Reading glasses are glasses that are worn by people, for example when they are reading, because they cannot see things close to them very well.
rea d|ing lamp (reading lamps ) N‑COUNT A reading lamp is a small lamp that you keep on a desk or table. You can move part of it in order to direct the light to where you need it for reading.
rea d|ing room (reading rooms ) N‑COUNT A reading room is a quiet room in a library or museum where you can read and study.
re|adjust /riː ədʒʌ st/ (readjusts , readjusting , readjusted )
1 VERB When you readjust to a new situation, usually one you have been in before, you adapt to it. □ [V + to ] I can understand why astronauts find it difficult to readjust to life on Earth. □ [V ] They are bound to take time to readjust after a holiday.
2 VERB If you readjust the level of something, your attitude to something, or the way you do something, you change it to make it more effective or appropriate. □ [V n] In the end you have to readjust your expectations.
3 VERB If you readjust something such as a piece of clothing or a mechanical device, you correct or alter its position or setting. □ [V n] Readjust your watch. You are now on Moscow time.
re|adjust|ment /riː ədʒʌ stmənt/ (readjustments )
1 N‑VAR Readjustment is the process of adapting to a new situation, usually one that you have been in before. □ The next few weeks will be a period of readjustment.
2 N‑VAR A readjustment of something is a change that you make to it so that it is more effective or appropriate. □ [+ of ] The organization denies that it is seeking any readjustment of state borders. □ …the effects of economic readjustment.
read|out /riː daʊt/ (readouts ) N‑COUNT If an electronic measuring device gives you a readout , it displays information about the level of something such as a speed, height, or sound. □ [+ of ] The system provides a digital readout of the vehicle's speed.
ready ◆◆◇ /re di/ (readier , readiest , readies , readying , readied )
1 ADJ [v-link ADJ , ADJ to-inf] If someone is ready , they are properly prepared for something. If something is ready , it has been properly prepared and is now able to be used. □ [+ for ] It took her a long time to get ready for church. □ Are you ready to board, Mr Daly? □ Tomorrow he would tell his pilot to get the aircraft ready.
2 ADJ [v-link ADJ , ADJ to-inf] If you are ready for something or ready to do something, you have enough experience to do it or you are old enough and sensible enough to do it. □ [+ for ] She says she's not ready for motherhood. □ You'll have no trouble getting him into a nursery when you feel he's ready to go.
3 ADJ If you are ready to do something, you are willing to do it. □ They were ready to die for their beliefs.
4 ADJ If you are ready for something, you need it or want it. □ [+ for ] I don't know about you, but I'm ready for bed.
5 ADJ To be ready to do something means to be about to do it or likely to do it. □ She looked ready to cry.
6 ADJ [ADJ n] You use ready to describe things that are able to be used very quickly and easily. □ …a ready supply of well-trained and well-motivated workers.
7 ADJ [ADJ n] Ready money is in the form of notes and coins rather than cheques or credit cards, and so it can be used immediately. □ I'm afraid I don't have enough ready cash.
8 VERB When you ready something, you prepare it for a particular purpose. [FORMAL ] □ [V n + for ] John's soldiers were readying themselves for the final assault. [Also V n to-inf]
9 COMB Ready combines with past participles to indicate that something has already been done, and that therefore you do not have to do it yourself. □ You can buy ready-printed forms for wills at stationery shops.
10 PHRASE If you have something at the ready , you have it in a position where it can be quickly and easily used. □ Soldiers came charging through the forest, guns at the ready.
rea dy-ma de
1 ADJ If something that you buy is ready-made , you can use it immediately, because the work you would normally have to do has already been done. □ We rely quite a bit on ready-made meals–they are so convenient.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Ready-made means extremely convenient or useful for a particular purpose. □ Those wishing to study urban development have a ready-made example on their doorstep.
rea dy mea l (ready meals ) N‑COUNT Ready meals are complete meals that are sold in shops. They are already prepared and you need only heat them before eating them.