- a person who reads
- a person who is fond of reading
- chiefly Brit at a university, a member of staff having a position between that of a senior lecturer and a professor
- US a teaching assistant in a faculty who grades papers, examinations, etc, on behalf of a professor
- a book that is part of a planned series for those learning to read
- a standard textbook, esp for foreign-language learning
- a person who reads aloud in public
- a person who reads and assesses the merit of manuscripts submitted to a publisher
- a person employed to read proofs and indicate errors by comparison with the original copy; proofreader
short for lay reader - chiefly Brit
another word for cantor
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
read•er /ˈridɚ/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]a textbook for students learning to read:a first-grade reader.
a lecturer or instructor in some British institutions.
[Computers.]a device that reads data, programs, or other information into a computer for storage or use.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a person who reads (something) in a specified way:a fast reader.
read•er
(rē′dər),USA pronunciation n.
- a person who reads.
- a schoolbook for instruction and practice in reading:a second-grade reader.
- a book of collected or assorted writings, esp. when related in theme, authorship, or instructive purpose;
anthology:a Hemingway reader; a sci-fi reader. - a person employed to read and evaluate manuscripts offered for publication.
- Printinga proofreader.
- a person who reads or recites before an audience;
elocutionist. - a person authorized to read the lessons, Bible, etc., in a church service.
- Educationa lecturer or instructor, esp. in some British universities:to be appointed reader in English history.
- an assistant to a professor, who grades examinations, papers, etc.
- Computinga device that reads data, programs, or control information from an external storage medium for transmission to main storage. Cf. card reader, optical character reader.
- Opticsa machine or device that projects or enlarges a microform image on a screen or other surface for reading.
- a playing card marked on its back so that the suit or denomination of the card can be identified.
- Library Sciencethe user of a library;
library patron.
- Middle English reder(e), redar(e), Old English rǣdere. See read1, -er1 bef. 1000
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
reader /ˈriːdə/ n
'reader' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
avid
- cardpunch
- card reader
- cloze test
- device
- document reader
- -er
- e-reader
- hopper
- lay reader
- leader
- lector
- may
- mind-reader
- OCR
- optical character reader
- optical scanner
- refer
- vide
- wand
- accelerated reader
- affective fallacy
- basal
- bespeak
- bibliophage
- bingo card
- cliff-hanger
- copyreader
- cross index
- deconstruction
- exposition
- fine
- First Reader
- gentle
- groundling
- ill-defined
- intelligent
- interactive fiction
- interleaf
- introduction
- Karaite
- labor
- lectern
- mentalist
- microreader
- mind reader
- newsreader
- objective correlative
- omnivorous
- optophone