verb

reached

REECHT

Reached (verb) means past tense and past participle of reach: arrived at a place, point or level. Example: “We reached the summit just before dawn.”

verb

Past tense and past participle of reach: arrived at a place, point or level.

"We reached the summit just before dawn."

"Temperatures reached 38 degrees by mid-afternoon."

Stretched out a hand or arm towards something.

"She reached for the light switch in the dark."

"He reached across the table and took the last slice."

Got in touch with someone, or succeeded in communicating with an audience.

"I finally reached him on his mobile."

"The campaign reached two million viewers."

How to Use Reached

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishGot to something, or stretched out to it.

When to use it

Neutral. Reached is a regular past form — reach, reached, reached; there is no form 'raught' in modern English.

Memory tip

Reach takes a direct object with no preposition when it means arrive: 'we reached London', not 'we reached to London'.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

reached out riched reeked

Common pairings

reached an agreement reached out reached a decision reached the finals

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

We _____ the summit just before dawn.

Etymology

From Old English rǣcan 'to stretch out, hand over'.

Origin: Old English

Synonyms

View more →

arrived at got to attained hit stretched extended groped contacted got hold of connected with

Related Words

about got long hit miss attack rock beat

Rhymes for reached

poached beached attached bleached detached unattached

See all rhymes for reached →

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 'reached out' mean?

Literally it means extended a hand, but in everyday business and social use it means made contact with someone, usually first and usually for help or information. 'I reached out to the supplier' simply means I got in touch.

Is it 'reached to' or just 'reached'?

When reach means arrive at, use no preposition: we reached the airport. Use reach for when you mean stretch a hand towards something, and reach out to when you mean contact a person.

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