verb
rode
rohd
verb
1
Of a male woodcock, to fly a repeated back-and-forth path over the edge of woodland while calling, as part of its courtship display.
"At dusk you could watch the woodcock rode along the treeline, calling as it went."
noun
1
The rope or chain connecting a boat to its anchor.
"He let out more rode so the anchor would grip the seabed properly."
"The rode had tangled around the propeller during the night."
How to Use Rode
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTwo unrelated specialist meanings: a woodcock's display flight (birdwatching) and the anchor rope on a boat (sailing).
Common mistake
Don't confuse this with rode as the simple past tense of ride — this is a completely different, much rarer word with its own separate meanings.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
roded past tense, rodes plural, rodes singular
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At dusk you could watch the woodcock _____ along the treeline, calling as it went.
Etymology
The place-name and surname sense traces to Old English rodu, meaning "a clearing" — used for a person from a cleared patch of woodland.