Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - reach

~1 v 1 »ARRIVE« to arrive at a particular place, especially when it has taken a long time or a lot of effort to get there  (It was a relief to reach the safety of our home at last. | Your letter reached me yesterday.) 2 »WITH YOUR HAND« a) I always + adv/prep, T always + adv/prep to move your hand or arm in order to touch, hold, or pick up something + for/in/over etc  (I saw Kelly reach for the gun.) reach out a hand  (One of the men suddenly reached out a hand and grabbed my arm.) b) T not in progressive to succeed in touching something by stretching out your hand or arm, especially something that is above your head  (Even when I stood on tiptoe I couldn't reach the top shelf. | We picked all the fruit we could reach.) c) »TAKE STH/PICK STH UP« to take or pick up something by stretching your arm, especially over your head  (reach sth down)  (She reached down a can of peaches from the top shelf.) 3 »LEVEL/STANDARD« to increase, improve, or develop to a particular level or standard over a period of time  (These plants take a long time to reach maturity. | wind speeds reaching over 100 mph) 4 »ACHIEVE AN AIM« to succeed in doing what you were trying to do  (reach a decision/agreement/result etc)  (After two years of negotiations, the warring parties have finally reached a settlement.) 5 »LENGTH/HEIGHT« I always + adv/prep, T not in progressive to be big enough, long enough, or high enough to get to a particular point or level  (The flood waters reached the lower floor of the houses. | reach as far as/down to)  (Her skirt reaches down to her ankles.) 6 »SPEAK TO SB« to speak to someone or leave a message for them, especially by telephone; contact2  (Here's my phone number, in case you need to reach me.) 7 »BE SEEN/HEARD BY SB« if a message, television programme etc reaches a lot of people, they hear it or see it  (The sales campaign reached a target audience of 12,000 women.) 8 reach for the stars to aim for something that is very difficult to achieve  ( USAGE NOTE: REACH WORD CHOICE reach, arrive, get to, achieve, catch To arrive somewhere is to come to it after travelling Sam usually arrives home from work at 5.15. | What time does the train arrive? Reach suggests more time or effort is involved At last we reached the base camp. In spoken English people usually use get to You can easily get to the city centre from here. If a train, bus, plane etc arrives, you say get in The bus gets in at four-thirty. Note that you get/arrive/reach etc home (NOT to home). You may reach a standard or level, especially through your own efforts, but achieve is often a better word I want to reach/achieve a good level of English | He achieved his aim in life - to write a book (NOT reached). If you get to a bus, train etc just in time, you catch it You'd better hurry if you want to catch that bus. GRAMMAR You reach a place (NOT reach at or reach to it) He reached Tokyo at 5 am. You arrive at a particular place, town, or building We arrived at the station at midnight. | What time will they arrive at his house? You arrive in a country or a big city arrive in London/Tokyo/France Sometimes you do not need a prep at all When will they arrive there/here/home? ) ~2 n 1 the distance that you can stretch out your arm to touch something  (a boxer with a long reach | out of reach/beyond reach)  (The cat jumped away, out of his reach. | within reach)  (Adjust the car seat so that all the controls are within reach.) 2 the limit to which someone or something can have a power or influence  (beyond the reach of)  (He lives in Paraguay, beyond the reach of the British authorities.) 3 within (easy) reach of within a distance that you can easily travel  (All the main tourist attractions are within easy reach of the hotel.) 4 a straight part of a river between two bends