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Reach vs Ability - What's the difference?

reach | ability |

As an acronym reach

is .

As a noun ability is

(obsolete) suitableness .

reach

English

Verb

(es)
  • To extend; to stretch; to thrust out; to put forth, as a limb, a member, something held, or the like.
  • Hence, to deliver by stretching out a member, especially the hand; to give with the hand; to pass to another; to hand over.
  • To attain or obtain by stretching forth the hand; to extend some part of the body, or something held by one, so as to touch, strike, grasp, etc.
  • To strike or touch with a missile.
  • Hence, to extend an action, effort, or influence to; to penetrate to; to pierce, or cut, as far as.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.}}
  • To extend to; to stretch out as far as; to touch by virtue of extent.
  • * Milton
    • Thy desire leads to no excess / That reaches blame.
  • To arrive at by effort of any kind; to attain to; to gain; to be advanced to.
  • * Cheyne
    • The best account of the appearances of nature which human penetration can reach , comes short of its reality.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,
  • (obsolete) To understand; to comprehend.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
    • Do what, sir? I reach you not.
  • (obsolete) To overreach; to deceive.
    • (South)
  • To stretch out the hand.
  • To strain after something; to make efforts.
  • To extend in dimension, time etc.; to stretch out continuously ((past), (beyond), (above), (from) etc. something).
  • * 1994 , Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom , Abacus 2010, p. 4:
    • The Thembu tribe reaches back for twenty generations to King Zwide.
  • (nautical) To sail on the wind, as from one point of tacking to another, or with the wind nearly abeam.

    • Usage notes

    * In the past, raught'', ''rought'' and ''retcht could be found as past tense forms; these are now obsolete, except perhaps in some dialects.

    Derived terms

    * far-reaching * forereach * outreach * overreach * reachable * reach an early grave * reach for the stars * rereach *

    Noun

    (es)
  • The act of stretching or extending; extension; power of reaching or touching with the person, or a limb, or something held or thrown.
    • The fruit is beyond my reach .
    to be within reach of cannon shot
  • * 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter VI
    • and we have learned not to fire at any of the dinosaurs unless we can keep out of their reach for at least two minutes after hitting them in the brain or spine, or five minutes after puncturing their hearts—it takes them so long to die.
  • The power of stretching out or extending action, influence, or the like; power of attainment or management; extent of force or capacity.
  • * Hayward
    • Drawn by others who had deeper reaches than themselves to matters which they least intended.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Be sure yourself and your own reach to know.
  • Extent; stretch; expanse; hence, application; influence; result; scope.
  • * Milton
    • And on the left hand, hell, / With long reach , interposed.
  • * Shakespeare
    • I am to pray you not to strain my speech / To grosser issues, nor to larger reach / Than to suspicion.
  • (informal) An exaggeration; an extension beyond evidence or normal; a stretch.
    • To call George eloquent is certainly a reach .
  • (boxing) The distance a boxer's arm can extend to land a blow.
  • An extended portion of land or water; a stretch; a straight portion of a stream or river, as from one turn to another; a level stretch, as between locks in a canal; an arm of the sea extending up into the land.
  • * Tennyson
    • The river's wooded reach .
  • * Holland
    • The coast is very full of creeks and reaches .
  • (nautical) Any point of sail in which the wind comes from the side of a vessel, excluding close-hauled.
  • (obsolete) An article to obtain an advantage.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • The Duke of Parma had particular reaches and ends of his own underhand to cross the design.
  • The pole or rod connecting the rear axle with the forward bolster of a wagon.
  • An effort to vomit; a retching.

    • Derived terms

    * arm's reach * beam reach * boardinghouse reach * broad reach * dry reach * earreach * eyereach * gunreach * reach-around * reachless

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----

    ability

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (obsolete) hability

    Noun

  • (obsolete) Suitableness.
  • (uncountable) The quality or state of being able; capacity to do; capacity of doing something; having the necessary power.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
    • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title=[http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/jul/01/education-michael-gove-finland-gcse Finland spreads word on schools] , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}
  • The legal wherewithal to act.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title=[http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21579860-g8-pledges-tackle-three-ts-t-time T time] , passage=The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.}}
  • (archaic) Financial ability.
  • (uncountable) A unique power of the mind; a faculty.
  • * (rfdate) (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
    • Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study -
  • (countable) A skill or competence in doing; mental power; talent; aptitude.
  • * (rfdate) (King James Bible) , (w) 11:29
    • Then the disciples, every man according to his ability , determined to send relief unto the brethren.
  • * (rfdate) (1800-1859)
    • The public men of England, with much of a peculiar kind of ability
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph
    • , title=[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/8882713/England-Under-21-5-Iceland-Under-21-0-match-report.html England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report] , passage=The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.}}

    Usage notes

    * (skill or competence) Usually used in the plural. * Ability, capacity : these words come into comparison when applied to the higher intellectual powers. ** Ability has reference to the active'' exercise of our faculties. It implies not only native vigor of mind, but that ease and promptitude of execution which arise from mental training. Thus, we speak of the ''ability'' with which a book is written, an argument maintained, a negotiation carried on, etc. It always supposes something to be ''done'',George Crabb, 1826, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YEgSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13 English synonymes explained in alphabetical order]'', Collins & Hannay, page 13 and the power of ''doing it. ** Capacity has reference to the receptive'' powers. In its higher exercises it supposes great quickness of apprehension and breadth of intellect, with an uncommon aptitude for acquiring]] and retaining knowledge. Hence it carries with it the idea of ''resources'' and undeveloped power. Thus we speak of the extraordinary ''capacity'' of such men as , and [[w:Edmund Burke, Edmund Burke. "''Capacity''," says H. Taylor, "is requisite to devise, and ''ability to execute, a great enterprise." * The word abilities , in the plural, embraces both these qualities, and denotes high mental endowments.

    Synonyms

    * (quality or state of being able) capacity, faculty, capability * (a skill or competence) See * (high level of skill or capability) talent, cleverness, dexterity, aptitude * (suitability or receptiveness to be acted upon) capability, faculty, capacity, aptness, aptitude

    Related terms

    *

    External links

    * *

    References