reader:
(plural: ‘readers‘)
book readers (book lovers)
a person who reads books and/or enjoys reading books; a book lover; a bibliophile;
a person who reads out good books publicly;
an employee who reads the text, written by a book/story writer, before printing by a publisher, to find out the quality of that text/story;
a proof reader
(at a printing press & usually in combination with another word = proofreader) a person whose job is to read the first copy of any printed matter to check for spelling errors or grammar mistakes before printing the final copy of it;
(in Christian Church & usually in combination with another word = lay reader) a person who is not a priest but is given permission by a bishop to read a part of the church service; and a person who leads a church choir or the group of people in a church in singing the gospel songs; a precentor;
(in Jew religion) a Jewish official who reads the musical part of a service; a cantor;
(on TV or radio = news reader) a person who reads out news on a TV or radio news programme;
a reader (Mike Radford, OBE, a reader at the University of Aberdeen)
(at a British university) a teacher having a position between a senior lecturer and a professor;
(at an American university) a member of the teaching staff who grades students’ papers, marks answer papers, etc. to assist a professor,
Mrs Smith is a good reader; children like to listen to her reading their story books.
My English teacher is a great reader; there is no book unread by him in our library.
When Mr Smith got a job as a reader at the same university where he did his post-graduation, his joy knew no limits.
When a reader finds any spelling errors or grammar mistakes in a text, he immediately marks them and sends a copy to the writer for confirmation, just to make sure that the error was a real error or the writer wants it there that way.
reactionary:
(also ‘reactionist‘; plural: ‘reactionaries‘; the opposite word in meaning: ‘radical‘, ‘socialist’, ‘revolutionary’, etc.)
a person who does not like or approve of any sudden and/or total changes in social, political or economic system;
an extreme right-winger; an ultraconservative; an old-fashioned thinker; a conservative,
reactionaries in the US politics
Political analysts often make contrary statements on politicians, for example, they make a radical out of a challenging and daring young politician who tries to bring about changes, and make a reactionary out of a cautious and calculating senior politician who tries to make do with the existing policies and bring about any change gradually.
[For an interesting article on reactionary, you may visit: http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2007/07/fair-warning-reactionary-hawaii.html.]
raver:
(plural: ‘ravers‘; pronunciation: the letter ‘a’ rhymes with the letter ‘a’ in “rate”)
a party of ravers
a person who speaks in a loud and imposing or violent manner; a ranter;
a person who leads or likes to have an exciting life, especially a modern person with social and sexual freedom;
a person who likes rave music and attends rave dancing parties (‘rave’, in this context = loud, exciting and all-night music party)’
We thought our guest speaker was an orator, but, to our astonishment, he proved himself to be a raver; speaking loudly and with lot of excitement but with no substance!
Being raver, Mathews spent all his wealth on physical pleasures, and he now regrets being a raver, wasting his money and time on wine and sex.
In some neighbourhoods, ravers and rave dancing parties are treated as a public nuisance; however, the rave culture is fast spreading all over the world, including the underdeveloped countries.
[Return to "ranter".]
rationalist:
(plural: ‘rationalists‘)
a rationalist from India, Sanal Edamaruku
a person who bases his/her opinion and actions on reason and facts that can be observed rather than on feelings or on religious beliefs,
Some rationalists in India and other parts of Asia have challenged the so called astrologers and spiritual gurus, and have won their point before the general public. They have done this with the aim that masses must develop a sense of rationalism rather than blind belief.
Rationalists, like ethicists, have very hard time convincing the gullible people to look at things in a practical way but not in a blind faith.
[For interesting articles on rationalists and rationalism, please visit: http://www.rationalistinternational.net/conferences/2000/citation.html &
http://indianrationalists.blogspot.com/2006/12/satya-sai-baba-and-president-p-j-abdul.html &
rating:
(plural: ‘ratings‘)
(in British Navy) an ordinary sailor (not an officer); a seaman,
a rating (British Royal Navy seaman/sailor)
After retiring from the Navy, most ratings buy a boat or yacht and set up a business of their own that has something to do with sea and travel.
ratepayer:
(plural: ‘ratepayers‘)
{‘rate’, in this context = a kind of tax a land/house owner must pay for owning his/her land, buildings, etc. (property tax) to the local authority, and an amount of money each person pays for using public utilities in a local area}
a ratepayer
(mostly in the UK) a person who pays local taxes on property (household);
a person who uses a public utility, such as electricity, water, communication, etc. and pays money (tax) according to the amount of service used,
a couple of troubled ratepayers in Australia
Most ratepayers never like the local authorities using their funds for other purposes.
[For interesting articles on ratepayers, you may visit: http://www.hayriverhub.com/2010/12/ratepayers-association-failure-to-communicate/ & http://www.clearskyadvisors.com/499/why-ontario%E2%80%99s-clean-energy-benefit-makes-sense-%E2%80%93-sort-of/.]
rat:
(plural: ‘rats‘)
Apart from the most common meaning — an animal …
a rat
a very dishonest, immoral person;
a worker who works or tries to work while the other workers go on strike;
(in American usage) an informer, i.e. a petty criminal who gives the information to the police about other criminals or his own people for money; a stool pigeon;
a person who leaves his friends or family and goes away, especially when those people are in trouble,
a rat (L) passing on information to a policeman (a female informer with a police officer)
The police have two very good rats among the criminal gangs. (i.e. two very good informers who give important information regarding the activities of the gangs)
Robert was not allowed to attend the party because he usually behaved like a rat. (i.e. Robert behaves like an indecent person so he was not allowed to attend the party)
The labour unions are very particular about the rats, and punish them whenever they get a chance. (i.e. labour unions do not tolerate those workers who try to work during a union strike in a factory, company, etc.)
[Return to "rat -- figures of speech" in Animals in Language.]
rascal:
(plural: ‘rascals‘; pronunciation: the letter ‘c’ is said with a ‘k’ sound as in “king”)
a rascal of the neighbour
a dishonest, indecent person; a cheat;
a person who does some silly things (mischievous deeds/activities);
(an affectionate word for a child or an old man);
(less commonly) a person who is from a poor or low family status,
a gang of rascals, damaging a neighbour’s car
The old woman kept a watchful eye on the neighbourhood rascals who she thought would pluck flowers from her garden.
This hotel is a decent one; no rascal is allowed to enter it.
rapist:
(also less commonly: ‘raper‘; plural: ‘rapists‘)
{‘to rape’ = to physically force somebody into having sex}
a rapist with his victim (Billy Adams accused of raping/abusing his niece several times)
a person who physically forces another person — man or woman or both — to make love (to have sex) with him/her,
Most people think that a man who forces a woman into having sex is a rapist, but, technically, any person — man or woman — who forces another person — man or woman — is a rapist.
The police are looking for a child rapist who is believed to have raped some ten 10-13 year old children!
ranter:
(plural: ‘ranters‘)
{‘to rant’ = to talk or write in an angry, wild, violent or loud manner}
a ranter speaking out his mind in a loud manner
a person who speaks or writes on an issue, usually something bad that is happening in the society, in an angry or wild manner, using harsh words;
a noisy talker; a raver,
a ranter
We find a lot of ranters ranting about corruption these days, but the fact is that those ranters are the first to encourage bribery when it comes to getting their personal favours done by public officials or politicians.
Most ranters on blogs and vlogs are those who are fed up with the political, educational and financial systems in the present society and they sincerely believe that they are bringing some change in the minds of Internet browsers.
