ROD

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English ~d; akin to Old Norse rudda club Date: before 12th century 1. a. a straight slender stick growing on or cut from a tree or bush, osier , a stick or bundle of twigs used to punish, a shepherd's cudgel, a pole with a line and usually a reel attached for fishing, b. a slender bar (as of wood or metal), a bar or staff for measuring, scepter , 2. a unit of length, a square ~, any of the long ~-shaped photosensitive receptors in the retina responsive to faint light, a ~-shaped bacterium, handgun , ~less adjective ~like adjective