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I read in a newspaper the following heading for an article:

Reach eye care to rural areas: Governor

Is it correct usage of the word reach?

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1 Answer

up vote 6 down vote accepted

The verb reach is being used here as a synonym for extend, but not in a way that you would see it in standard writing.

A better way to phrase the headline without rearranging it would be

Extend eye care to rural areas: Governor

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Also fine: "Make eye care reach rural areas: Governor", "Reach rural areas with eye care: Governor", or "Eye care should reach rural areas: Governor". – David Schwartz Jan 26 '12 at 7:51
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‘Reach’ is an alternative to ‘extend’ in some contexts, but none of the M-W examples is on the pattern ‘reach something to something’ and I have been able to find any citations supporting such use in the OED. – Barrie England Jan 26 '12 at 8:22
@BarrieEngland Thanks, I changed my answer to note standard usage. – Gnawme Jan 26 '12 at 8:26
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X can reach to Y, and X can reach Y, but X cannot reach Y to Z. – Karl Knechtel Jan 26 '12 at 10:58

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