The word Rod may have one of the following meanings.

• A rod is a straight and slender stick; a wand; a cylinder hence, any slender bar, as of wood or metal (applied to various purposes). (Example: Cuisenaire rods)
• Rods are light-sensitive cells in the retina of the eye. See rod cell.
• The rod is an Imperial unit of length, also known as the pole or perch. It is equal to 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet; 5.029 metres.
• The rod is supposedly a species of creature that flits about in the air at such a high speed as to not be seen by the naked eye, but which can be caught on video. See: Rod (cryptozoology).
• Edouard Rod was a French-Swiss novelist, 1857-1910.
• Rod was a Slavic god
• Rod is a character in the stage musical Avenue Q