weed

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A wild plant growing where it is not wanted, especially among crops or in a garden.

   I spent the morning pulling weeds out of the flower bed.

2. 2
   verb

   To remove unwanted wild plants from a garden or field.

   She weeded the vegetable patch before planting the seeds.

3. 3
   verb

   To remove people or things that are not wanted from a group (usually with 'out').

   The first interview is used to weed out the weakest applicants.

From Scots weid, weed. The longer form weidinonfa, wytenonfa (Old Scots wedonynpha) is attested since the 1500s. Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language analyses the longer form as a compound meaning "onfa(ll) of a weed", whereas the Scottish National Dictionary/DSL considers the short form a derivative of the longer form, and derives its first element from Old English wēdan (“to be mad or delirious”), from wōd (“mad, enraged”).

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