weed

B2 Topic:Gardening & Horticulture

US /wiːd/ See IPA manual

Freq #4051

Meanings

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

verb
To remove unwanted wild plants from a garden or field.

She weeded the vegetable patch before planting the seeds.
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.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms weededweedingweedsweedy

Derived forms agueweedantiweedashweedassweedbaconweedbalsamweedbasilweedbeanweedbeetleweedbeggarweedbillygoat-weedbindweed

Related forms weeds

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

pickerel weed
a North American aquatic plant with upright clusters of blue flowers

Noun + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Etymology

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”).

weid sco wēdan Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Gardening & Horticulture Plants & Agriculture

External links

# weed

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /wiːd/
**Frequency rank:** 4051

## Meanings
1. A wild plant growing where it is not wanted, especially among crops or in a garden.
2. To remove unwanted wild plants from a garden or field.
3. To remove people or things that are not wanted from a group (usually with 'out').

## Examples
- I spent the morning pulling weeds out of the flower bed.
- She weeded the vegetable patch before planting the seeds.
- The first interview is used to weed out the weakest applicants.

## Derived Forms
- agueweed
- antiweed
- ashweed
- assweed
- baconweed
- balsamweed
- basilweed
- beanweed
- beetleweed
- beggarweed
- billygoat-weed
- bindweed

## Related Forms
- weeds

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: weid
- Root: wēdan

## Etymology
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”).

## AI Etymology
Weed is 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”). In present-day use, it can mean a wild plant growing where it is not wanted, especially among crops or in a garden, or to remove unwanted wild plants from a garden or field.

## Topics
- Gardening & Horticulture
- Plants & Agriculture

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