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  • weed
    weed
    noun
    a valueless plant growing wild, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop.
  • Weed
    Weed
    noun
    Thurlow 1797–1882, U.S. journalist and politician.
Synonyms

weed

1 American  
[weed] / wid /

noun

  1. a valueless plant growing wild, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop.

  2. any undesirable or troublesome plant, especially one that grows profusely where it is not wanted.

    The vacant lot was covered with weeds.

  3. Informal. a cigarette or cigar.

  4. Slang. a marijuana cigarette.

  5. a thin, ungainly person or animal.

  6. a wretched or useless animal, especially a horse unfit for racing or breeding purposes.

  7. the weed,

    1. Informal. tobacco.

    2. Slang. marijuana.


verb (used with object)

weeds, present (3rd person singular) weeded, past participle, past weeding present participle
  1. to free from weeds or troublesome plants; root out weeds from.

    to weed a garden.

  2. to root out or remove (a weed or weeds), as from a garden (often followed byout ).

    to weed out crab grass from a lawn.

  3. to remove as being undesirable, inefficient, or superfluous (often followed byout ).

    to weed out inexperienced players.

  4. to rid (something) of undesirable or superfluous elements.

verb (used without object)

weeds, present (3rd person singular) weeded, past participle, past weeding present participle
  1. to remove weeds or the like.

idioms

  1. (deep) in / into the weeds, Also in deep weeds

    1. (of a restaurant worker) overwhelmed and falling behind in serving customers.

      Our waitress was so deep in the weeds that we waited 40 minutes for our burgers.

    2. in trouble; overwhelmed by problems.

      He knows our marriage is in deep weeds.

    3. involved in the details.

      I’m in the weeds of planning my wedding.

weed 2 American  
[weed] / wid /

noun

  1. weeds, mourning garments.

    widow's weeds.

  2. a mourning band of black crepe or cloth, as worn on a man's hat or coat sleeve.

  3. Archaic. Often weeds

    1. a garment.

      clad in rustic weeds.

    2. clothing.


Weed 3 American  
[weed] / wid /

noun

  1. Thurlow 1797–1882, U.S. journalist and politician.


weed 1 British  
/ wiːd /

noun

  1. any plant that grows wild and profusely, esp one that grows among cultivated plants, depriving them of space, food, etc

  2. slang

    1. tobacco

    2. marijuana

  3. informal a thin or unprepossessing person

  4. an inferior horse, esp one showing signs of weakness of constitution

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to remove (useless or troublesome plants) from (a garden, etc)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
weed 2 British  
/ wiːd /

noun

  1. rare a black crepe band worn to indicate mourning See also weeds

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of weed1

First recorded before 900; Middle English wed(e), weid, Old English wēod; cognate with Old Saxon wiod “weed,” Middle Dutch wiet “fern”

Origin of weed2

First recorded before 900; Middle English wed(e), Old English (ge)wǣde, wǣde “garment, clothing”; cognate with Old Saxon wād, gewādi, Old High German wāt, gewāti; cf. wadmal

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Or as Laurie Metcalf’s Weed makes clear in her hilarious monologue before the Central Park gig.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

“This does not appear to reduce the potential cybersecurity sector tailwinds” from generative AI and large language models, Weed wrote.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026

Weed pollen will also start to play a part from June until September.

From BBC • May 30, 2025

Universal and Mattel have tapped Akiva Goldsman — an Oscar-winning screenwriter known for “A Beautiful Mind” and “Cinderella Man” — to produce the picture under his banner, Weed Road.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2024

In other news, the Weed continues to send useless updates of his trials in the kingdom of the goblins.

From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

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