rid
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to clear, disencumber, or free of something objectionable (usually followed byof ).
I want to rid the house of mice. In my opinion, you'd be wise to rid yourself of the smoking habit.
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to relieve or disembarrass (usually followed byof ).
to rid the mind of doubt.
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Archaic. to deliver or rescue.
to rid them out of bondage; to rid him from his enemies.
idioms
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be rid of, to be free of or no longer encumbered by.
to be rid of obligations.
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get rid of, to eliminate or discard.
It's time we got rid of this trash.
verb
verb
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(foll by of) to relieve or deliver from something disagreeable or undesirable; make free (of)
to rid a house of mice
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to relieve or free oneself of (something or someone unpleasant or undesirable)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rid
1150–1200; Middle English ridden (v.), Old English ( ge ) ryddan to clear (land); cognate with Old Norse rythja to clear, empty
Explanation
When you clear out or eliminate something you don't want, you rid yourself of it. If even one child is allergic to peanuts, a school will often rid the cafeteria of all food made with peanuts. For years, activists have worked to rid the world of nuclear weapons, while a dieter's priority might be to rid himself of ten extra pounds. Freeing someone from something unwanted is to rid them of it, whether it's ants in their kitchen or stress about their job. In the thirteenth century, rid meant "clear a space, set free, or save," from a Scandinavian root that's related to the Old Norse ryðja, "to clear land of obstructions."
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.
See Examples For:
But maybe the solution is to get rid of it, full stop?
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2026
“If you hold an ETF in a taxable account, the amount of tax you’d pay to switch is prohibitive, and your best option to get rid of it is to drop dead.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Asked on S4C's Y Byd yn ei Le if he would be happy to get rid of the Wales Office, Drakeford said: "Yes, I think the time has come for us to think about that."
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
There’s an industry of professionals who may be able to help you decide which items to get rid of and where they might go.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
One of the tsar’s knights, a bogatyr named Dobrynya, who had come to get rid of Håkon, promised Anya’s mother that he’d send for Papa and have him brought back.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
You will appreciate the richer flavor and be happy to have finally ridded yourself of those unattractive scrambled-egg bits of white that invariably dot your final product when whole eggs are used in your recipe.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2024
"My wife and I both had a really ridded our house as much as possible of single-use plastic," he says.
From Fox News ● Dec. 20, 2021
That may irk some users who thought they’d ridded themselves of the algorithm for good.
From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2018
Bankruptcy ridded Paramount of at least 265 theaters, slashed the value of its properties to $86,000,000, but failed to make it profitable.
From Time Magazine Archive
If Heaven be pleased when sinners cease to sin, If Hell be pleased when sinners enter in, If earth be pleased when ridded of a knave, Then all are pleased for Coleman's in his grave.
From Quaint Epitaphs by Various
Yaroslavsky credits Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program for ridding her district of big homeless encampments, but said more data is needed to ensure the programs are cost-effective.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
So, what if ridding your home of plastic helped you finally get your partner pregnant?
From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2026
The third holds that we’ve come a long way in ridding ourselves of racism—particularly of the institutional kind—but stops short of declaring the bogeyman dead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
"So, we are now colonizing that central space, and the bacterium is essentially ridding the body of the tumor."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 24, 2026
Snow congratulates the Peacekeepers on a masterful job, honors them for ridding the country of the menace called the Mockingjay.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
