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
“You have said that you would get rid of him before the Olympics. What worries me about that is, I don’t think you have any idea what it takes to identify a police chief.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 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
Now Sam was kind of wondering about how you would get rid of a cat that was turning you into a Sneezy and a Grumpy.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
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
In my youth it was the best part of the year down south because the great breaks could be ridded early and late in the day with few others around.
From Time Magazine Archive
A very few days inhabitancy where Master Roy was of the party, had assured this lady that the page must be ridded.
From The Forest Lovers by Maurice Henry Hewlett
Roggatz, 35, dutifully got to work ridding his grass of the gifts from his dogs, Django and Scout, with a plastic bag pinched between his fingers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
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, we are now colonizing that central space, and the bacterium is essentially ridding the body of the tumor."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 24, 2026
In fall 2024, many of us were ridding our kitchens of a very common utensil, thanks to a piece in the Atlantic that instructed us to, “Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula.”
From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2026
I thought about explaining to her my mother’s ingenious method of ridding the house of roaches— cracker crumbs and marshmallow—but then I thought, This is June, forget it.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
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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.
