to marry (another person) in a formal ceremony.
to unite (a couple) in marriage or wedlock; marry.
to bind by close or lasting ties; attach firmly.
She wedded herself to the cause of economic justice.
to blend together or unite inseparably.
a novel that weds style and content perfectly.
to contract marriage; marry.
to become united or to blend.
a building that will wed with the landscape.
contraction of we had:
Sometimes I wish we'd bought a bigger house.
contraction of we would:
Of course we'd be happy to donate to the school's fundraiser.
to take (a person of the opposite sex) as a husband or wife; marry
(tr) to join (two people) in matrimony
(tr) to unite closely
See contraction.
First recorded before 900; Middle English wedde, Old English weddian “to pledge, marry, get married”; cognate with German wetten “to bet,” Old Norse vethja “to pledge”
To wed is to get married to someone. Your dream might be to wed your dream spouse in Hawaii some day. The verb wed is mainly used in a formal context — marry is more common. You can also use either word to mean "join in marriage" or "perform a marriage ceremony," like when the Archbishop of Canterbury weds members of British royalty. Wed shares a Germanic root with words in various languages meaning "pledge," but also "bet or wager."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“If that had been a bust, I don’t know what would have happened. We’d have been set back a decade or more in terms of developing the sport at the highest level.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
"We all know how that turned out but it meant everyone could enjoy it and start back up at lunchtime. We'd happily do the same again."
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
We’d get a cocktail, listen to the band and hang out.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
"We'd like to use gravity waves to tell us if a storm is intensifying," Alexander said, "which can be difficult to know, especially over the open ocean."
From Science Daily • Jun. 3, 2026
We’d be more OK on time if she’d scraped her hair into a ponytail and skipped the makeup, but that’s a useless thought to have when we’re less than thirty minutes out from exam time.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Definitions 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.
