weed
noun
a valueless plant growing wild, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop.
weed
1 American
[weed]
/ wid /
noun
-
a valueless plant growing wild, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop.
-
any undesirable or troublesome plant, especially one that grows profusely where it is not wanted.
The vacant lot was covered with weeds.
-
Informal. a cigarette or cigar.
-
Slang. a marijuana cigarette.
-
a thin, ungainly person or animal.
-
a wretched or useless animal, especially a horse unfit for racing or breeding purposes.
-
the weed,
verb (used with object)
-
weeds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
weeded,
past participle, past
-
weeding
present participle
-
to free from weeds or troublesome plants; root out weeds from.
to weed a garden.
-
to root out or remove (a weed or weeds), as from a garden (often followed byout ).
to weed out crab grass from a lawn.
-
to remove as being undesirable, inefficient, or superfluous (often followed byout ).
to weed out inexperienced players.
-
to rid (something) of undesirable or superfluous elements.
verb (used without object)
-
weeds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
weeded,
past participle, past
-
weeding
present participle
idioms
weed
2
American
[weed]
/ wid /
noun
-
weeds, mourning garments.
widow's weeds.
-
a mourning band of black crepe or cloth, as worn on a man's hat or coat sleeve.
-
Archaic. Often weeds
-
a garment.
clad in rustic weeds.
-
clothing.
-
Weed
3
American
[weed]
/ wid /
noun
weed
1
British
/ wiːd /
noun
-
any plant that grows wild and profusely, esp one that grows among cultivated plants, depriving them of space, food, etc
-
slang
-
tobacco
-
marijuana
-
-
informal a thin or unprepossessing person
-
an inferior horse, esp one showing signs of weakness of constitution
verb
weed
2
British
/ wiːd /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
weedsimple
-
weedssimple
-
have weededperfect
-
has weededperfect
-
am weedingprogressive
-
are weedingprogressive
-
is weedingprogressive
-
have been weedingperfect progressive
-
has been weedingperfect progressive
Past
-
weededsimple
-
had weededperfect
-
was weedingprogressive
-
were weedingprogressive
-
had been weedingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
The row centres over a mammoth exercise to update electoral rolls nationwide - the commission has said it's a routine exercise to weed out dead, duplicate or ineligible voters.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
It uses high-speed cameras connected to an AI database of weed images to identify the weeds in Kokemiller’s fields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Weingart also sees maintaining healthy soil, with limited weed growth competing for water, as an important way of helping vines cope with extreme heat and drought.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
So don’t weed your garden and pull them out.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
But here, on the Test, there were no submerged branches and no gravel spits or beds of weed above the surface at all.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
One reason Weed sees upside for Zscaler is that the company is emerging from a transition into a new sales model — a process that initially cost it some customers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
As a result, enterprise software companies are increasingly doubling down on cybersecurity, according to Bernstein’s Weed.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 2, 2026
Or as Laurie Metcalf’s Weed makes clear in her hilarious monologue before the Central Park gig.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
“The only thing Claude is good at, writing software, means very little,” Bernstein’s Peter Weed said in a note to clients.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 23, 2026
David cut it short: “But! But. What that means is, both Riker and Weed probably suspect someone’s onto them, and they probably suspect that someone is us.”
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
A tiny stream now trickles through the weeds on the lake bed.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
Which weeds are safe to eat and how to boil them has become a topic of discussion on local Telegram messaging chats, along with calls between residents to sell, swap or share pieces of food.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
He’s wading into the weeds by spending time in the field to understand what is, and isn’t, working.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The LCD screens outside the Denver Nuggets basketball arena continue to flicker, although weeds and wolves have overrun the fast-food joints in a bit of postapocalyptic product placement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
And so the anger and sadness continue to grow inside me like weeds, leaving no room for my heart to feel joy.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
Eventually, AI holdouts will either get onboard or get weeded out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
The long biotech winter cleaned up the sector: Many biotech companies that went public too early during the COVID-inspired biotech frenzy got weeded out by the sector’s subsequent weakness, Renna says.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2025
The design process also weeded out anything that looked too similar to current antibiotics.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025
It seems as though all of these people ultimately had second thoughts and decided against taking part, or were weeded out by voir dire.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2024
Some built new mounds or maintained the old; others hauled wood for fuel and houses or carried water in leather pouches or weeded the maize fields with stone hoes.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
DraftKings and FanDuel, which dominate the sportsbook industry, have faced backlash for weeding out players who win too often and catering heavily to their biggest losers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Fast-spreading pioneer and weeding ferns created extensive fern savannahs.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
In a policy document, the Cabinet Office said salary information would help jobseekers make informed application decisions, and improve the hiring process for companies by weeding out candidates with "misaligned pay expectations".
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Habiba, who spoke to AFP while busy weeding, is proud to have been farming in Nuristan province for decades.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Rooster Jim waved and, with a groan, straightened himself to a stand from the patch of garden he was weeding.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
