# weed

Pronunciation: say "WEED" /wiːd/

## Noun

1. A plant growing where it is not wanted, especially among cultivated crops or in a lawn.
   - Simple: A wild plant that grows where it isn't wanted, such as in a garden or field.
   - _A single weed can spread seeds across an entire lawn._
   - _Farmers spend hours removing weeds from between the crop rows._
2. Cannabis, especially as a drug made from the dried leaves and flowers of the plant, typically smoked. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Cannabis: a drug made from a plant that people smoke to feel relaxed or high.
   - _Several states have legalized weed for recreational use._
   - _She grows a little weed at home for personal use._
4. Tobacco, considered as something that people smoke. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Tobacco: the dried plant leaves smoked in pipes, cigars, or cigarettes.
   - _Many old sailors were devoted to the weed, smoking their pipes through long voyages._
   - _He kept a tin of the weed on the mantel for his evening pipe._
5. Something useless, unprofitable, or troublesome; a thing of no value.
   - Simple: A useless or troublesome thing that brings no benefit.
   - _The committee treated the outdated rule as a weed to be uprooted._
   - _Among all his ventures, that one was a weed that yielded nothing._
6. A puny or feeble person; someone with little physical strength. *(colloquial, British)*
   - Simple: A weak person who has very little physical strength.
   - _The other boys teased him for being a weed who couldn't climb the rope._
   - _She refused to be seen as a weed and took up weightlifting._
9. A weak or poorly formed horse, regarded as unfit to breed from.
   - Simple: A weak horse that is not strong enough to breed from.
   - _The breeder refused to keep a weed anywhere near his prize mares._
   - _Several weeds were quietly culled from the herd before the auction._
10. Ellipsis of duckweed. — Ellipsis of duckweed.
   - Simple: Short form of duckweed. The tiny green plants that float on still water.
   - _A thin film of weed spread across the still water of the millpond._
   - _By midsummer the pond was completely choked with weed._
18. A sudden illness or relapse, often with fever, affecting those about to give birth, giving birth, or who have recently given birth or lost a pregnancy. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: A sudden sickness, often with fever, that strikes a woman around the time of childbirth.
   - _Many young mothers succumbed to the weed within days of their delivery._
   - _The physician noted that the weed had taken hold soon after her labor._
19. Lymphangitis affecting a horse; inflammation of the lymph vessels, usually in a leg, causing swelling, heat, and lameness. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: A horse disease that makes a leg swell up and become hot and sore.
   - _After standing idle for days, the gelding developed weed in one hind leg._
   - _Rest and cold water helped reduce the weed in the mare's swollen limb._

## Verb

3. To clear unwanted plants from a garden, lawn, or field so cultivated plants can thrive.
   - Simple: To pull out wild plants from a garden or yard so the good plants can grow.
   - _Volunteers weed the community plots throughout the growing season._
   - _She spent the morning weeding the gravel driveway._
7. To pick out and quietly steal the best items from a collection.
   - Simple: To secretly take the best things out of a group or set.
   - _Staff would weed the new shipments, keeping the rarest items for themselves._
   - _She weeded the estate sale, slipping the best jewelry into her bag._
8. To systematically remove books or other materials from a library collection according to set criteria.
   - Simple: To take books and other items out of a library when they are no longer needed.
   - _Staff weed the reference collection annually, removing outdated editions._
   - _The branch weeded its periodicals to free up shelf space._
20. Simple past and past participle of wee. Informal, chiefly British. *(colloquial, UK)* — simple past and past participle of wee
   - Simple: Past tense and past participle of wee. An informal, mostly British word: Americans usually say peed.
   - _The child weed behind a tree partway through the long walk home._
   - _He realized with embarrassment that he had weed in his sleep._

## Noun

11. Mourning clothing worn by a woman, especially the black garments of a widow, known as widow's weeds. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The dark clothing a woman wears while mourning, especially a widow.
12. A cigar, a tightly rolled bundle of cured tobacco leaves made for smoking. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old-fashioned word for a cigar, the rolled tobacco leaves people smoke.
13. An item of clothing or a badge worn as an outward sign of grief, such as a mourning garment. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A piece of dark clothing or a badge worn to show grief over a death.
   - _She appeared at the service in a single black weed, marking her recent loss._
   - _The mourners gathered at the graveside, each in the customary weeds of bereavement._
14. Clothing regarded as a whole; clothes or dress taken collectively. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Clothes in general, or all the things a person wears.
   - _He dressed in humble weed befitting a wandering monk._
   - _The courtiers paraded through the hall in their richest weeds._
15. A garment or single article of clothing. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A single piece of clothing.
   - _He cast off his outer weed and waded into the cold river._
   - _The cedar chest held several fine weeds of silk and linen._
16. A band of material worn around the crown of a hat, often as a sign of mourning. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A band of cloth worn around a hat.
   - _A wide silk weed encircled his tall black hat._
   - _The undertaker supplied weeds for every mourner's hat at the door._
17. Underbrush; the low-growing shrubs and undergrowth that cover open ground. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Low bushes and small plants growing close to the ground.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 4–6, 9–10, 12, 17** — From Middle English weed, from Old English wēod ("weed"), from Proto-West Germanic *weud. It is related to Dutch wied ("unwanted plant, weed") and Old High German wiota ("fern").
**Meanings 3, 7–8** — From Middle English weeden, from Old English wēodian ("to weed"), from Proto-Germanic *weudōną ("to uproot, weed"). It is related to Dutch wieden ("to weed") and West Frisian wjûde.
**Meanings 11, 13–16** — From Middle English wede, from Old English wǣd ("dress, attire, garment"), from Proto-Germanic *wēdiz. It is related to German Wat.
**Meanings 18–19** — From Scots weid, weed. The longer form weidinonfa is attested since the 1500s; Jamieson analyses it as a compound meaning "onfa(ll) of a weed", while the Scottish National Dictionary treats the short form as a derivative and traces its first element to Old English wēdan ("to be mad or delirious"), from wōd ("mad, enraged").
**Meaning 20** — From the verb wee.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/weed (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).