weeding

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The removal of weeds, or the process of clearing unwanted plants from cultivated ground.

   The gardener scheduled weeding for early morning before the heat set in.

   Hours of weeding left her hands stained green and her back aching.

   Note

   As a true noun it can be counted: weedings are separate rounds of the job, so a garden can need regular weedings. That plural is the easiest way to tell it from the gerund. The noun takes adjectives and articles (a thorough weeding), while the gerund takes a direct object (weeding the orchard).

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of weed.

   They were weeding the community garden when the rain finally started.

   Weeding the orchard kept the volunteers busy all weekend.

   Note

   The -ing form carries every sense of the verb, not just the garden one. Librarians speak of weeding a collection by set criteria, and figuratively someone can be weeding the best pieces out of a hoard. After a form of be it is a participle (they were weeding); as a subject it works as a gerund. It has no connection to the weed that serves as the past tense of wee.

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