See Also: SEA WEED(law)
weed(encyclopedia)
weed(4)(dictionary)
weed(3)(dictionary)
weed(2)(dictionary)
weed(1)(dictionary)
joe-pye weed(dictionary)
yaw-weed(medicine)
joe-pye weed(medicine)
Weed(medicine)

weed(4) (iou)



weed verb1. [wi:d]
[Old English weodian, corresp. to Old Saxon wiodon, Middle & mod. Low German weden, Middle & mod. Dutch wieden, from WEED noun1.]
verb intrans. Clear an area of weeds; uproot or cut down weeds. OE.
Julia Hamilton He had seen Macindoe in the border weeding.
verb trans. Free (an area, a crop, etc.) from weeds. ME.
R. L. Stevenson The alleys..were smoothed and weeded like a boulevard.
b. fig. Remove unwanted or harmful elements from. LME.
J. A. Froude The Senate was..weeded of..its disreputable members.
verb trans. Remove (weeds) from land, esp. from cultivated land or from a crop. Also foll. by out. LME.
b. fig. Eradicate (errors, faults, sins, etc.); remove (a thing or person) as harmful or useless. Usu. foll. by out, away. E16.
Atlantic The FDA's testing hurdles..weed out most unsafe or ineffective drugs.
c. transf. Remove (vermin, destructive animals). rare (Shakes.). Only in L16.
a. verb trans. Clear away (plants, not necessarily harmful or useless ones); thin out (plants or trees). rare. M16.
b. verb trans. & intrans. Foll. by away: carry off by death or die. Scot. (chiefly literary). M18.
c. verb trans. Remove (inferior or unwanted individuals) from a company, herd, etc. Freq. foll. by out. M19.
Racing Pigeon Pictorial It is important to weed out the poor birds that will..crop up with inbreeding.
d. verb intrans. & trans. Foll. by down: reduce (a group of people) by selection. L19.
e. verb trans. Perform a process of selection on (documents, a file, etc.), so as to reject unimportant or superfluous items; select (papers etc.) in this manner. Also, sort (papers, esp. official documents) so as to withhold sensitive material from the public. Also foll. by out. L19.
Listener 90 per cent of departmental paperwork is 'weeded out' and destroyed.
verb trans. Steal (part of a larger quantity of something). Criminals' slang (now rare). E19.
verb intrans. & refl. Angling. Of a trout: bury itself in weeds when hooked. L19.
weeder noun (a) an implement for weeding; (b) a person who removes weeds from a crop, esp. as an occupation etc.; (c) an official in a government department employed to weed documents, letters, etc., so as to withhold sensitive material from the public: LME.