weed

1 syllable · also weed

Quick answer

As a noun, weed means any plant unwanted at the place where and at the time when it is growing. As a verb, it means remove unwanted vegetation from a cultivated area.

Meanings of weed

23 meanings

noun

Any plant unwanted at the place where and at the time when it is growing.
“If it isn't in a straight line or marked with a label, it's a weed.”
Short for duckweed.
A drug or the like made from the leaves of a plant.
slangCannabis.
with "the"slangTobacco.
A weak horse, which is therefore unfit to breed from.
UKinformalA puny person; one who has little physical strength.
figurativelySomething unprofitable or troublesome; anything useless.
ScotlandA sudden illness or relapse, often attended with fever, which befalls those who are about to give birth, are giving birth, or have recently given birth or miscarried or aborted.
ScotlandLymphangitis in a horse.
Any plant that crowds out cultivated plantsplant
A black band worn by a man (on the arm or hat) as a sign of mourning
Similar: mourning band
Street names for marijuana
Similar: pot, grass, green goddess, dope, gage, sess

Older and rare meanings (6)

archaicobsoleteUnderbrush; low shrubs.
obsoleteA cigar.
archaicA garment or piece of clothing.
archaicClothing collectively; clothes, dress.
archaicAn article of dress worn in token of grief; a mourning garment or badge.
“He wore a weed on his hat.”
archaicEspecially in the plural as widow's weeds: (female) mourning apparel.

verb

To remove unwanted vegetation from a cultivated area.
“I weeded my flower bed.”
figurativeTo pilfer the best items from a collection.
library scienceTo systematically remove materials from a library collection based on a set of criteria.
“We usually weed romance novels that haven't circulated in over a year.”
Clear of weeds
“weed the garden”

Simple past tense and past participle of wee

Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).

weed around the world

UKA puny person; one who has little physical strength.

ScotlandA sudden illness or relapse, often attended with fever, which befalls those who are about to give birth, are giving birth, or have recently given birth or miscarried or aborted.

ScotlandLymphangitis in a horse.