weed

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wiːd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːd
• Homophone: we'd

Etymology 1

From Old English wēod.

Noun

weed (plural weeds)

1. (countable) Any plant growing in cultivated ground to the injury of the crop or desired vegetation, or to the disfigurement of the place; an unsightly, useless, or injurious plant.

   If it isn't in a straight line or marked with a label, it's a weed.

2. (countable) A species of plant considered harmful to the environment or regarded as a nuisance.
3. Short for duckweed
4. (uncountable, slang) Marijuana.
5. (obsolete, uncountable, slang) Tobacco.
6. (obsolete, countable) A cigar.
7. (obsolete, countable) A horse unfit to breed from.
8. (countable, UK, informal) A puny person; one who has with little physical strength.
9. (countable, Scotland) A sudden illness or relapse, often attended with fever, which attacks women in childbed.
10. (uncountable, archaic or obsolete) Underbrush; low shrubs.
11. (countable, figuratively) Something unprofitable or troublesome; anything useless.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:marijuana

Derived terms

compounds of “weed”

goutweed hawkweed horseweed knapweed knotweed

milkweed pigweed ragweed tumbleweed

Translations

unwanted plant

Arabic: عشبة ضارة (ar) (ʕúšba ɖárra) f. Catalan: mala herba (ca) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 野草 (cmn) (yěcǎo), 雜草 (cmn), 杂草 (cmn) (zácǎo) Croatian: kórov (hr) m. Czech: plevel (cs) m. Danish: ukrudt (da) Dutch: onkruid (nl) Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: rikkaruoho (fi) French: mauvaise herbe (fr) f., chiendent (fr) m., adventice (fr) f. Georgian: სარეველა (ka) (sarevela) German: Unkraut (de) n. Greek: ζιζάνιο (el) (zizánio) n., αγριόχορτο (el) n. Template:agrióchorto Hebrew: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: gaz (hu), gyom (hu) Icelandic: illgresi (is) n. Ido: mala herbo (io) Indonesian: rumput liar (id)

Italian: erbaccia (it) f. Japanese: 雑草 (ja) (ざっそう, zassō) Korean: 김 (ko) (gim) Kurdish: ade (ku) Luxembourgish: Onkraut (lb) n. Norwegian: ugress (no) n. Polish: chwast (pl) m., zielsko (pl) m. Portuguese: erva daninha (pt) Romanian: buruiană (ro) Russian: сорняк (ru) (sornják) m., сорная трава (ru) (sórnaja travá) f. Scottish Gaelic: luibh (gd) m. and f., lus (gd) m. Spanish: mala hierba (es) f., maleza (es), yuyo (es) Swahili: kwekwe (sw) Swedish: ogräs (sv) Telugu: కలుపు (te) (kalupu) Thai: วัชพืช (th) (wát-pêut) West Frisian: kjitten (fy) n. Persian: please add this translation if you can

duckweed

Chinese: Mandarin: 水草 (cmn)

Danish: andemad (da) c. Dutch: kroos (nl)

informal: a puny person

Dutch: zwakkeling (nl) m. Japanese: ヒヨッコ (ja) (hiyokko), 役立たず (ja) (yakutatazu) Polish: cherlak (pl) m., mięczak (pl) m.

Spanish: parásito (es) Swahili: kwekwe (sw)

tobacco

Chinese: Mandarin: 香煙 (cmn) Japanese: 煙草 (ja) (tabako), たばこ (ja) (tabako), タバコ (ja) (tabako)

Polish: tytoń (pl) m. Swahili: kwekwe (sw)

a cigar

German: Glimmstängel (de) m., Kippe (de) f. (colloquial) Japanese: 葉巻 (ja) (hamaki)

Polish: cygaro (pl) n. Swahili: kwekwe (sw)

slang: marijuana

Albanian: Marijuane (sq) Bengali: গাঁজা (bn) Bosnian: trava (bs) Czech: tráva (cs) f. (slang) Danish: hash (da) Dutch: wiet (nl) n. Finnish: ruoho (fi) (slang) French: herbe (fr) f. (slang), marie-jeanne (fr) f. (slang) German: Gras (de) n. (slang) Icelandic: gras (is) n.

Italian: maria (it) f. Japanese: クサ (ja) (kusa) Norwegian: hasj (no), pot (no) Polish: trawka (pl) f. (slang) Portuguese: maconha (pt) f. (slang) Romanian: iarbă (ro) f. (slang) Russian: травка (ru) (trávka) f. (slang) Spanish: (slang) hierba (es) f. Swahili: kwekwe (sw) Swedish: gräs (sv) n.

sudden illness or relapse, often attended with fever, which attacks women in childbed

Swahili: kwekwe (sw)

underbrush; low shrubs

Japanese: 柴 (ja) (shiba) Polish: zielsko (pl) n.

Swahili: kwekwe (sw)

figuratively: something unprofitable or troublesome; anything useless

Finnish: rikkaruoho (fi)

Polish: chwast (pl) m.

an animal unfit to breed from

Swahili: kwekwe (sw)

See also

• grow like a weed
• weeds

Etymology 2

From Old English wēodian.

Verb

weed (third-person singular simple present weeds, present participle weeding, simple past and past participle weeded)

1. To remove unwanted vegetation from a cultivated area.

   I weeded my flower bed.

Translations

remove weeds from

Chinese: Mandarin: 鋤草 (zh), 锄草 (zh) (chúcǎo), 除草 (zh) (chúcǎo), 除去莠草 (zh) (chùqú yǒu cǎo), 除去雜草 (zh), 除去杂草 (zh) (chùqú zácǎo) Czech: plít (cs) Ewe: ŋlɔ Finnish: kitkeä (fi) French: désherber (fr) German: jäten (de) Hungarian: gyomlál (hu)

Japanese: (phrase) 雑草を抜く (ja) (zassō o nuku), 草取りをする (ja) (kusatori o suru), 雑草をとる (ja) (zassō o toru) Korean: 매다 (ko) (maeda), 매다 김 (ko) (maeda gim) Polish: plewić (pl), odchwaszczać (pl) Romanian: a plivi (ro) Russian: полоть (ru) (polót’) impf., прополоть (ru) (propolót’) pf. Spanish: escardar (es) Swahili: kwekwe (sw)

See also

• weed out

Etymology 3

From Old English wǣd, from Proto-Germanic. Compare Dutch lijnwaad, gewaad.

Noun

weed (plural weeds)

1. (archaic) A garment or piece of clothing.
2. (archaic) Clothing collectively; clothes, dress.

   • 1819, These two dignified persons were followed by their respective attendants, and at a more humble distance by their guide, whose figure had nothing more remarkable than it derived from the usual weeds of a pilgrim. — Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

3. (archaic) widow's weeds Female mourning apparel

Translations

(archaic) apparel

Dutch: lijngewaad (nl)

Etymology 4

From the verb wee.

Verb

weed

1. Simple past tense and past participle of wee.

References

• weed in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “weed” in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.