What does weed mean?
Weed is a common English word for a plant that is growing somewhere it is not wanted, especially in a garden, lawn, field, or flowerbed. As a verb, it means to remove such plants, as in “weed the garden,” and it can also mean to eliminate unwanted people or things, especially in the expression “weed out.” In informal usage, weed is a common name for cannabis or marijuana. There is also a dated, insulting sense meaning a person considered contemptible or worthless. The word is useful because it combines a literal horticultural meaning with several figurative and socially distinctive uses. Although the basic sense concerns unwanted vegetation, “weed” can also refer to a plant generally in older or more literary contexts. The pronunciation /wiːd/ is the same in British and American English.
A plant growing where it is not wanted; informally, cannabis or marijuana. In dated informal use, a contemptible person.
"The garden was full of weeds after several weeks of rain."
The cannabis sense is informal, while the person sense is dated and disparaging.
To remove or destroy unwanted plants from a garden, lawn, or piece of land.
"We weeded the beds before planting the seedlings."
The related phrasal verb “weed out” means to remove or eliminate unwanted people, things, or difficulties.
The standard plural refers to individual unwanted plants or to unwanted vegetation collectively.
"She pulled weeds from the vegetable beds."
Weed is a linguistic shape-shifter: it can name an intruder in a flowerbed, a general plant, cannabis, or— in dated slang—a person regarded as worthless.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of weed
The English noun comes from Old English wēod, meaning “herb” or “plant,” and the modern sense for an unwanted plant developed from that older general meaning. Wo ad, the name of a plant formerly used to produce a blue dye, is a related Germanic word. The verb meaning “remove weeds” developed from the noun.
Related word forms
How weed is actually used
The garden sense is neutral and common in both formal and informal English. The cannabis sense is informal, though it is also standard in legal and public-policy contexts. The sense referring to a contemptible person is dated and disparaging, and should generally be avoided in modern neutral writing.
Easily confused with weed
A reed is a tall grass-like plant often found in water or damp ground, whereas a weed is generally any plant growing where it is unwanted.
The contraction “we'd” stands for “we would” or “we had,” while “weed” is a plant or, informally, cannabis.