▪ I. weed, n.1
(wiːd)
Forms: 1 wéod, w{iacu}od, 3 wied, (wod), 3–4 wed, weod, (4 pl. weoden), 4–6 wede, 4 wyed, (5 ? wade), 5–6 Sc. weid, 6 wyde, Sc. weyd, 6–7 wide, 5–7 weede, 5– weed.
[OE. wéod neut. = OS. wiod neut., mod.LG. wêd, Flem. dial. wied, EFris. wiud; the ulterior etymology is unknown.]
1. a. A herbaceous plant not valued for use or beauty, growing wild and rank, and regarded as cumbering the ground or hindering the growth of superior vegetation.
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xxiii, Swa hwa swa wille sawan westmbære land, atio ærest of..ealle þa weod þe he ᵹesio þæt þam æcerum deriᵹen. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 129 For þi is þis westren forgrouwen mid brimbles and mid þornes and mid iuele wiedes. c 1290 St. Mary of Egypt 108 in S. Eng. Leg. 264 Heo ne et no mannische mete bote weodes and wilde more. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xiii. 224 On fat londe and ful of donge foulest wedes groweth. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 519/2 Weed, or wyyld herbe, aborigo. 1480 Coventry Leet Bk. 445 [They] stoppen the dyches with þe wedes of their gardeyns & other swepyng of their houses. 1532 G. Hervet Xenoph. Househ. 49 b, The grounde must be clene kept and deliuered from wides. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 946 They bid thee crop a weed, thou pluckst a flower. a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) I. 128 To keep a field from over growinge with wides. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 87 Whilest they [sc. Hedges] are yet young, they are to be constantly weeded, least the Weeds prevent the thick spreading of the Hedge at the bottom. 1726 J. Laurence New Syst. Agric. 451 Couch-Grass is a pernicious Weed, keeping the Land hollow and loose. 1781 Cowper Expost. 214 But grace abus'd brings forth the foulest deeds, As richest soil the most luxuriant weeds. 1815 Wordsw. White Doe vii. 1896 Plate of monumental brass, Dim-gleaming among weeds and grass. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xxii, In the garden there was not a weed to be seen. 1885 M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird I. i. 32 The soil teemed with flowers. There was no room left for a weed. |
b. A plant that grows wild in fresh or salt water. Cf ore-weed, pondweed, river-weed, seaweed, water-weed.
| 1538 Elyot Dict., Alga, reyte, or wedes of the see. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. ii. 109 As Weeds before A Vessell vnder sayle, so men obey'd, And fell below his Stem. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 146 Both Ilands [Jersey and Guernesey] burne a weede of the Sea or Sea coales brought out of England. 1653 Walton Angler ix. 177 This fish..loves..to live..in standing waters, where mud and the worst of weeds abound. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 65 marg., Of Sea-weeds, and Weeds in Rivers. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VIII. 177 They are bred from eggs, which are laid upon the weeds along the sea-shore. 1825 Sir H. Davy in Phil. Trans. CXV. 329 Weeds and shell fish. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped vi, The weeds were new to me—some green, some brown and long, and some with little bladders that crackled between my fingers. |
c. collect. sing.
| c 1220 Bestiary 245 [The ant] gaddreð ilkines sed boðen of wude and of wed. a 1250 Owl & Night. 593 Among þe wede [Cott. wode], among þe netle. a 1300 Cursor M. 1140 Insted o þin oþer sede, Ne sal þe groue bot thorne and wede. 1434 Maldon (Essex) Court Rolls Bundle 20. no. 1 Ricardus Kynge jactat le weede gardini sui in Skykkis lane. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §54 The grasse that groweth vppon falowes is not good for shepe; for there is moche of it wede. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. vii. 4 When suddenly behind her backe she heard One rushing forth out of the thickest weed. 1791–3 Smeaton Edystone L. §252 The coat of weed, which was likely to fix upon it during the winter. 1832 Tennyson Œnone 197 A wild and wanton pard..Crouch'd fawning in the weed. 1865 Mrs. L. L. Clarke Common Seaweeds i. 18 They [needles] will be extremely useful in laying out the weed. |
d. Prov. † the weed overgroweth the corn. ill weeds grow apace.
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. viii. 224 To see suche a ladde to matche suche a knyghte as the wede ouer grewe the corne. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. i. x. (1867) 22 Ill weede growth fast..wherby the corne is lorne. For surely the weede ouer⁓groweth the corne. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, ii. iv. 13 Small Herbes haue grace, great Weeds do grow apace. 1616 T. Draxe Bibl. Scholast. 216 An ill weede groweth apace. a 1692 H. Pollexfen Disc. Trade (1697) 100 As ill Weeds grow apace, so these Manufactured Goods from India. 1721 J. Kelly Sc. Prov. 319 The Weeds o'er grow the Corn, the bad are the most numerous. |
e. Used, with defining word, to form the names of wild plants, as bindweed, cottonweed, cudweed, duckweed, dyer's weed, greenweed, hogweed, hungerweed (hunger n. 4 e), ironweed, knapweed, knotweed, matweed (mat n.1 8), milkweed, mugweed, neckweed, ragweed, yellow-weed (yellow C. 1).
2. a. gen. Any herb or small plant. Chiefly poet.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 30 Ᵹif æceres weod [Vulg. fænum agri]..God swa scryt,..þam mycle ma he scryt eow. 13.. K. Alis. 796 Mury time is the weod to sere [Laud MS. is wede sere]; The corn riputh in the ere. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 52 And then with words, and weedes, of wondrous might, On them she workes her will to vses bad. 1614 Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue 56 The Sun-burnt Reaper had yet scarcely rid The ridged Acres of their richest Weed. 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 365 These evils have all come upon you through tea! Cursed weed. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 321, I once was looking for a magic weed. |
b. Applied to a shrub or tree; esp. to a large tree, on account of its abundance in a district.
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 165 Cotton-trees..are the biggest Trees, or perhaps Weeds rather, in the West Indies. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 604 The Rasberry Tree..is rather a Weed than a Tree, never living two Years together above ground. 1860 W. White Wrekin xi. 99 There is no lack of wood or of ‘Herefordshire weeds’, as oaks are called. 1885 Mozley Remin. II. 206 The ash is the weed of the county [Northants]. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 127 The elm, which from its abundance in the country, is still known as the ‘Warwickshire weed.’ |
3. spec. a. Tobacco.
| 1606 Warner Alb. Eng. xiv. xci. (1612) 369 An Indian weede, That feum'd away more wealth than would a many thousands feed. 1609 Dekker Guls Horne-bk. iv. 19 Where, if you cannot reade, exercise your smoake, and inquire who has writ against this diuine weede. 1687 Montague & Prior Hind & Panth. Transv. 17 Your Pipe's so foul, that I disdain to smoak; And the Weed worse than e're Tom. I----s took. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 251 Pernicious weed! whose scent the fair annoys. 1797 Sporting Mag. X. 58 And chaunt the song, and puff the weed. 1841 Lytton Nt. & Morn. i. vi, He knocked the weed from his pipe. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 153 Tobacco vertigo and the other nervous consequences of the weed resemble those of neurasthenia. |
b. A cigar or cheroot. colloq.
| 1847 Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole Introd. (1879) 9 Pulling a melancholy looking weed from the lining of his hat. 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs xli, We..kept up with brandy and soda-water and weeds till four. 1885 C. Lowe Bismarck I. 388 note, The strategist carefully selected the best weed in the Chancellor's case. |
c. Marijuana; a marijuana cigarette. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1929 Amer. Speech IV. 345 Weed, marijuana cigarette. (A Mexican drug.) 1932, 1933 [see reefer1 3]. 1939 C. R. Cooper Designs in Scarlet viii. 145 There are certain centers in which marihuana offers more of a menace... The peddling of the weed is dependent upon persons..content with small profits. 1949 R. Chandler Little Sister xxiv. 173 They were looking for..a suitcase full of weed. 1955 J. Kerouac in Paris Rev. Winter 14 You could smell tea, weed, I mean marijuana, floating in the air. 1965 W. Soyinka Road 24 Say Tokyo reaches out a stick of weed to him which he accepts behind his back. 1978 R. Hill Pinch of Snuff iii. 28 She might be on the game. Or she might have a bit of weed about the place. Or anything. |
4. fig. An unprofitable, troublesome, or noxious growth. (Formerly often applied to persons.)
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 4322 Latt no wykkyde wede waxe, ne wrythe one this erthe. 1422 Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 164 So rysyth of the roote of an..appert traytoure, othyre rebellis, many wickid wedis sone growynge, that al trewe men in londe Sore greuyth. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 349 And if..any persons..entended the contrary, there must also be deuised howe such euill wedes may be destroyed. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres 7 Justices, to disburden their shire of corrupt weeds, as they tearme it, do picke out the scumme of their countrie for the warres. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. ii. 67 Oh thou weed: Who art so louely faire, and smell'st so sweete, That the Sense akes at thee, Would thou had'st neuer bin borne. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §72 An immoderate ambition..is a weed (if it be a weed) apt to grow in the best soils. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 183 ¶11 Envy is, indeed, a stubborn weed of the mind, and seldom yields to the culture of philosophy. 1850 Grote Greece ii. lxviii. (1862) VI. 156 Intolerance is the natural weed of the human bosom, though its growth or development may be counteracted by liberalizing causes. 1915 F. S. Oliver Ordeal by Battle ii. v. 146 Militarism is a tough weed to kill. |
5. slang. (Cf. weedy a.1 4.) a. A poor, leggy, loosely-built horse.
In Shakes. Meas. for M. i. iii. 20 the word has been explained to mean ‘an ill-conditioned horse’. Theobald's correction, ‘steeds’, may be right.
| 1845 Stocqueler Handbk. Brit. India (1854) 181 The necessity..for constant renewal of the blood..without which the breed degenerates into weeds. 1859 Lever Davenport Dunn ii, He bore the same relation to a man of fashion as a ‘weed’ does to a ‘winner of the Derby’. 1861 Farmer's Mag. LV. 1/2 A leggy weed that can go the fastest for half a mile or so over the flat. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Squatter's Dream iii. 28 Here she pointed to her steed, a small violent weed. |
b. A lank delicate person without muscle or stamina. Hence, a small, feeble, or contemptible person; a ‘weedy’ type (see weedy a.1 4 b). slang.
| 1869 A. L. Smith in Morgan Univ. Oars (1873) 231, I know men who, from being weeds, have grown into strong and healthy men on the river. 1953 Willans & Searle Down with Skool! (1954) 12 There are a grate number of other weeds and wets about the place. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 170 Little 'uns..Tiny Tim, Tom Thumb, tot, and, very common, weed. 1960 M. Spark Bachelors x. 179 She's mad in love with that little weed Patrick Seton. 1970 Times 4 Mar. 13/5 A girl torn between a brainy weed and a moronic body-builder. 1982 Barr & York Official Sloane Ranger Handbk. 71/1 Don't try too hard: swots are weeds. |
† 6. Mining. (See quot 1710.) Obs.
| 1671 Phil. Trans. VI. 2102 (Tin), So [we] continue sinking from cast to cast..till we find either the Load to grow small, or degenerate into some sort of weed..as Mundick, or Maxy..Daze,..Iremould. Ibid. 2105 The Load is usually in an hard..Countrey, made up of metal, spars and other weeds. 1710 J. Harris Lex. Techn. II, Weed, in the Miners Language is the Degeneracy of a Load or Vein of fine Metal, into an useless Marchasite. |
7. attrib. and Comb. a. simple attrib., as weed-bed, weed-bush, weed-case, weed control, weed-drift, weed-field, weed-fish, weed-growth, weed-life, weed-nosegay, weed-root, weed-seed. Also weed-hook.
| 1664 Phil. Trans. I. 13 They went into the Weed-beds of the Gulf of Florida. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Norf. Fishes Wks. 1835 IV. 330 A weed-fish, somewhat like a haddock. 1782 Mrs. Delany Autob. (1861) I. 368 My amusement was running after butterflies and gathering weed nosegays. 1791 W. H. Marshall W. Eng. (1796) II. 279 The weed seeds having spent themselves..the dressing will be turned in. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 993 The weeds and weed⁓roots will then be seen upon the surface. 1848 Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole xlv. 395 Metal weed-cases. 1851 Kingsley Yeast x, Even if marriage was but one weed-field of temptations, as these miserable pedants say. 1899 Contemp. Rev. Dec. 884 One of those curious round weed-bushes known as ‘tumble weeds’. 1915 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 199/1 He would make the rod bend like a bow and quiver as he ran out the line, always making for the weed-bed at the bottom. 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 222 They broke and disappeared in the rank weed-growth. 1934 A. Huxley Beyond Mexique Bay 249 Lawrence wrote eloquently of Oaxaca and Lake Chapala,..of the merits of that rank weed-life of the natural man. 1948 S. B. Whitehead Reclaiming your Garden ii. 17 Chemicals..have a selective action in weed control. 1951 Sport 7–13 Jan. 8/1 It had the drawback of increasing weed-growth. ? 1953 Dylan Thomas Sel. Lett. (1966) 416 In the slimy squid-rows of the sea there's such a weed-drift and clamour of old plankton drinkers. 1966 Listener 1 Sept. 304/1 The improvement of cultivation techniques to make weed control possible. |
b. instrumental, as weed-choked, weed-clogged, weed-covered, weed-entwined, weed-fringed, weed-grown, weed-hidden, weed-hung, weed-laden, weed-mantled, weed-ridden, weed-sodden, weed woven adjs.
| 1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope ii. 201 O'er each Runic altar, weed-entwined. 1818 Keats Endym. i. 65 Weed-hidden roots. 1856 Lever Martins of Cro' M. i, Weed-grown walks. 1857 Gosse Omphalos viii. 216 This weed-fringed tide-pool. 1870 H. Macmillan True Vine v. (1872) 188 The idleness of another is seen in the meagre, weed-choked produce of his neglected fields. 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. iii. 57 The weed-hung flukes of the little anchor. 1898 O. Wilde Ballad Reading Gaol 12 Every day Crawled like a weed-clogged wave. 1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars xxiii. 305 Nod's raft swam last across this weed-mantled lagoon. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 699 In loose allwool garments..trundling a weedladen wheelbarrow without excessive fatigue at sunset amid the scent of newmown hay. 1938 W. de la Mare Memory 29 Roofless and eyeless, weed-sodden, dank, old, cold. 1944 Blunden Shells by Stream 15 Weed-woven the shallowing pool. 1953 L. Kuper Living in Towns 300 Waste land and weed-covered pit banks. 1968 E. A. McCourt Saskatchewan xvii. 195 The inscriptions on the wooden crosses in the weed-ridden settlement graveyard. 1972 R. Adams Watership Down xxxii. 245 The rough, weed-covered ground of the combe sloped away below them. |
c. objective, as weed-cutter, weed-grubber; weed-cutting vbl. n.; weed-waving, weed-winding adjs.; also weed-free, weed-like adjs.
| a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. ii. 32, I save the Expence of the Weed-grubbers. 1729 Savage Wanderer ii. 415 Up⁓sprung, such weed-like Coarseness it betrays, Flocks on th' abandon'd Blade permissive graze. 1850 Rep. Comm. Patents 1849 (U.S.) I. 297, I likewise claim the combination of the adjustive weed cutter and leveler F. 1863 Hawthorne Old Home, Consular Exp. I. 16 The weedlike decay and growth of our localities. 1879 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 78 On meadow and river and wind-wandering weed-winding bank. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 12 May 3/2 An endeavour is being made on the Test to have all weed-cutting completed by the middle of May. 1903 Ibid. 2 Oct. 2/1 Patent weed⁓cutters, worked by machinery. 1940 J. Betjeman Old Lights for New Chancels 33 The light skiff is push'd from the weed-waving shore. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 22 Mar. 56/3 It is the modern alternative..to secure weed-free cropping. 1981 M. Sellers From Eternity to Here i. 7 A well-planned and weed-free vegetable garden. |
d. † weed-ash, ? soda-ash (which is made from sea-weed); weedhead slang (chiefly U.S.), one who is addicted to marijuana; a marijuana smoker (see head n.1 7 e); weed inspector, an official in charge of controlling the growth of noxious weeds; weed-killer, something that kills weeds, spec. any of various chemical preparations used for killing weeds; liquid, powder, etc., of this kind; also fig.
| 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. vii. lxxxviii. 407 Also pot-ash, weed-ash, and pearl-ash. |
| 1952 Amer. Speech XXVII. 30 Weedhead,..marijuana smoker. 1966 C. Himes Heat is On xx. 157 Weedheads jabbered and gesticulated. 1973 R. Parkes Guardians x. 178 The students that spat and jeered at authority, the weed-heads that threw acid in a vicar's eyes. |
| 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 702/2 The writer, in his capacity as weed-inspector, has had..to direct the settlers to plough under entire fields of growing grain in order to eradicate such weeds. 1974 D. Sears Lark in Clear Air iv. 48 The one in overalls was Brad-Awl Callum, weed inspector, pound-keeper, truant officer and County Constable all rolled into one. |
| 1745 W. Ellis Agric. Improv'd in Mod. Husbandman July xi. 88 Such Wheat commonly runs up into such rank Stalks, as to become great Weed-killers. 1890 Daily News 6 Sept. 2/7 In mistake [he] took up a bottle of weed killer, some of which he drank. 1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career xxi. 179 Every one would be wanting to engage me as the great noxious weed-killer and poisonous insect exterminator if I made away with you. 1929 Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking i. 23 What this woman needed was a fluid ounce of weed⁓killer. 1967 B. Patten Little Johnny's Confession 46 Who poured weedkiller over your innocence? a 1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1976) II. 291 She only talked to Anne and myself about a new weedkiller called Paraquat, pointing out of the window to a field where it was being used. |
▪ II. weed, n.2 arch. exc. in sense 6 b.
(wiːd)
Forms: 1 wǽd, wǽde, North. wéde, wœ́de, 3 Orm. wæde, pl. weaden, 3–6 wede, 3–4 pl. weden, 4 north. and Sc. wed, veid, ved, (5 pl. vedis), 4–7 Sc. weid(e, 5–6 Sc. weyd, 6–7 wide, 4–7 weede, 5– weed.
[ME. wēde, repr. two formations: (1) OE. wǽd fem. = OS. wâd (MLG. wât), OHG., MHG. wât (early mod.G. wat), also in comb. lînwát fem., linen (= Du. lijnwaad neut.; mod.G. in perverted form leinwand), ON. váð, vóð fem. (Norw. vaad, Sw. våd):—OTeut. *wǣđi-z; (2) OE. wǽde str. neut. = OS. wâdi (MLG. wêde), prob. shortened from the collective formation OE. ᵹewǽde (ME. i-wede), OS. giwâdi, Du. gewaad, OHG. giwâti:—OTeut. type *gawǣđjo-m.
It is disputed whether the Teut. *wǣđi- descends from a pre-Teut. *wēti-, root *wē- to weave (= Skr. vā), or from *wēdhi-, root *wē̆dh- (= Zend vad to clothe oneself; the Goth. ga-widan (OHG. wetan), to join together, is by some regarded as cognate).]
1. An article of apparel; a garment.
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xxviii, Ðeah nu se unrihtwisa cynig Neron hine ᵹescyrpte mid eallum þam wliteᵹestum wædum. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 500 Martinus me bewæfde efne mid ðyssere wæde. a 1225 Ancr. R. 314 Uorði þet heo hefde ileaned one wummone to one wake on of hore weaden. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1972 He..boden him sen If his childes wede it miȝte ben. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2563 Ȝif we walken in þes wedes..what man so vs metes may vs sone knowe. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2358 Hit is my wede þat þou werez, þat ilke wouen girdel. c 1430 Chev. Assigne 119 Of sadde leues of þe wode wrowȝte he hem wedes. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 289 b, By & by dooyng on hym a wede aunswerable vnto his presente fortune, he fled awaye secretely. 1569 J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes xxv. 36 There was an obstinate strife..concerning the habite, or apparrel of S. Augustine, that is to saie, whether he did weare a blacke weede vpon a white Coate, or a white weede vpon a blacke Coate. 1614 Camden Rem., Apparel 233 They..began to wanton it in a new round curtall weede which they called a Cloake. 1621 Fletcher Pilgr. v. vi, To my house now, and suite you to your worths; Off with these weeds, and appeare glorious. a 1706 in Watson's Collect. Sc. Poems i. 35 On Sabbath days his Cap was fedder'd, A seemly Weid. 1725 Pope Odyss. xvi. 293 An aged mendicant in tatter'd weeds. 1764 H. Walpole Otranto v, One in a long, woolen weed. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude iii. 457 Spare diet, patient labour, and plain weeds. 1808 Scott Marm. v. vi, The Baron dons his peaceful weeds. 1846 Keble Lyra Innoc. (1873) 168 Her innocent vesture, the pure Chrisom weed. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. v. 9 In words, like weeds, I'll wrap me o'er, Like coarsest clothes against the cold. |
2. collect. sing. Clothing, raiment, dress, apparel.
| a 1000 Daniel 103 Þæt þam ᵹengum þrym gad ne wære wiste ne wæde. c 1290 St. Mary of Egypt 160 in S. Eng. Leg. 265 Ne wilne þou nouȝt þat ich þe abide, for ich am withoute wede. a 1300 K. Horn 1052 We schulle chaungi wede: Haue her cloþes myne, & tak me þi sclauyne. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxiii. 211 Lacke shal þe neuere Wede ne worldlich mete. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 9, I stale forþe yn pore wede. 1551 Crowley Pleas. & Payne 140 Wyllynge that eche should at his nede, Haue breade and broth, harbour and wede. 1576 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist., Socr. Schol. ii. xxxiii. 292 A little before he had bene deposed..for apparelling himselfe in such weede as was not decent for the dignity and order of priesthood. 1595 Spenser Colin Clout 713 For each mans worth is measured by his weed. 1616 Chapman tr. Musæus F 6, This sayd, his faire Limbes of his weede, he strip't. 1788 Burns Written in Friars-Carse Hermitage 2 Be thou clad in russet weed. 1868–70 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 250 In face, in figure, and in weed, She wholly changed before his wondering eyes. Ibid. 325 Who robbed me, and with blows Stripped off my weed and left me on the way. |
† b. In the expletive phrase in weed or under weed, usually appended to an adj., as worth(l)y, wight, wise. Cf. under gore, gore n.2 2. Obs.
| c 1330 Amis & Amil. 30 Twoo ladyes..That worthi were in wede. c 1350 Will. Palerne 585 Of lumbardie a dukes douȝter ful derworþ in wede. a 1352 Minot Poems ix. 37 Iohn of Coupland, a wight man in wede. c 1400 Emare 250 Then sayde þat wordy vnþur wede. a 1435 Torr. Portugal 2397 One of the ffeyrest knyghtis That slepith on somer nyghtes Or walkyd in wede. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 392 Many bold mene and wyght, Wyse undere wede. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xviii. 230 Yond worthy wyghtys in wede. a 1580 Murning Maiden 55 in Maitl. Fol. MS. 361 Than wepit scho lustie in weyd. |
3. transf. and fig. (e.g. our ‘garment’ of flesh).
| c 1320 Cast. Love 657 God..Þat from heuene dude alihte, And vnder vre wede vre kynde nom. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1431 O blake nyght..That shapen art by god þis world to hide At certeyn tymes with þi derke wede. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 335 Sche flih before his yhe a Crowe..To kepe hire maidenhede whit Under the wede of fethers blake. 14.. Lydg. Ballad of Deceitful Women 26 Hir galle is hid under a sugred wede. 1557 N. Grimalde in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 96 As morning bright, with scarlet sky, doth passe the euenings weed. 1567 Jewel Def. Apol. ii. 221 Therefore the Greekes calle Baptisme, ἀϕθαρσίας ἔνδυµα, That is, the Weede of immortalitie. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 256 And there the snake throwes her enammel'd skinne, Weed wide enough to rap a Fairy in. 1613–16 Browne Brit. Past. i. i. 11 That heart..That neuer wore dissimulations weed. a 1618 Ralegh Rem. (1644) 116 Being stripped out of this mortall weed. a 1639 Carew Comparison 20 Thy skin's a heavenly and immortall weede. 1785 Burns Scotch Drink vii, Aft, clad in massy, siller weed, Wi' Gentles thou erects thy head. 1793 ― By Allan Stream 20 How cheery through her shortening day Is Autumn, in her weeds o' yellow. 1805–6 Cary Dante, Inf. xxxiii. 60 Father,..thou gavest These weeds of miserable flesh we wear; And do thou strip them off from us again. |
4. Used contextually for: Defensive covering, armour, mail. collect. sing. or pl. Also iron weed, steel weed.
| c 1205 Lay. 23773 Þe king mid his weden [c 1275 wede] leop on his stede. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3535 Was non so stif stelen wede þat withstod his wepen. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvi. 580 A chemeyr, for till heill his veid, Aboue his armyng had he then. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 3994 Thei..drow out horses and stedes And here strong Iren wedes. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 112 The thrid he straik throuch his pissand of maile, The crag in twa; no weidis mycht him waill. 1480 Robt. Devyll 910 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 254 Greate horses stamped in yron wedes. 1515 Scottish Field 537 in Chetham Misc. II, They will sticke with their standarts in their stele weedes. 1611 W. Austin in Coryat's Crudities Panegyr. Verses g 5 b, His garments..Which heretofore like weedes of proofe Serued him to keepe the colde aloofe. 1813 Scott Trierm. iii. xx, Oh for his arms! Of martial weed Had never mortal Knight such need! |
5. A garment, or garb, distinctive of a person's sex, profession, state of life. a. sing. (collect. or particular).
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4918 Sire bissop wu ne ȝifstus of þine wite brede þat þou est þi sulf at þi masse in þine vayre wede. a 1300 Cursor M. 23981 Wede o welth wil i namar, Clething wil i me tak o care. 13.. Guy Warw. 1721 Gij seye a man of rewly ble Go in pilgrims wede. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2343 Seþyn toke þe knyȝt palmers wede. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6548 Þat day þat cuthbert toke bischop wede. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xvii. ix. 702 They..sawe the good man in a relygyous wede. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 276 b, Such as are buryed in the cowle & weede of a Franciscane Fryer. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1280/1 Wherin also is buried John Yoong..in his doctors weed. 1605 P. Erondelle Fr. Gard. G 3 b, It is not the weed y{supt} maketh the monke. a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (Bannatyne Club) I. 16 This was the ordinary weid of thir his majestie's foot guards. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 153 They neither have the Pilgrim's Weed nor the Pilgrim's Courage. 1859 Tennyson Enid 1528 This poor gown, This silken rag, this beggar-woman's weed. |
b. pl.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 7 Apparayled as a Palmere In pilgrimes wedes. c 1450 in Kingsford Chron. Lond. (1905) 129 Sche eschapede thens in a mannys weeds. 1570 Googe Popish Kingd. iii. 39 b, Who can declare the massing weedes? 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. Introd. i, Whose Muse whilome did maske..in lowly Shepheards weeds. 1650 Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples i. 89, I wold never have shaken off my mariners weeds. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 479 They who to be sure of Paradise Dying put on the weeds of Dominic. 1673 Hickeringill Greg. Father Greyb. 74 A Conformist Minister with all his Aaronical weeds on. 1763 C. Johnston Reverie II. 104 Though he was habited in the humble weeds of a slave. 1781 Cowper Truth 81 In shirt of hair and weeds of canvass dress'd. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. ii. xxi. III. 372 The spirit of the soldier burned strong and bright under his monastic weeds. |
c. Sometimes without specifying word = a palmer's dress, the religious habit, etc. (as indicated by the context).
| c 1400 Rule St. Benet (verse) 1338 If ane so for wikkid dede Leue hir abbay & hir wede. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxi. 459 He shet the dore of his chapell, and toke his wede & his staffe. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. Z ij, The frier..beesought me to lett him goe downe, and not to showe suche shame to the weede. 1706 [see 6 b]. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 147, I gave her two-pence, re-assumed my former garb, and left my weeds in her custody. |
6. With defining word, esp. mourning: A black garment worn in token of bereavement; mourning apparel. Also, a scarf or band of crape worn by a mourner.
| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 165 This other sall pas in dolorus weid, on ane blak hors. 1546 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) II. App. A. 4 Commandment was given..to..put on them every man his mourning weeds. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. i. iii. 20 Let Fortune doe her worst, She will not rob me of this sable weed. 1603 H. Petowe Eliza's Funeral A 4, Then weepe no more, Your sighing weedes put off. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. 289 Being clad in a long mourning weed, he appeared in the Colledge of the Litterati. 1787 Burns On Death Sir J. Hunter Blair 15 A stately Form In weeds of woe. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxvii, People who saw him in the street..knew of his loss only by the weed on his hat. Ibid. xxviii, A long strip of black crape, torn from the funeral weeds. 1905 Eng. Dial. Dict., Weed, a band of cloth or crêpe for a man's hat in time of mourning. W. Yks. |
b. spec. The deep mourning worn by a widow, including a crape veil, ‘weepers,’ etc. Now always pl.; with or without widow's prefixed. (The sing. seems to have been used formerly to mean the veil.)
The only use of the word now generally known; quite colloq. while the custom of wearing deep mourning was still widespread.
| 1595 Locrine v. i. 24 Let her there prouide her mourning weeds And mourn for euer her owne widdow-hood. 1706 S. Centlivre Platonick Lady i. iii. 14 The disconsolate Wife having borrowed a Weed of her Neighbour, is consulting her Glass to see how it becomes her. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Weed or Wede, a Garment or Suit of Cloaths; whence it is still us'd for a Frier's Habit, a Widow's Vail, &c. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 44 ¶4 An afflicted Widow in her Mourning-Weeds. 1715 ― Drummer ii. i, The Taylor had made her Widow's weeds. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1768) VII. 117 What a charming widow would she have made! How would she have adorned the weeds! 1749 Fielding Tom Jones iii. i, As this [her habit] changed from weeds to black, from black to grey, from grey to white. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Parish vii, The mother wore a widow's weeds. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis iii, There were no entertainments..during the year of her weeds. 1887 Poor Nellie (1888) 428 He had heard the cook remark..that his mother would now wear weeds. |
† 7. A cloth, covering, hanging, or the like. Also collect. sing. Obs.
| c 1200 Ormin 8171 All þatt wæde þatt tær wass Uppo þe bære fundenn, All wass itt off þe bettste pall. c 1400 Destr. Troy 372 And þan sylen to sitte vppon silke wedis. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 830 Eek as for hail a russet weede is To kest vpon the querne [L. Panno roseo mola cooperitur]. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 72 With black weede the altar is hanged. |
▪ III. weed, n.3 Sc. and Anglo-Irish.
(wiːd)
Also weid.
[The first syllable of weeden- wedenonfa', wrongly analysed as weed an' onfa' (see quot. c 1830).]
A sudden febrile attack; esp. a kind of puerperal fever.
| 1790 A. Duncan Med. Comm. Dec. ii. V. 300 It may be difficult, therefore, in the beginning, to distinguish puerperal fever from accumulations of fæces in the alimentary canal, especially if joined to an Ephemera, or Weed. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xii, Dinna ye hear the bairn greet? I'se warrant it's that dreary weid has come ower't again. 1819 Edin. Mag. Mar. 220 There to appearance she still lay, very sick of a fever, incident to women in her situation, and here termed a weed. 1830 Carleton Traits Irish Peas. (1843) I. 308 Besides, I'm a bit bothered on both sides of my head, ever since I had that weary weid. c 1830 in Proc. Berwick. Nat. Club (1916) 86 Ephemeral colds, vulgarly called weeds and onfas. 1902 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 19 July 209 A touch of the ‘weed’ (or weid), which means a sudden febrile attack. |
b. A feverish disease in cattle.
| 1811 J. Trotter Agr. Surv. W. Lothian 168 Milch cows, however, are not unfrequently subject to what is here called a weed, which is a kind of feverish affection. 1851 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. ii. 523 Irritation and inflammation of the absorbent vessels and glands..constituting the disease termed weed [in horses]. |
▪ IV. weed, v.
(wiːd)
pa. tense and pa. pple. weeded. Forms: 1 wéodian, 4–6 wede, (4 wed), 4–7 weede, (5 wedy, 6 weade, 7 weydde), 6 Sc. weid, 6– weed; pa. tense and pa. pple. occasionally 5–9 wed, 8 wedd, 9 Sc. wede.
[OE. wéodian = OS. wiodôn (LG. weden), (M)Du. wieden, (M)LG. wedon, WFris. wjudde, f. OE. wéod, OS. wiod, weed n.1]
1. intr. (or absol.) To clear the ground of weeds; to pull up weeds.
| a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 261 Me [read Mon] mæiᵹ..on sumera fealᵹian..tymbrian, wudian, weodian, faldian. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ix. 66 And alle þat helpen me to erye oþer elles to weden, Shal haue leue, by our lorde to go and glene after. Ibid. 186. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §21 The chyefe instrument to wede with is a paire of tonges made of wode. 1593 T. Hill Art Garden. 74 If any by ignorance doth weede about the plantes without gloues on their handes. 1600 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 128 A woman that helped to weydde in the garthinge iij days, iij{supd}. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. v. §21 Whoever hath a mind to weed will never want work. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 221 The Sheep can't weed amongst them [Beans and Peas], and eat up the wild Oat and Curlock. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia viii. v, To the garden then they all went, and saw him upon the ground, weeding. 1847 F. W. Robertson Human Race vii. (1881) 73 When once the farmer has sown, he can do little more except weed. 1860 W. White Wrekin xxix. 342 The gardens adjoin the inclosure, and there I saw boys digging, hoeing and weeding amid plentiful crops of cabbage and beans. |
2. a. trans. To free (land, a crop, plant) from weeds.
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 156 Vostre lyn en tens sarchet [glossed] wed thi flax. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxv. (1495) 642 It nedyth that corne be clene wedyd and clensyd of..euyll wedys. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. ii. 289 And wattre hem..Ek delue hem al aboute, and wede hem clene. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 359 A man went to wede hys vynys. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §21 How to wede corne. 1534 MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., For a woman wedyng bens ij days, iiij d. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius iv. 34 They..came into his gardein..and found him weding of his ground. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 52 When it is an inche long, it must be diligently wedede w{supt} handes & not w{supt} a weding yron. 1646–47 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 94 To the gardener for weeding y⊇ garden and the walkes. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. I. i. iii. 5 Your small Plants, as Strawberries, Lettice, Succory, &c. require to be often Weeded, the better to perform their Duty. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 301 One Garden w{supt}{suph} Grass plotts and Earth walks Cut and wedd. 1766 Complete Farmer s.v. Turnep 7 Q b/1, I hand⁓hoed them once, and wed them twice. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 685 Weed the beds of onions, lettuces, carrots, and leeks. 1824 Loudon Encycl. Gard. (ed. 2) §1352 Garden-pincers... Their chief use is to weed ponds. 1858 Slight & Burn Bk. Farm Implements 328 The hand draw-hoe is used for weeding corn sown in rows. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 942 As now Men weed the white horse on the Berkshire hills To keep him bright and clean as heretofore. a 1894 Stevenson In South Seas ii. ii. (1900) 152 The alleys where we walked were smoothed and weeded like a boulevard. |
b. fig.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvi. 17 Herte hatte þe herber þat it [the tree of Patience] in groweth, And liberum arbitrium hath þe londe to ferme, Vnder Piers þe plowman to pyken it and to weden it. a 1400 Hymns Virg. (1867) 77 God! sowe þi merci amonge my seede, Þanne schal it growe þouȝ y sowe late, And Repentaunce my corne schal weede. 1545 Brinklow Compl. 46 b, The kyngs grace began wel to wede the garden of Ingland. 1579 Bp. of Ely in W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love Back of title-p., That our Church of England might be well weeded from to to grosse errors. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 45 Prouided that you weed your better iudgements Of all opinion that growes ranke in them. 1648 Earl Westmorland Otia Sacra (1879) 41 So let our Hearts be throughly wed of Sin, And then They'll prove good ground agen. 1662 Evelyn Sculptura i. 10 It is not to shew how diligently we have weeded the Calepines, and Lexicons..but the result of much diligent collection. 1735 Swift Gulliver, Introd. Let. fr. Capt. Gulliver, I desired you would let me know..when..courts and levees of great ministers [were] thoroughly weeded and swept. 1818 Keats Endym. ii. 106 Could I weed Thy soul of care. 1847 Tennyson Princess v. 454 A lusty brace Of twins may weed her of her folly. 1879 Froude Cæsar x. 110 The Senate was at once weeded of many of its disreputable members. 1897 Bookman Jan. 129/1 The story would be better from a literary point of view if weeded of some of its clevernesses. |
3. a. To remove (weeds) from land, esp. from cultivated land or from a crop. Also with out, up.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 173 Heretykys have lefte there frowardnes, Wedyde the cokkelle frome the puryd corne. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §21 Dogfenell, goldes, mathes, and kedlokes are yll to wede after this maner. 1557 Tusser 100 Points Husb. (1878) 231 In June get thy wede⁓hoke,..and wede out such wede, as the corne doth not loue. 1611 A. Standish Commons Compl. 44 Weede the grasse cleane vp from about the rootes. 1628 W. Folkingham Panala Med. 77 Like a discreet Damsell, which preserues wholesome Herbes, and weeds-vp hurtfull Weeds. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xvi. (1674) 18 So great abundance of Weeds grew up..[they could not] undergo the charges they were at in weeding them out. 1710 D. Hilman Tusser Rediv. Mar. (1744) 32 Wild Oats..are not easily weeded when in the Blade. 1765 Ann. Reg. ii. 146 The natural grass is to be considered as a weed, which, if not at first wed out of the ground, will soon destroy..the artificial grass. 1902 W. W. Jacobs At Sunwich Port ii. 13 Mr. Wilks..weeded two pieces of grass from the path, and carefully removed a dead branch from a laurel. |
† b. transf. To remove (vermin, noxious animals). Obs.
| 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus T ij b, The Kite canne weede the worme, can kill the Moulewarpe. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 167 Bushie, Bagot, and their Complices, The Caterpillers of the Commonwealth, Which I haue sworne to weed, and plucke away. |
c. fig. To eradicate (errors, faults, sins, etc.); to remove (things or persons) as noxious or useless. Also with away, out.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 30 By holy exercyse of the same plucketh out by the rotes & wedeth away all þe euill customes of synne. 1536 Tindale N.T. To Chr. Rdr., Thou hast here..the newe Testament..Which I haue loked ouer agayne..with all dilygence,..& haue weded out of it many fautes. 1546 Supplic. Poore Commons (E.E.T.S.) 62 Your Hyghnes..hath..supplanted, and, as it were, weeded out, a great numbre of valiaunt and sturdye monckes, fryers, [etc.]. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 56 If wise fathers, be not as well ware in weeding from their Children ill thinges. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 857 To weed this Wormewood from your fruitfull braine. 1603 ― Meas. for M. iii. ii. 284 Twice trebble shame on Angelo, To weede my vice, and let his grow. 1615 John Flodder in Rollins Pepysian Garl. (1922) 58 And weed away from euery place and Cittie, Such idle Drones, you cherish with your pittie. 1643 Prynne Sov. Power Parl. i. (ed. 2) 24 That they were assembled for the good of the King and kingdome, and to weed from about him, such Traytours as he continually held with him. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 43 These customs savour of their antient Idolatry. The Ministers do all they can to weed it out of them by little and little. 1690 Locke Educ. §147 Where you may..gently correct and weed out any Bad Inclinations, and settle in him good Habits. 1736 Berkeley Disc. Wks. 1871 III. 415 Those who are so active to weed out the prejudices of education. 1817 Byron Lament Tasso iv, I weed all bitterness from out my breast. 1870 Lowell Study Wind., Chaucer (1871) 170 Sir Harris Nicolas, with the help of original records, weeded away the fictions by which the few facts were choked and overshadowed. |
4. a. To clear away (plants, not necessarily noxious or useless); to take out (plants or trees) to prevent overcrowding; to thin (a crop).
| 1543– [see weeding vbl. n. 2]. 1791 W. Gilpin Rem. Forest Scenery I. 85 If you want to shelter a nursery of young trees, plant Scotch firs: and the phrase is, you may afterwards weed them out, as you please. 1825 Jamieson, To Weed, to thin growing plants by taking out the smaller ones; as, ‘to weed firs’, S. |
¶ b. The refrain of Jean Elliot's song (quot. c 1760) has often been quoted in the form ‘The flowers of the forest are a' wede away’. In allusion to this, Scottish writers have sometimes used wede away (app. without associating it with the verb weed) in the vague sense ‘carried off by death’; sometimes it has been interpreted as ‘withered, faded’. Similarly to wede away used intr. for ‘to die off’, trans. for ‘to carry off by death’.
| c 1760 J. Elliot in F. Elliot Trustworthiness of Border Ballads (1906) 166 The Flowers of the Forest are weeded away. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xxxvi, One of those flowers, whom plaintive lay In Scotland mourns as ‘wede away’. 1824 ― 4 Apr. in Fam. Lett. (1894) II. xx. 198 How sad it is to see those whom we love gradually weeded away from the world in which we are left. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 28 Ava my gude auld native parish, the Browns and the Sproats are a weedin awa. 1851 A. Maclagan Sk. Nature 225 If sad Fate before me should Wede him away. |
c. transf. To remove (inferior or superfluous individuals) from a company, herd, etc.; also with out.
| 1863 E. Farmer Scrap Bk. (ed. 3) 27 The hounds have been ‘weeded’, some sold and some hung. 1869 G. J. Whyte-Melville Songs & Verses 87 Faster and faster comes grief and disaster, All but the good ones are weeded at last. 1889 ‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob i, She had her house, as heretofore, all her old society (excepting such as she had judiciously weeded out). 1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Great Mutiny 3 Those unfit for foreign service were carefully weeded from the service companies. 1901 Essex Weekly News 15 Mar. 5/7 If a herd is to be made profitable, about one fourth of the cows must be weeded-out every year. |
d. intr. Of a company: To become thinned down.
| 1887 Sir R. H. Roberts In the Shires v. 90 The field has weeded down to the select few. |
e. trans. To perform a process of selecting from (a collection of documents, a file, etc.), rejecting those items which are unimportant or not worth retaining; to select (papers, etc.) in this manner. Also, to select (papers, etc.) in order to withhold them from general inspection. Also with out.
| 1874 H. Taylor Let. 30 Sept. in J. Brown Lett. (1912) 412, I am not sure that when I admired his poetry most, I did not admire his letters more, but like almost every collection of letters they should be weeded. 1946 A. E. Porter Let. 26 Aug. in P. Moon Transfer of Power (1979) VIII. 309 Dick Tottenham, who compiled most of the files and is now on leave preparatory to retirement, would be singularly well qualified to weed them out and present you with those which are in fact worth keeping. 1977 Times 31 Aug. 4/1 The Ministry of Defence has begun a review of the way classified papers are written, filed, preserved (or ‘weeded’). |
f. to weed down, to reduce (a list of candidates, etc.) to a short-list.
| 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 18 Apr. 6 Those who pass are further weeded down by a ballot. 1962 J. Glenn in Into Orbit 17 NASA asked us to take a series of tests which would help weed us down further. |
5. slang. (See quots.)
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Weed, to pilfer or purloin a small portion from a large quantity of anything;..an apprentice or shopman will weed his master's lob, that is take small sums out of the till... To weed the swag is to embezzle part of the booty, unknown to your palls before a division takes place. 1823 ‘Jon Bee’ Dict. Turf, To weed, to steal part only. 1894 J. G. Littlechild Remin. xv. (ed. 2) 158 Thus, in the case of a famous American bank robbery, he is suspected of having ‘weeded the swag’ to the amount of nearly {pstlg}10,000. |
6. Angling. Of a trout: to bury itself in weeds when hooked (refl. and intr.). Also, to entangle (the fish) in weeds (const. in pass.).
| 1889 F. M. Halford Dry-Fly Fishing ix. 211 Do not be afraid of weedy places. Trout..seldom weed at night, probably because they do not see the angler. Ibid. 224 When a fish is once weeded, the following tactics are what I suggest. 1960 Times 2 July 11/2 The risk of allowing a fish to weed itself is much reduced..if the weedbed lies upstream. Ibid., More good trout have been lost in attempts to prevent them reaching weedbeds than have been lost in efforts to get them out once they have become weeded. |
▪ V. weed
obs. form of wed v.