weed

n. A sudden illness or relapse, often attended with fever, which attacks women in childbed. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. weed, weod, AS. weód, wiód, akin to OS. wiod, LG. woden the stalks and leaves of vegetables D. wieden to weed, OS. wiodōn. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Underbrush; low shrubs. [ Obs. or Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

One rushing forth out of the thickest weed. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

A wild and wanton pard . . .
Crouched fawning in the weed. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too much manuring filled that field with weeds. Denham. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word has no definite application to any particular plant, or species of plants. Whatever plants grow among corn or grass, in hedges, or elsewhere, and are useless to man, injurious to crops, or unsightly or out of place, are denominated weeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Fig.: Something unprofitable or troublesome; anything useless. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Stock Breeding) An animal unfit to breed from. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Tobacco, or a cigar. [ Slang ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Weed hook, a hook used for cutting away or extirpating weeds. Tusser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. wede, AS. w&aemacr_;de, w&aemacr_;d; akin to OS. wādi, giwādi, OFries, wēde, wēd, OD. wade, OHG. wāt, Icel. vāð, Zend vadh to clothe. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A garment; clothing; especially, an upper or outer garment. “Lowly shepherd's weeds.” Spenser. “Woman's weeds.” Shak. “This beggar woman's weed.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

He on his bed sat, the soft weeds he wore
Put off. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An article of dress worn in token of grief; a mourning garment or badge; as, he wore a weed on his hat; especially, in the plural, mourning garb, as of a woman; as, a widow's weeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

In a mourning weed, with ashes upon her head, and tears abundantly flowing. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, weeds, or frees from anything noxious. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Weeds, collectively; also, a place full of weeds or for growing weeds. [ R. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Weed, v. [ 1913 Webster ]

Weeding chisel, a tool with a divided chisel-like end, for cutting the roots of large weeds under ground. --
Weeding forceps, an instrument for taking up some sorts of plants in weeding. --
Weeding fork, a strong, three-pronged fork, used in clearing ground of weeds; -- called also weeding iron. --
Weeding hook. Same as Weed hook, under 3d Weed. --
Weeding iron. See Weeding fork, above. --
Weeding tongs. Same as Weeding forceps, above. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Prov. E. rim to remove. ] A kind of implement used for tearing up weeds esp. on summer fallows. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Free from weeds or noxious matter. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Free from weeds; -- said of a kind of motor-boat propeller the blades of which curve backwardly, as respects the direction of rotation, so that they draw through the water, and so do not gather weeds with which they come in contact. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]