Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Rid?

\Rid\, imp. & p. p. of {Ride}, v. i. [Archaic] He rid to the end of the village, where he alighted. --Thackeray.
\Rid\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Rid} or {Ridded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Ridding}.] [OE. ridden, redden, AS. hreddan to deliver, liberate; akin to D. & LG. redden, G. retten, Dan. redde, Sw. r["a]dda, and perhaps to Skr. ?rath to loosen.] 1. To save; to rescue; to deliver; -- with out of. [Obs.] Deliver the poor and needy; rid them out of the hand of the wicked. --Ps. lxxxii. 4. 2. To free; to clear; to disencumber; -- followed by of. ``Rid all the sea of pirates.'' --Shak. In never ridded myself of an overmastering and brooding sense of some great calamity traveling toward me. --De Quincey. 3. To drive away; to remove by effort or violence; to make away with; to destroy. [Obs.] I will red evil beasts out of the land. --Lev. xxvi. 6. Death's men, you have rid this sweet young prince! --Shak. 4. To get over; to dispose of; to dispatch; to finish. [R.] ``Willingness rids way.'' --Shak. Mirth will make us rid ground faster than if thieves were at our tails. --J. Webster. {To be rid of}, to be free or delivered from. {To get rid of}, to get deliverance from; to free one's self from.