rid
verb · adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Often followed by from, of, or out of: to free or release, or to rescue or save.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ridIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹɪd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitivenow only reflexive
Often followed by from, of, or out of: to free or release, or to rescue or save, (oneself or someone, or something).
transitivealso reflexive
Followed by of: to free (oneself or someone, or a place) from an annoyance or hindrance.
transitivealso reflexive
Followed by away, from, or out of: to remove (oneself or someone, or something, that is annoying, troublesome, or unwanted).
Relieve from
adjective
As the second word in a compound: synonym of ridden ("full of; also, dominated, oppressed, or plagued by").
noun
The act of recognizing or the condition of being recognized (matching a current observation with a memory of a prior observation of the same entity).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (now only reflexive) Often followed by from, of, or out of: to free or release, or to rescue or save, (oneself or someone, or something).
Used this way, rid is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use rid
- “Rid the house of pests.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.