I. ˈrid, dial ˈred verb
( rid also ridded ; rid also ridded ; ridding ; rids )
Etymology: Middle English ruden, rudden, ridden, from Old Norse rythja; akin to Old English āryddan to plunder, Old High German riutan to clear land, Avestan raoiδya- to prepare for cultivation, Latin ruere to dig up — more at ruin
transitive verb
1. archaic
a. : to clear or free (as land) of obstructions, waste, or encumbrances
b. : to clear away : clean up
2.
a. archaic : to set free : deliver — often used with of or from
b. : to make (someone or something) free : relieve — often used in the phrase be rid of or get rid of
succeeded in getting rid of a huge billboard — Edward Bok
was glad to rid herself of the burden — C.S.Forester
3. : to take away : clear off : remove
4. chiefly dialect : to get through (work) : dispatch
5. dialect : redd II
intransitive verb
chiefly dialect : to become dispatched
Synonyms:
clear , unburden , disabuse , purge : rid is a rather general term but is likely to refer to concrete or specific matters which are burdensome or pestiferous
England had in the meantime ridded herself of the Stuarts, worried along under the Hanoverians — Agnes Repplier
a lazy man's expedient for ridding himself of the trouble of thinking and deciding — B.N.Cardozo
clear is likely to be used to refer to tangible matters which obstruct progress, clutter an area, or block vision
wars which … enabled the United States first to clear its own territory of foreign troops — S.F.Bemis
rose from the food she had barely tasted and began to clear the table — Ellen Glasgow
and may be used also in relation to ideas that hinder progress
of service to his fellow Methodists in clearing away obstructions to modern thinking — H.K.Rowe
unburden is likely to indicate freeing oneself from something taxing or something distressing the mind or spirit, in the latter situation often by confessing, revealing, frankly discussing
insisted that he unburden himself of most of the weighty chores that go with the job of majority leader — Time
conquers his own submissiveness and unburdens himself, before his domineering wife, of all the accumulated resentment and dislike — S.M.Fitzgerald
disabuse is likely to refer to freeing the mind from an erroneous notion or an attitude or feeling making clear straightforward thought difficult
if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, hypocrisy, and superstition — John Adams
neither familiarity with the history and institutions of Old World nations nor contact with them during two wars disabused the average American of his feeling of superiority — H.S.Commager
purge may refer to cleansing out of or purification from that which is impure or alien or extrinsic
purged of all its unorthodox views — G.B.Shaw
the room had never quite been purged of the bad taste of preceding generations — Edmund Wilson
In political matters it may suggest ruthless elimination
the dictator has purged academic faculties of every savant suspected of being opposed to his regime — Howard M. Jones
II.
Etymology: Middle English riden (past plural & past participle), from Old English ridon (past plural), geriden (past participle)
chiefly dialect
past of ride
III. ˈrid
dialect
variant of redd V
IV.
dialect
variant of rede