to weed out
27
3.8
- phrasal verb
- /wiːd aʊt/
- Some of these students felt the professors were deliberately trying to "weed out" marginal performers.
- weed out the bad
- rather than weed out
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Watch on YouTubeNovels have so much material that you got to weed out what stays and what goes.
- Novels have so much material that you got to weed out what stays and what goes.
- And and like the the only purpose for the exercise was to weed out people with inhibitions.
- You know, the academy's made well it, it, it tries to weed out the people that probably shouldn't be there.
- So heart disease, Alzheimer's, those things all happen so late that it didn't get weeded out by natural selection.
- We need to make sure certainly that we have a transparent process that weeds out people that abuse their badge.
- It's actually then good to come across expensive because you will weed out the guys who simply are not willing to keep up with that.
- And it's his job to weed out the ones who just might get themselves or somebody else killed.
- However, it does weed out again the lazy people and the people that can invest small amounts of money.
- Even though short sellers like to say it's good to weed out fraud in markets, short sellers generally aren't liked.
- Or is, is this just the nature of the financial industry that, that people get sort of either pushed out or weeded out, however you want to view it?
Examples
-
Again, as expected, more than 100 courses were weeded out of the curriculum through this process.
Academic text (1997) -
I have to weed out the bad apples.
-
It's actually then good to come across expensive because you will weed out the guys who simply are not willing to keep up with that.
-
I own a consulting firm that helps businesses weed out dead weight in order to see possible growth.
-
I felt they were trying to weed out the single women heads of households.
Academic text (1998) -
My job is to weed out the real calls from the prank calls.
-
Great writers like these keep the best words and weed out the detritus.
Academic text (2011) -
When I was first elected, I promised to weed out corruption in the Atlanta PD.
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The team must weed out unqualified candidates before the final interviews.
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Our goal is to weed out unnecessary expenses to improve our budget.
Synonyms
∞
1.9
To remove something from a place or container
∞
1.6
To remove or throw away something you do not want
563
1.8
To get rid of something you do not want, for example by putting it in the bin
361
1.8
To put something in the trash because you do not want it
194
3.1
Remove all things from a place so it becomes empty
100
2.7
To throw something away because you no longer want or need it
89
3.7
Remove something so it is no longer used
85
3.5
To get rid of something you do not need
67
2.7
To throw away things you do not want
66
3.4
Remove someone or something from a competition so they are no longer in it
62
6.3
To remove unwanted substances, things, or people by cleaning
37
3.9
Find and completely remove something harmful or hidden
27
3.8
To remove unwanted things from water, air, or lists by letting the rest pass
17
6.9
To choose and collect items from a larger group for use
17
3.6
Remove people completely from a place or group because they are unwanted
13
4.0
To remove unwanted people or things to make a group work better
12
4.3
To check and remove people or things that are not wanted
11
2.0
To throw something away because you no longer want or need it
5
7.5
To get rid of something unwanted, for example a bad habit or a weak branch
4
5.0
To force someone to leave a place usually because they cause trouble
2
6.0
To reject or get rid of something no longer needed
2
7.1
Remove people or things from a group because they are not suitable
1
5.4
To remove unwanted parts from something after checking it carefully
1
5.3
Remove unwanted bits from food or material by passing them through a screen
1
4.9
To remove someone from a group of chosen people, for example a team
Removing unwanted people or things from a group
To remove people or practices from an organization to make it work better
Antonyms
How Thorough
Surface Forms
Morphology
weed + out
The meaning 'to remove unwanted people or things' is directly derivable from combining 'weed' (to remove unwanted plants) with the particle 'out' (indicating removal or exclusion). The gardening metaphor is a straightforward extension and follows common English verb+particle composition, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will very likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Weed out comes from gardening. When you weed a garden you pull unwanted plants out so the good plants can grow, so weed out means 'remove' or 'get rid of' people or things you do not want.