rid

verb

ˈrid How to pronounce rid (audio)
Definition of ridnext
as in to relieve
to set (a person or thing) free of something that encumbers worked two jobs to rid himself of debt

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rid
  1. relieve
  2. free
  3. clear
Verb
  • Many of them have touted tax cuts as a means of keeping money in people's pockets and relieving affordability woes.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Neither of the first two updates relieved concerns about whether Campbell had movement in his extremities, either.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of relieve
Verb
  • Authorities said the victim managed to free himself and escape after Maniscalco fell asleep.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Most of these people were freed through habeas corpus petitions, which let detainees challenge the government’s legal right to imprison them.
    — Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of free
Verb
  • The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Purdue transfer, cleared by the courts to play courtesy of a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the NCAA, came off the bench to score nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
    — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Republicans also credit Trump with clearing primary fields in several crucial races.
    — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of clear
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

rictuses
rid
riddance
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rid. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of abandon

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All