RIDDING

RID

rid, free, disembarrass

(verb) relieve from; “Rid the house of pests”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Verb

ridding

present participle of rid

Source: Wiktionary

RID

Rid,

Definition: 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.] Etym: [OE. ridden, redden, AS. hreddan to deliver, liberate; akin to D. & LG. redden, G. retten, Dan. redde, Sw. rädda, and perhaps to Skr. 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition