Meaning
Weed out means to remove or eliminate people or things that are not wanted, not useful, or not suitable.
Grammar and Usage
- Part of speech: Phrasal verb
- Transitivity: Transitive (needs an object)
- Structure:
- weed out + noun
- weed out + the + noun
- weed out + unwanted/weak/etc. + noun
Usage notes:
Originally from gardening — removing weeds — it is now widely used in business, hiring, education, and general situations to mean “filter out” or “get rid of.”
Common Phrases
- weed out the weak candidates
- weed out errors
- weed out unnecessary items
- weed out bad habits
Collocations
- verb + weed out: try to weed out, attempt to weed out, work to weed out
- adjective + noun: unwanted items, weak performers, low-quality entries
- object + modifiers: weed out inefficient processes, weed out outdated rules
Examples
- The company is trying to weed out unproductive practices.
- Teachers use quizzes to weed out misunderstandings early.
- We need to weed out unnecessary files from the server.
- The hiring team weeded out applicants who didn’t meet the requirements.
- This policy aims to weed out fraudulent claims.
- Regular reviews help us weed out low-quality projects.
- They are working to weed out corruption in the department.
Synonyms or Related
- eliminate
- filter out
- root out
- screen out
- remove
- get rid of
Antonym
- include
- take in
- accept