rid (r?d)tr.v. rid or rid·ded, rid·ding, rids To cause (someone) to be free from something; relieve or disencumber: He was finally able to rid himself of all financial worries.Idiom: get rid of To rid oneself of (something); discard or get free of: Let’s get rid of that broken chair.[Middle English ridden, probably from Old Norse rydhja, to clear land.]rid?der n.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.rid (r?d) vb (tr) , rids, ridding, rid or ridded1. (foll by of) to relieve or deliver from something disagreeable or undesirable; make free (of): to rid a house of mice. 2. get rid of to relieve or free oneself of (something or someone unpleasant or undesirable)[C13 (meaning: to clear land): from Old Norse rythja; related to Old High German riutan to clear land] ?ridder nCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014rid (r?d) v.t. rid rid?ded, rid?ding. to free, disencumber, or relieve of something objectionable: to rid the house of mice; to rid the mind of doubt. Idioms: be or get rid of, to be or become free of. [1150?1200; Middle English ridden (v.), Old English (ge)ryddan to clear (land), c. Old Norse rythja to clear, empty] rid?der, n. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.rid1. ‘get rid of’Rid is usually used in the expression get rid of. If you get rid of something or someone that you do not want, you take action so that you no longer have them.You can also use rid as a verb. If you rid a place or yourself of something unpleasant or annoying, you take action so that it no longer exists or no longer affects you. Note that the past tense and past participle of rid is rid, not ‘ridded’.