Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To take as a spouse; marry.
  • intransitive verb To perform the marriage ceremony for; join in matrimony.
  • intransitive verb To unite closely.
  • intransitive verb To cause to adhere devotedly or stubbornly.
  • intransitive verb To take a spouse; marry.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To pledge; hence, to wager.
  • To marry; take for husband or for wife.
  • To join in marriage; give or unite in wedlock.
  • To unite closely in affection; attach firmly by passion or prejudice: as, to be wedded to one's habits or opinions.
  • To unite forever or inseparably.
  • To espouse; take part with.
  • To marry; contract marriage; become united as in matrimony.
  • An abbreviation of Wednesday.
  • noun A pledge; pawn; security.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A pledge; a pawn.
  • intransitive verb To contact matrimony; to marry.
  • transitive verb To take for husband or for wife by a formal ceremony; to marry; to espouse.
  • transitive verb To join in marriage; to give in wedlock.
  • transitive verb Fig.: To unite as if by the affections or the bond of marriage; to attach firmly or indissolubly.
  • transitive verb obsolete To take to one's self and support; to espouse.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony.
  • verb transitive To take as one's spouse.
  • verb intransitive To take a spouse.
  • verb figuratively To join (more or less permanently)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb take in marriage
  • verb perform a marriage ceremony
  • adjective having been taken in marriage
  • noun the fourth day of the week; the third working day

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English wedden, from Old English weddian.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English weddian. Related to Scots wed ("pledge").

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Examples

  • And he is taking over the stations again wed to repeat his healthcare infomerical.

    GOP unveils new health care ad campaign 2009

  • Here’s an excerpt from one of my favorite scenes when she first begins to realize that the man she’s wed is not who she thinks he is.

    Guest Author: Erin Quinn Nalini Singh 2010

  • Here’s an excerpt from one of my favorite scenes when she first begins to realize that the man she’s wed is not who she thinks he is.

    Archive 2010-05-01 Nalini Singh 2010

  • It isn't no weddin'-ring, "says she," for I never was what you might call wed, "says she," but I got it from the Jew t 'make believe I was; for it didn't do nobody no hurt, an' it sort o 'pleased me.

    Quaint Courtships William Dean Howells 1878

  • "But whom hath mine uncle wed, that is thus unbuxom [disobedient] to him?"

    The White Lady of Hazelwood A Tale of the Fourteenth Century Emily Sarah Holt 1864

  • In the episode, Christian and Liz get set to wed, which is odd because Liz used to be a lesbian and Christian, one of the show's two main plastic surgeons, is a commitaphobe male slut.

    unknown title 2009

  • Example: Billy and Betty have been married for seven years in California and amicably divorce, only to find that unbeknown to them both, Billy's divorce from his first wife wasn't final when he "wed" Betty seven years before!

    How To Make Divorce Less Taxing 2010

  • Example: Billy and Betty have been married for seven years in California and amicably divorce, only to find that unbeknown to them both, Billy's divorce from his first wife wasn't final when he "wed" Betty seven years before!

    How To Make Divorce Less Taxing 2010

  • One day after Reece Fleming and Elleanor Purgslove were "wed," Reece died peacefully at his home.

    Reece Fleming, 8 years old Dying Wish: Get Married 2008

  • He learned how to propagate and "wed" his own trees and in 1763 was particularly active.

    George Washington: Farmer Paul Leland Haworth

Comments

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  • Dew in reverse.

    November 2, 2007