abraid

A1B3R1A1I1D2
/əˈbɹeɪd/

verb

To wrench (something) out.

OriginMiddle English abraiden ← Old English ābreġdan ← Proto-Germanic *uz- →
First used 10th–13th c.Scrabble 9
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Meanings

abraid1

verbabraid (third-person singular simple present abraids, present participle abraiding, simple past and past participle abraided or abraid)

present singular third person abraids · participle present abraiding · participle past abraided · past abraided · alternative abray

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo wrench (something) out.First known use 10th–13th c.
  2. obsoletetransitiveTo unsheathe a blade, draw a weapon.First known use 10th–13th c.
  3. intransitiveobsoleteTo wake up.First known use 11th–18th c.

    But from his study he at last abray'd, / Call'd by the hermit old[…]

    1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XIII, l
    2 more examples

    She ferde as she had stert out of a sleep, / Til she out of hire mazednesse abreyde.

    She fared as if she had started out of a sleep, / Till out of her mazedness she abrayed.

    1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Clerke of Oxenfordes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC

    But when as I did out of ſleepe abray, / I found her not where I her left whyleare, […]

    1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, page 90
  4. archaicintransitiveTo spring, start, make a sudden movement.First known use 11th c.
  5. intransitiveobsoletetransitiveTo shout out.First known use 15th–16th c.
  6. obsoletetransitiveTo rise in the stomach with nausea.First known use 16th–19th c.

abraid2

adverbabraid (not comparable)
  1. alternativenot comparableAlternative form of abread.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
awakeawakenrousestirwake

Origin

abraid · verb

  1. Proto-Germanic*uz-“out”
  2. Old Englishābreġdan“to move quickly, vibrate, draw, draw from, remove, unsheath, wrench, pull out, withdraw, take away, draw back, free from, draw up, raise, lift up, start up”
  3. Middle Englishabraiden
  4. Englishabraid

From Middle English abraiden, abreiden (“to start up, awake, move, reproach”), from Old English ābreġdan (“to move quickly, vibrate, draw, draw from, remove, unsheath, wrench, pull out, withdraw, take away, draw back, free from, draw up, raise, lift up, start up”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”) + *bregdaną (“to move, swing”), of uncertain further origin. Equivalent to a- + braid. Related to Dutch breien (“to knit”), German bretten (“to knit”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

abraid · adverb

  1. Middle Englishabrede
  2. Englishabraid

From Middle English abrede. More at abread.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with abraid

madetradepaidgradeaidupgradedisplayedarcadelaidbladedecadeafraiddelayedparaderaidshadeprepaidwademaidsuedecascadefadeaideunpaid
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

abradeabrade

Anagrams

BardiaArabidrabadi
Cite this entry
APA

abraid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abraid

MLA

“abraid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abraid. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “abraid,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abraid.

Source: abraid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.