From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrid somebody/something of something phrasal verb writtenREMOVEto take action so that a person, place etc is no longer affected by something bad or no longer has it → overcome a promise to rid the country of nuclear weapons Will science finally rid us of this disease?rid yourself of something He struggled to rid himself of his fears. → rid→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
rid of • Like small birds, small mammals may occasionally indulge in mobbing to rid themselves of a feared killer.• She has to put her life back in order to rid her of Fred whose antics are only adding to her problems.• Alternatively, you can totally change this tale to rid it of its ambiguous message about trust.• In seeking revenge, we seek to rid ourselves of pain.• So they joined in a suicide pact which would rid them for ever of parental domination.• Suppose you want to clear up a pile of windows on your screen by getting rid of some of them.• Since their last meeting he had half-unconsciously collaborated with events in ridding himself of the burden of Madame Olenska.• Yet neither man could rid himself entirely of the killing - fields mentality which had disfigured papal rule for so long.rid yourself of something• From surface to core, the great engine of the earth is constantly churning to rid itself of heat.• She's taking classes to rid herself of her Southern accent.• She might easily, she considered, have rid herself of it all.• After ten years of marriage, my grandfather developed a cough and could not rid himself of it.• I could not rid myself of memories.• Angelina had cheered up considerably, having rid herself of the burden of guilt she was carrying.• I had to rid myself of the child.• But it seems that I can not rid myself of this fear of running short of money. 