Weed eating also known as string trimming or line trimming refers to the act of using a specialized gardening tool called a weed eater or weed trimmer to cut down weeds and grass around objects and edges of a lawn that a regular lawnmower cannot reach. But how exactly do you spell this term? Let’s find out.
The Most Common Spelling is “Weed Eating”
The most commonly accepted spelling for the verb form is “weed eating” – two words with no hyphen This is the spelling used in mainstream dictionaries like Merriam-Webster and Cambridge Dictionary. Some examples of use
- John was outside weed eating the lawn edges.
- I need to do some weed eating around the trees and fences.
- My least favorite yard chore is weed eating.
So if you want to use the standard and most widely recognized spelling, go with “weed eating”.
Alternate Spellings Exist
That being said, some alternate spellings have emerged, likely due to the term being born colloquially. These include:
- Weed-eating – hyphenated
- Weedeating – one word amalgamated spelling
So you may see things like:
- The weed-eating really did a number on my arms!
- I hired someone to do the weedeating this time.
While these aren’t wrong per se, they aren’t as common as the two-word spelling. The hyphenated form in particular seems to be falling out of favor.
Different Forms for Noun and Verb
Keep in mind “weed eating” is used for the verb form – the act of trimming weeds with a weed eater. But you can also use it as a noun, for example:
- The weed eating took me over an hour.
- I need to do some weed eating soon.
For the noun form, the spellings tend to differ. “Weed eating” as two words is acceptable for the noun. But you’ll also see:
- Weed-eating – more common for the noun than verb
- Weed eating – hyphenated, but not that common
- Weedeating – amalgamated into one word, often used for noun form
Key Finding #1: Weed Eater is More Popular than String Trimmer
First, the information the lawn care professionals gave us matched up pretty well with what we got from Google Trends.
From the very beginning of Google Trends, we can see that “Weed Eater” has been the most-searched term, followed by “String Trimmer.” In fact, that lead actually appears to be widening over time.
What do most people call it in the US and other countries? According to Google Trends
Google Trends showed us what most people in the US search for when they want to find the machine. This helped us learn more about what most people call it. We poured through the Google Trends data using every name we came across while doing this research.
The names we found and researched included:
- Weed eater,
- String Trimmer,
- Weed Trimmer
- Line Trimmer.
- Weed Cutter,
- Whipper Snipper,
- Weed Wacker
- Strimmer,
- Weed Whip,
- and many more.
We looked into what other countries call the tool after seeing which search terms were most common in the US. Below are our 7 key findings.
How to Change the Line | Weed Eater String | Replace Weed Wacker [2021]
FAQ
Is weedeating one word or two?
What is the meaning of Weedeating?
Is it weed eating or weed whacking?
Is weed eater one word or two words?
Is weed whacking a weed eater?
I know some people say weed-whacking or trimming when talking about a string trimmer, but folks around here (central Kentucky”) say weed-eating. For those who refer to it as weed-eating, how to you say the past tense? Archived post. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Weed wacked. Because it’s a weed wacker, not a weed eater.
What does ‘weedeat’ mean?
To trim weeds using a weedeater, ‘weedeat’ is the action represented in the simple present (weedeats), present participle (weedeating), simple past, and past participle (weedeated). For example, ‘John weedeated Mrs. Smith’s yard the other day just after mowing it’.
What does the word ‘weed’ mean in English?
In the Spellzone English spelling course, Unit 7, you can learn about the word weed. It is not related to the meaning in this passage, which is about a black band worn for mourning and vowel spelling.
What is another word for ‘weed’?
Synonyms for weed: any plant that crowds out cultivated plants. Related Words: agrostemma githago, corn campion, corn cockle, crown-of-the-field, knawe.