▪ I. † mad, n.1 Obs. (? exc. dial.)
[var. of mathe.]
1. A maggot or grub; esp. the larva of the blowfly, which causes a disease in sheep. Also pl., the disease so caused.
| 1573 Tusser Husb. l. (1878) 109 Sheepe wrigling taile hath mads without faile. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 6 Lambes that wriggle theyre tayles..are to bee..searched, for fear of maddes breedinge. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 273 Madds, a Disease in Sheep. 1688 R. Holme Armoury 111. 268/1 Keep Sheeps Tails from Maggots and Mads. |
2. An earthworm.
| 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. ii. ix. 41 Content thee, Daphles, mooles take mads. 1592 Ibid. vii. xxxvii. 180 Here maiest thou feast thee with a Made. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 361 Earth-worms or mads stamped and laid too are verie good to cure the biting of scorpions. 1674–91 Ray S. & E.C. Words, Mad, an earth-worm. |
▪ II. mad, n.2 dial. and
U.S. slang. (
mæd)
[subst. use of mad a.] Madness, fury, anger.
| 1834 in J. S. Bassett Southern Plantation Overseer (1925) 65, I will be darnde if I can do anythinge with them and they all ways in the mads. 1847–89 Halliwell, Mad, madness, intoxication. Glouc. 1867 W. L. Goss Soldier's Story xiv. 258 The Colonel has got his mad up. 1878 E. B. Tuttle Border Tales 50 A grizzly will stand in the middle of the road, growling and getting his mad up. 1884 Century Mag. Nov. 57/2 His mad was getting up. 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXX. 487/2 Let the pony get his mad up. 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap ii. 57 She kept her mad down better. She set there as nice and sweet as a pet scorpion. 1950 J. D. MacDonald Brass Cupcake (1955) iii. 25 When I want a personality course, friend, I'll go to someone who hasn't a mad on at the world. 1973 M. & G. Gordon Informant xxxiii. 128 Well, thanks a lot! I go through hell for you and you take your mad out on me. |
▪ III. mad, a. (
mæd)
Forms: 1
ᵹemǽd(e)d, 3–4
med(d,
medde, 3–6
madd(e, (5
made,
maad), 3–
mad.
[Aphetic repr. OE. ᵹemǽd(e)d (see amad), pa. pple. of *ᵹemǽdan to render insane, f. ᵹemád insane (‘vecors, ᵹemaad’, Corpus Gl.), corresponding to OS. gimêd foolish, OHG. gameit, kimeit, foolish, vain, boastful (MHG. gimeit merry, stately, handsome), Goth. gamaiþs crippled:—OTeut. *gamaiđo-, f. *ga- prefix (y-) + *maiđo-:—pre-Teut. *moitó-, pa. pple of the Indogermanic root *mei- to change (cf. L. mūtāre). The primary sense of *maiđo- changed, appears in the derivative Goth. maidjan to change, adulterate (in-maideins exchange); the corresponding ON. meiða means to cripple (cf. the sense of the Goth. adj. above). The OE. mád adj., without prefix, app. occurs once in the compound mádmód folly. It is commonly stated that the
OE. (
ᵹe)mád survived into
ME. in the form
mād,
mǭd. The examples cited are the following.
c 1310 in Wright
Lyric P. viii. 31 For-thi on molde y waxe mot (riming with
blod in the next line but one, with
wot,
lot in the previous quatrain).
c 1425
Seven Sages (P.) 2091 To sla the childe he was ful rade, He ferde as man that was made.
c 1460
Lybeaus Disc. (Ritson) 2001 Lybeaus began to swete, Ther he satte yn hys sete, Maad as he were (the earlier texts read quite differently). In the first
quot. the text is certainly corrupt (? read
wod:
blod); the later
quots. do not prove the length of the vowel.]
1. a. Suffering from mental disease; beside oneself, out of one's mind; insane, lunatic. In
mod. use chiefly with a more restricted application, implying violent excitement or extravagant delusions: Maniacal, frenzied.
The word has always had some tinge of contempt or disgust, and would now be quite inappropriate in medical use, or in referring sympathetically to an insane person as the subject of an affliction.
| a 1000 Riddles xii. 6 Ic þæs nowhit wat þæt heo swa ᵹemædde mode bestolene Dæde ᵹedwolene deoraþ mine Won wisan ᵹehwam. c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 347/19 Amens, ᵹemæd. c 1050 Gloss. ibid. 513/33 Uecordem, ᵹemædedne. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 46 For certes such a maladie..It myghte make a wisman madd. Ibid. II. 144 And if..hir list noght to be gladd, He berth an hond that sche is madd. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 319/1 Madde, or wood, amens, demens, furiosus. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. iii. xx. 213 Whyche duke or erle happeth to wex madde so that al alone as a fole he gothe renning by wodes and hedges. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xix. 12 Gife I be sorrowfull and sad, Than will thay say that I am mad. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. ii. ii. 11 Wast thou mad, That thus so madlie thou didst answere me? 1590 Swinburne Treat. Test. 37 They did see him hisse like a goose or barke lyke a dogge, or play such other parts as madfolks vse to doo. 1611 Bible John x. 20 And many of them said, He hath a deuill, and is mad, why heare ye him? 1664–5 Pepys Diary 25 Jan., He told me what a mad freaking fellow Sir Ellis Layton hath been, and is, and once at Antwerp was really mad. 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. viii, Some of them, upon hearing me talk so wildly, thought I was mad. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1729 (1847) 15/1 If a man tells me that he ‘sees’ this [a ruffian with a drawn sword] and in consternation calls to me to look at it I pronounce him to be mad. 1855 Tennyson Maud ii. v. i, And then to hear a dead man chatter Is enough to drive one mad. |
| absol. 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 106 She saw slow Philips creep like Tate's poor page, And all the mighty Mad in Dennis rage. |
b. Phrases,
to † fall mad,
go mad,
run mad.
| 1589 Rider Bibl. Schol., Running madde, Bacchatus. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 212 Nay, if thou melt, then will she runne madde. 1605 Shakes. Lear ii. iv. 289 O Foole, I shall go mad. 1654 R. Codrington tr. Iustine, etc. 567 Being troubled in his Conscience he did fall mad. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. iii. 191 Seeing Nini preferr'd, [he] was ready to run mad. c 1709 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mrs. Hewet 12 Nov., You have not then received my letter? Well! I shall run mad. 1782 Cowper Poems I. 314 What! hang a man for going mad? Then farewell British freedom. 1795–1804 W. Blake Vala i. in Compl. Writings (1972) 265 Thou wilt go mad with horror if thou dost Examine thus Every moment of my Secret hours. 1839 in Amer. Speech (1965) XL. 130 O dear, I shall go mad, My husband is so crazy. a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circ. i. (1874) 27 A perversion of gospel-teaching which had gained ground in his day to the extent of becoming a popular frenzy. People went literally mad. |
| fig. 1735 Pope Prol. Sat. 188 It is not Poetry, but Prose run mad. 1762 Wesley Jrnl. 6 Nov., That manner of writing, in prose run mad, I cordially dislike. 1901 G. B. Shaw Three Plays for Puritans Pref. p. xxix, Besides, I have a technical objection to making sexual infatuation a tragic theme. Experience proves that it is only effective in the comic spirit..but..to worship it, deify it, and imply that it alone makes our lives worth living, is nothing but folly gone mad erotically. 1914 ― Parents & Children in Misalliance p. cii, The sort of Rationalism which says to a child ‘You must suspend your judgment until you are old enough to choose your religion’ is Rationalism gone mad. 1923 L. W. Reese Wild Cherry 21 The weather has gone mad with white. 1949 T. Rattigan Playbill 56 The lighting for this scene has gone mad. |
c. like mad: literally, in the manner of one who is mad; hence, furiously, with excessive violence or enthusiasm. Also
† like any mad,
† for mad.
| c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 110 (Thornton MS.) It marrede, it mournede, it moyssede for made. [1530 Palsgr. 572/1, I go madde, I go up and downe lyke a madde body, je cours les rues.] 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. iii. vii. (1712) 108 For she was then seen..in her fetters, running about like mad. 1663 Pepys Diary 13 June, Thence by coach, with a mad coachman, that drove like mad. 1732 Fielding Covent Gard. Trag. ii. xii, My reeling head! which aches like any mad. 1742 Richardson Pamela IV. 118 Several Harlequins, and other ludicrous Forms, that jump'd and ran about like mad. 1745 C. J. Hamilton in Academy 18 Nov. (1893) 410/3 They were Shooting at y⊇ Standards Like Mad. 1824 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 262 We are writing like mad for the post. 1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Remin. Gt. Mutiny 101 We..heard our fellows cheering like mad. |
d. transf. of the effects of alcoholic drink.
| 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 19 Being drunk and mad with Liquor, they plunder'd Chests and Cabins. |
† e. Causing madness.
Obs. rare.
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 41 b, There is another kind of the self same name which is called mad Dwale. Which being drunken sheweth wonders by a certain false shewe of imagination. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 909 There is also another kinde of pernicious honey made, which from the madness that it causeth, is termed Mad-honey. 1676 Dryden Aurengz. iv. i. 1890 Pow'r like new Wine, does your weak Brain surprize, And it's mad Fumes, in hot Discourses rise. |
2. Foolish, unwise. Now only in stronger sense (corresponding to the modern restricted application of sense 1): Extravagantly or wildly foolish; ruinously imprudent.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) I. 412 Ineptus, ᵹemedid. Ibid. U. 36 Uanus, ᵹemaeded. a 1300 Body & Soul (MS. Laud 108) 100, I þolede þe and [dude] as mad to be maister and i þi cnaue. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 267 Me þynk þe put in a mad porpose, & busyez þe aboute a raysoun bref. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1864 Me meruellis of þi momlyng & þi mad wordes. a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 349/1 Is not this a madde manner of prayer that men vse to our Lady? 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 438, I draue my Sutor from his mad humor of loue to a liuing humor of madnes. 1608 Middleton (title) A Mad World my Masters. 1611 Bible Eccl. ii. 2, I saide of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas Pref. 14 Our Attempt for Liberty in sailing..with such a number of People, stow'd in a Long Boat, has been censur'd as a mad Undertaking. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 643 The chief justice..was not mad enough to risk a quarrel on such a subject. 1864 Browning Confessions ix, How sad and bad and mad it was—But then, how it was sweet! 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion i. ii. 27 Was I mad, To fear, one moment, thou couldst ever die? |
| quasi-adv. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1166 Hit payed hym not þat I so flonc, Ouer meruelous merez so mad arayed. |
† 3. Stupefied with astonishment, fear, or suffering: dazed.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 10310 For þat bright-nes was he sa radd, Þat he stode still als he war madd. Ibid. 10851 Sant gabriel..said her till, ‘Maria, quarfor es þou madd? Es þe na nede to be radd’. Ibid. 24886 All þaa þat in þat ferr cost fard War medd [Gött. mad; Edin. med] quen þai him [sc. the angel] sagh and herd. c 1400 Destr. Troy 11542 Þus in pouert am I pyght, put vnder fote, Þat makes me full mad, & mournes in my hert. |
4. a. Carried away by enthusiasm or desire; wildly excited; infatuated. Const.
about,
after,
for,
† of,
on,
upon.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7604 Out of mesure was he glad, Opon þat mayden he wax al mad. 1601 Shakes. All's Well v. iii. 260 He loued her, for indeede he was madde for her. 1611 Bible Jer. l. 38 It is the land of grauen images, and they are madde vpon their idoles. 1614 B. Jonson Barthol. Fair i. (1631) 9, I thought he would ha' runne madde o' the blacke boy in Bucklers-bury. 1678 Rymer Trag. Last Age 7, I cannot be perswaded that the people are so very mad of Acorns, but that they could be well content to eat the Bread of civil persons. 1690 W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 283 He began to be mad on her. 1692 Dryden Cleomenes Pref. A 4, The World is running mad after Farce,—the Extremitie of bad Poetry. 1700 ― Cinyras & Myrrha 128 Mad with desire, she ruminates her Sin And wishes all her Wishes o'er again. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. ix. (1840) 208 They were mad upon their journey. 1744 H. Walpole Corr. (ed. 3) I. cv. 350 We are now mad about tar-water. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 175 The people were mad with loyal enthusiasm. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) Il. vii. 42 When all the world seemed mad after monks. 1881 Tennyson Charge Heavy Brigade iii, O mad for the charge and the battle were we. |
b. Wildly desirous
to do something. Now
rare.
| a 1627 Middleton Wom. beware Wom. iii. ii, This makes me madder to enjoy him now. 1732 Swift Jrnl. Mod. Lady 178 All mad to speak, and none to hearken. 1794 Miss Gunning Packet IV. ix. 166 Every honest cottager was so mad to pursue it after his own mode, that [etc.]. 1814 Southey Roderick i, Mad to wreak His vengeance for his violated child On Roderick's head. |
c. Frequently used as the second element in combinations, as
music-mad,
poetry-mad.
| 1776 [see music-mad s.v. music n. 13 b]. 1825 H. Wilson Mem. I. 41 One of her new admirers, who, being flute-mad, and a beautiful flute player, was always ready. 1848 [see woman-mad adj. s.v. woman n. 7]. 1904, etc. [see man-mad adj. s.v. man n.1 20]. 1943 E. M. Almedingen Frossia ii. 58 Look at all this promiscuity... They have all gone sex-mad. 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) 8 All the family were horse-mad. 1974 ‘P. B. Yuill’ Bornless Keeper xiii. 129 Perhaps you can save her from a sex-mad rabbit and win her undying love. |
5. ‘Beside oneself’ with anger; moved to uncontrollable rage; furious. Now only
colloq. (In many dialects in Great Britain and the
U.S. the ordinary word for ‘angry’.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 17595 For-þi þaa Iuus war full medd, Þair sandes come again vn-spedd. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 608 Þys lady Venus was al glad, Þe oþere were for wrayth al mad. 14.. Arthur 234 Whan þis lettre was open & rad, Þe bretouns & alle men were mad, And wolde þe messager scle. 1539 Bible Ps. cii. 8 They that are mad vpon me, are sworne together agaynst me. [Similarly, 1611; the Heb. word literally means ‘insane’.] 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. 75 They which for familiarity sake used moderation before, now were exceedingly moved and mad with us. a 1604 ― Chron. Irel. (1633) 125 Roderic was mad, and in his rage, caused his pledges head..to be cut off. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. ii. 155 Whereat the merchant was so mad, and so transported with passion, that he knew not what to say. 1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr. iii. Wks. 1716 III. 184 That makes them so mad at me, when I touch the Craft by which they get their Wealth. 1707 Reflex. upon Ridicule 350 You are mad to hear other's Works commended. 1766 Garrick Neck or Nothing i. ii, He was damned mad that he could not be at the wedding. 1806 Simple Narrative II. 9 I'll pump out of her how she got the book;—how deuced mad she will be. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest vii, He thought..you would be mad at the idea of this injustice. 1867 Trollope Last Chron. Barset (1869) II. i. 4, I am sometimes so mad with myself when I think over it all,—that I should like to blow my brains out. 1887 F. Francis Saddle & Mocassin 111 The more he studied it [sc. the bill] the madder he got. 1902 W. James Var. Relig. Exper. xi. 264 He can't ‘get mad’ at any of his alternatives; and the career of a man beset by such an all-round amiability is hopeless. 1925 E. Wallace King by Night viii. 32 Don't get fresh with that girl of mine... You just get mad at her. 1939 [see chisel v.1 4]. 1956 M. Duggan in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 90 Are you mad at me? Simpson asked. 1962 H. Hood in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 210 ‘Why is Daddy mad?’ said Deedee. ‘I'm not mad!’ 1973 Black World June 57/1 Gloria mad at me three days now. |
6. a. Of an animal: Abnormally furious, rabid. Often said of bulls; also, in a more specific sense, of dogs, horses, etc. suffering from rabies.
The sense appears to be of late emergence; before the 16th c. it was expressed by
wood a.
| 1538 [implied in madness 1]. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Furibundus, Canis furibundus, a madde dogge. Taurus furibundus, a madde bull. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 463 Dogges after they had eaten the sacrament,..ranne madde. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 70. 1702 in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iii. 7 A great Mad Bull to be turned loose in the Game-place, with Fire-works all over him. 1766 Goldsm. Elegy Mad Dog 20 The dog, to gain some private ends, Went mad, and bit the man. 1769 Pennant Zool. III. 315 Fish thus affected the Thames fishermen call mad bleaks. 1800 Med. Jrnl. IV. 58 Keep the dogs, or other animals, supposed mad, shut up safely in a convenient place for five or six weeks. 1848 Dickens Dombey vi, A thundering alarm of ‘Mad Bull’ was raised. |
† b. mad dog: another name for
huff-cap.
Obs. 7. a. Uncontrolled by reason; passing all rational bounds in demeanour or conduct; extravagant in gaiety; wild.
| 1597, 1635 Mad Greeke [see Greek n. 5]. 1598 Marston in Shaks. C. Praise 29 Why, how now, currish, mad Athenian? 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 377 A merry mad maker as they call Poets now, was he, which..made this for John Calfe. 1655 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 338 You will heare mad work shortly, for the Jesuit is at worke. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 244 He..was engaged in a mad-ramble after pleasure and minded no business. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §10 The mad sallies of intemperance and debauchery. 1777 F. Burney Early Diary 7 Apr., The sweet little thing was quite in mad spirits. 1862 G. Meredith Marian iii, She is steadfast as a star, And yet the maddest maiden. 1873 Ouida Pascarè l I. 69 They would play me all sorts of sweet little mad canzoni. |
b. transf. Of storm, wind: Wild, violent.
| 1836 Mrs. Browning Poet's Vow i. xiii, Mad winds that howling go From east to west. 1863 Woolner My Beautiful Lady 50 Here the mad gale had rioted and thrown Far drifts of snowy petals. |
8. Proverbs.
as mad as a buck,
a hatter,
a March hare (see
hare n. 1 b), etc. Also
(as) mad as a cut snake (
Austral.),
† Ajax,
a hornet (
U.S.),
a meat axe (chiefly
Austral. and
N.Z.),
a wet hen.
| a 1529 Skelton Replycacion 35 Thou madde Marche hare. 1529 [see hare n. 1 b]. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 7 By the Lord this Loue is as mad as Aiax, it kils sheepe. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. i. 72 It would make a man mad as a Bucke to be so bought and sold. 1607 Chapman Bussy d'Ambois iii. 468 Murther market folkes, quarrell with sheepe, And runne as mad as Aiax. 1609 Ev. Wom. in Humor i. in Bullen Old Plays IV. 314 If he were as madde as a weaver. 1626 Fletcher Noble Gent. i. ii, Monsieur Shattillion's mad... Mad as May⁓butter, And which is more, mad for a wench. 1732 T. Fuller Gnomologia 140 Love is as mad as Ajax; it kills Sheep, so it kills me. 1823 J. Doddridge Dialogue of Backwoodsman & Dandy in Logan 42 Every body that was not ax'd was mad as a wet hen. 1855 T. C. Haliburton Nat. & Hum. Nat. I. 85, I feel as mad as a meat axe. 1837–40, 1857 [see hatter 1]. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis x, We were..chaffing Derby Oaks—until he was as mad as a hatter. 1901 T. Ratcliffe in N. & Q. 9th Ser. VIII. 501/2 In Derbyshire..there is no commoner saying to express anger shown by any one than to say that he or she was ‘as mad as a tup’. 1902 W. N. Harben Abner Daniel 54 The Colonel is as mad as a wet hen about the whole thing. 1919 Mencken Amer. Lang. 80 In the familiar simile, as mad as a hornet, it [sc. the word mad] is used in the American sense. 1923 Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xviii. 249 My uncle will be as mad as a wet hen when he finds out that he has been fooled. 1927 Amer. Speech II. 360 He was as mad as a hornet when he heard how the election went. 1932 ‘W. Hatfield’ Ginger Murdoch 30 ‘But you're mad!’ said Mick, ‘mad as a cut snake!’ 1946 J. Fountain in Coast to Coast 1945 252 The cow's mad—mad as a meat axe! 1951 S. Mackenzie Dead Men Rising 203 ‘Mad as a cut snake,’ Johnson said admiringly, ‘and there's not a better feller in the whole camp.’ 1963 Moderna Språk LVII. i. 10 As mad as a cut snake: ‘mad’ is used in the sense of ‘angry’, and the phrase means ‘extremely angry’. 1970 D. M. Davin Not Here, Not Now v. iii. 263 She's mad as a meataxe anyway about the whole idea. 1971 Wall St. Jrnl. 22 July W. 1/4 The chicken farmers of Quebec..are as mad as, well, a wet hen. |
9. Comb., parasynthetic, as
mad-blooded,
mad-humoured,
mad-mooded,
mad-pated adjs.; with
adjs., indicating some condition that proceeds from, resembles, or results in madness, as
mad-afraid,
† mad-angry,
mad-blazing,
mad-drunk,
† mad-hardy (hence
† mad-hardiness),
† mad-hungry,
mad-keen,
† mad-merry,
† mad-proud,
† mad-red adjs.; also
mad-like adj. and in attributive combinations of the
adj. used
absol., as
mad minute Army slang, a minute of rapid rifle-fire or frenzied bayonet-practice (see
quots.);
mad money colloq., money for use in an emergency;
spec. (see
quot. 1922);
mad nurse (
colloq.) a nurse attending on insane patients;
mad scientist, a scientist who is mad or eccentric,
esp. so as to be dangerous or evil: a stock figure of melodramatic horror-stories;
freq. attrib. See also
mad-doctor,
madhouse.
| 1895 Kipling Seven Seas (1896) 90 When the steers are *mad-afraid. |
| 1589 Rider Bibl. Schol., *Madde angrie, or raging madde, sævus, furiosus. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena v. 142 Whose Prince mad angry for being discovered, assayling with a sudden furie the Granadan Galley, easily tooke her. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. v. vii, *Mad-blazing with flame of all imaginable tints. |
| 1885 J. Runciman Skippers & Sh. 84 He was a *mad blooded rip that cared for nothing. |
| 1653 Baxter Chr. Concord 32, I have neighbours that go *mad-drunk about the streets. 1871 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 33 He was mad drunk, and did not know what he was doing. |
| 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 28 Of the hye pride of herte whiche is in reproche, and maye be called *madhardynesse. |
| Ibid. 35 *Madhardy men of our cyte of Rome. |
| 1665 Pepys Diary 6 Dec., Knipp, who is..the most excellent *mad-humoured thing, and sings the noblest that ever I heard. |
| 1608 Chapman Byron's Conspir. Plays 1873 II. 233 Such *mad-hungrie men, as well may eate Hote coles of fire. |
| 1949 A. Christie Crooked House xvi. 126 She's *mad keen on this detecting stuff. 1974 L. Lamb Man in Mist xiii. 88 Derek Boots was not exactly the type to join us here... I was not so mad keen on him. |
| 1836 [G. E. Inman] Sir Orfeo 6 With a *mad-like dreaminess crying. 1887 P. M'Neill Blawearie 144 The mad-like act would never have been heard of. |
| 1599 Sir John Oldcastle (1600) C 4, Ye olde *mad merry Constable, art thou aduisde of that? 1609 Boys Wks. (1629) 30 The wicked are often merrie, sometime mad-merry. |
| 1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 298 *Mad minute, firing fifteen rounds from your rifle in sixty seconds. A man is mad to attempt it, especially with a stiff bolt. 1942 in Baker Austral. Lang. (1945) viii. 155 The mad minute, bayonet drill. 1945 C. H. B. Pridham Superiority of Fire vi. 57 By 1914, many men in each regiment could exceed even twenty rounds in the ‘mad minute’. 1964 C. Falls in S. Nowell-Smith Edwardian England xiv. 537 Reservists and young soldiers alike could shoot steadily and accurately at a relatively slow rate for long periods, or in emergency fire what they called their ‘mad minute’. 1965 Brophy & Partridge Long Trail 147 Mad minute, a newspaper phrase for British rapid fire during the Retreat from Mons... The name was also applied to the frenzied minute spent charging down the assault course, bayoneting straw-filled dummies, representing enemy soldiers. |
| 1922 Dialect Notes V. 148 *Mad money, money a girl carries in case she has a row with her escort and wishes to go home alone. 1933 Partridge Slang To-day & Yesterday v. 285 Mad money, return fare, it being very generally believed by the New Zealand troops..that every English girl infallibly carried her return fare in case her soldier friend became mad, i.e., acted with an excessive freedom of manner. 1943 J. Steinbeck Once there was War (1959) 136 He has a nest egg or mad money. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File x. 61, I think he grabs an S. 1. now and again when he needs some mad money. 1970 ‘D. Shannon’ Unexpected Death (1971) ix. 135, I haven't even a dime of mad money with me, hope I don't need it. 1972 O. Sela Bearer Plot i. 15, I reached for the wad of notes Keith kept as mad money. |
| 1583 T. Watson Centurie of Loue lii. Poems (Arb.) 88 *Mad mooded Loue vsurping Reasons place. |
| 1753 The World No. 23 ¶7 After such hospitals are built,..and doctors, surgeons, apothecaries and *mad nurses provided. |
| 1771 T. Hull Sir W. Harrington (1797) II. 223 Your *mad-pated Julia. |
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 605/15 Produculus, *madprud. |
| 1614 Lodge Seneca, Life ix, This Prince waxed *mad red with anger. |
| 1940 ‘N. Blake’ Malice in Wonderland iii. xviii. 282 A sort of *mad-scientist motive for the whole series of outrages. 1963 ‘G. Bagby’ Murder's Little Helper (1964) iv. 36 The whole idea smacked too much of some mad-scientist fable out of a comic strip. 1972 B. Turner Solden's Women ix. 82 He would have passed for the mad scientist in one of those films which star giant insects. |
Sense 4 c in
Dict. becomes 4 d. Add:
[4.] c. Phr.
to go mad (about, for, over, etc.): to allow oneself to be carried away by enthusiasm or excitement.
| 1850 R. W. Emerson Goethe in Representative Men vii. 261 The ambitious and mercenary bring their last new mumbo-jumbo, whether tariff, Texas, railroad, Romanism, mesmerism, phrenology or California, and..a multitude go mad about it. 1876 W. Besant & J. Rice Golden Butterfly xvi, Why should we not go mad for china? It is as sensible as going mad over rinking. 1936 G. B. Shaw Millionairess 27 The whole town went mad about the angry-eyed woman. It rained money in bucketsful. 1992 Practical Fishkeeping July 98/3, I went mad and bought a 24{pp} glass tank with a crude external filter. |
[9.] mad cow disease colloq. (chiefly
Brit.)
= bovine spongiform encephalopathy s.v. *
bovine a. 3.
| 1989 New Scientist 4 Mar. 25/1 BSE, or ‘*mad cow disease’, is a neurological disorder that eventually destroys the nervous tissues. 1989 Observer 17 Sept. 4/8 Mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has an incubation period of up to four years. 1990 Australian 17 Jan. 6/3 The British government yesterday denied United States military bases had banned British meat because of ‘mad cow ’ disease. 1996 Private Eye 5 Apr. 12/1 In the West Country it is common knowledge that ‘mad cow disease’ was present at epidemic levels long before it was ‘discovered’ by Maffia [sc. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food] vets in Kent in 1985. |
mad-dog attrib. phr., (
a)
mad-dog skullcap,
weed U.S., the skullcap
Scutellaria lateriflora, formerly reputed to cure hydrophobia.
| 1818 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. I. 371, July 17. *Mad dog weed (Scutellaria lateriflora), and purple vervain (Verbena hastata) in blossom. 1821 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1832) 2nd Ser. IX. 156 Scutellaria lateriflora, Mad dog scull-cap. 1894 Outing Nov. 180/1 A delicate little herb with dainty, blue flowers is called mad-dog skull cap, from its imputed power of curing hydrophobia. 1968 Peterson & McKenny Field Guide Wildflowers Northeastern & North-Central N. America 346 Mad-dog Skullcap... Easily recognized because the flowers are in slender 1-sided racemes in the leaf axils. |
(
b)
orig. and chiefly
U.S., wild, reckless, or hare-brained,
esp. dangerously so.
| 1904 Collier's Mag. 7 May 4/1 With the only successful trust curber a Republican and President, and the Democratic party full of mad-dog policies..it is impossible to draw this line. 1946 Essays & Stud. XXXI. 60 She knows..the divine patience of a Viola, the mad-dog fury of a Constance. 1962 S. E. Finer Man on Horseback x. 162 Mad-dog acts like..the Japanese February mutiny and the generals' revolt in France. 1987 R. R. McCammon Swan Song i. i. 11 The arms brokers had fed..mad-dog leaders thirsting for power. |
mad hatter [after one of the two eccentric hosts at the ‘mad tea-party’ in Lewis Carroll's
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). As in the phrase
mad as a hatter (see sense 10 below), Carroll's allusion is to the effects of mercury poisoning sometimes formerly suffered by hat-makers as a result of the use of mercurous nitrate in the manufacture of felt hats.], a highly eccentric or crazy character (
freq. in
mad hatter's tea party).
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 14/2 What possible interest can Spain have in a *mad-hatter attempt to subjugate the Riff district? 1955 Times 20 May 9/2, I shudder to think of the..consequences of this mad hatter's export subsidy scheme. 1974 Times 9 Nov. 12/6 The world of catering sometimes has the air of a mad hatter's tea party, as chefs and proprietors move from one place to the next. 1990 Scuba Times Mar.–Apr. 32/3, I watched the mad hatter of the sea, a large puffer fish, hovering over the top of our tiny world, flitting his tiny fins. |
▪ IV. mad, v. (
mæd)
[f. mad a.] 1. trans. To make mad, in various senses of the
adj.; to madden, make insane;
† to render foolish;
† to bewilder, stupefy, daze; to infuriate, enrage. Now
rare exc. U.S. colloq., to exasperate.
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles i. 63 And no soule persone to punnyshe þe wrongis; And þat maddid þi men. Ibid. ii. 132 With many derke mystis þat maddid her eyne. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8061 So full are þo faire fild of dessait, And men for to mad is most þere dessyre. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 125 The deuell hath with horrible bewitchyng madded their myndes. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 44 Nothing so much doth macerate and mad mee. 1600 Holland Livy xxviii. xv. 679 The Elephants also affrighted and madded..ran from the wings. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iii. vii. 425 He plaid on his drumme and by that meanes madded her more. 1682 Southerne Loyal Brother iv. i, O Hell! it mads my reason but to think on't. 1810 Crabbe Borough viii, Again! By Heav'n, it mads me. 1850 Blackie æschylus I. 22 Sin..Mads the ill-counsell'd heart. 1863 J. Weiss Life T. Parker I. 191 You have madded Parker and in this way he shews his spite. 1873 M. Holley My Opinions 249 At the same time it madded some of the Republicans. 1893 ‘O. Thanet’ Stories Western Town 31, I madded him first; I was a fool. 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap vi. 268, I think to find him all madded up and mortified; but he's strangely cheerful for one who has suffered. 1924 W. M. Raine Troubled Waters vi. 59 O' course, it ain't that any of them's afraid to mad that crazy gunman, Tait. |
2. a. intr. To be or to become mad; to act like a madman, rage, behave furiously. Now
rare.
| a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1072 Richesse a robe of purpre on hadde, Ne trowe not that I lye or madde. 1382 Wyclif Acts xxvi. 24 Festus with greet vois seyde, Poul, thou maddist, or wexist wood. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 373 Suffiseth thee, but if thy wittes madde To han as greet a grace as Noe hadde. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 280 ‘Alas!’ quaþ þe frier ‘almost y madde in mynde, To sen houȝ þis Minoures many men begyleth!’ c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 930, I..muse so, that vn-to lite I madde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 319/2 Maddyn, or dotyn, desipio. Maddyn, or waxyn woode, insanio, furio. 1529 Lupset Charity (1539) 23, I maye loue for my sensuall luste, as when..I madde or dote vppon women. 1530 Palsgr. 616/1, I madde, I waxe or become mad, je enraige. I holde my lyfe on it the felowe maddeth. 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 310 He brawleth and maddeth with the maids. 1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma (1876) 148 The unclean spirits..came raging and madding before him. |
† b. Phrase,
to go madding or
run madding.
Obs.| a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. ii. §5 (1622) 205 Wee runne madding after Gold. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 25 Ouer violent passions of the minde..ouerwhelme the soule,..making it to goe gadding and madding heere and there to and fro. 1650 Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples i. 79 Going thus arming daily more and more, and madding up and down the streets. a 1691 Pocock Theol. Wks. (1740) II. 195/1 A..mad-headed, unruly heifer, that..runs wantonly madding about. |
† c. To become infatuated. Const.
after,
upon.
Obs.| 1594 Kyd Cornelia i. 60 A martiall people madding after Armes. 1624 F. White Repl. Fisher 555 The practise of your people..madding vpon the merits of Saints, and contemning the merits of Christ..is intollerable. |