▪ I. wild, a. and n.
(waɪld)
Forms: 1–7 wilde, (3 wuilde), 3–6 wylde, 4–7 wyld, (4 wiylde, wijlde, whilde, wyled, 4–6 wield(e, 4–7 Sc. vylde, 5 wiilde, wyelde, wyyld(e, Sc. wulde, 6 wylld, Sc. vild, vyld, vyild, wyild, 7 weild), 3– wild.
[Com. Teut.: OE. wilde = OFris. wilde, MDu. wilde, wilt (LG., Du. wild), OHG. wildi (MHG. wilde, wild, G. wild), ON. villr bewildered, astray, whence will a. (Norw. vill wild, Sw. vill confused, giddy, Sw., Da. vild wild), Goth. wilþeis:—OTeut. *wilþijaz. The n., OE. *wild, *wildor (cf. wildorlic adj.), pl. wildru (later wildéor, wildedéor wild deer), OHG. wild, pl. wildir wild beast, is app. a derivative (*wilþaz-, -iz-) with s-stem from the same root (cf. lamb).
The problem of the ulterior relations of this word is complicated by uncertainty as to its primary meaning. The possible analogy of sense-development in L. silvestris, silvāticus (whence F. sauvage wild, etc.), f. silva wood, has sugggested connexion with OTeut. *walþus forest (OE. weald, wald wold). But it is more probable that OTeut. *wilþijaz represents a pre-Teut. *ghweltijos, the root of which is found in Welsh gwyllt, Ir. geilt wild, and may have a parallel form in ghwē̌r-, the base of L. ferus, Gr. θήρ, Lith. zvèrìs, OSl. zvěrъ wild beast (for a similar phonological development of ghw- cf. warm a.).]
A. adj. I. 1. Of an animal: Living in a state of nature; not tame, not domesticated: opp. to tame a. 1.
Freq. in names of particular species or varieties, for which see the ns.: see also Special Collocations (16), and wild cat, fowl, goose in the main series.
In later use often hyphened to the following n., esp. in names of particular species, or in verse to indicate rhythmic stress on the adj.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) I. 427 Indomitus, wilde. c 825 Vesp. Psalter ciii[i]. 11 Drencað ða alle wilddeor wuda; bidað wilde assan in ðurs[t] heara. c 893 ælfred Oros. i. i. §17 Ða beoð swyðe dyre mid Finnum, for ðæm hy foð þa wildan hranas mid. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 180 On .xv. nihte monan hys god to fixianne & huntum heortas to secanne & wilde swin. c 1050 [see wild goose 1]. c 1205 Lay. 1781 Wind stod on willen, ploȝede þe wilde fisc. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's T. 267 To wode she went And many a wilde hertes blood she shedde With arwes brode. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3232 Woluez, and whilde swynne, and wykkyde bestez. 1529 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1871) II. 9 Ony maner of wyld foule or tayme. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 183 Eight Wilde-Boares rosted whole. 1778 Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 447 The goose, in its wild state always retains the same marks. 1793 Coleridge Songs of Pixies iv, The murmuring throng Of wild-bees hum their drowsy song. 1808 Scott Marm. ii. Introd., And mark the wild swans [later edd. wild-swans] mount the gale. 1827 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales xvii. I. 321 Our wild turkeys..consist of two varieties, the dusky and the blue-feathered. 1847 Tennyson Princess iv. 414 The leader wildswan. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 312 Wild animals of large size were then far more numerous than at present. |
| fig. c 1645 Howell Lett. I. v. xxvii, Twas a tough task believe it, thus to tame A wilde and wealthy language. |
| absol. c 1205 Lay. 1112 Heo wenden vt i wide sæ, þa wilde wurðen itemede. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 1037 To þis day saw I nane,..Of vylde, na tame, na kind beste. c 1480 Henryson Lion & Mouse 192 He..slew baith tayme and wyld. |
2. Of a plant (or flower): Growing in a state of nature; not cultivated.
Freq. in names (unlimited in number) of particular species or varieties, for which see the
ns. to sow one's wild oats (
fig.): see
oat n. 4.
Often hyphened as in 1 (and regularly in phrases used
attrib.) or (chiefly in early use) combined with the following
n. as one word.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. A 396 Agre[s]tis, wilde. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 90 Oleastrum þæt is wilde elebeam. 1382 Wyclif Rom. xi. 24 The kyndely wylde [later vers. wielde] olyue tre. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 569/2 Brionia, wylde⁓nepe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 528/1 Wyylde malowe, or holy⁓hokke. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xviii. 401 Suche wylde herbes as grewe in the woode. 1549 Compl. Scot. i. 20 Al the grond..is ouergane vitht gyrse ande vild scroggis. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 249, I know a banke where the wilde time blowes. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. i. 63 The Husbandman uses onely to prune the Trees of his Garden, not those that grow wild in his Woods. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 420 Her hedge-row shrubs..With woodbine and wild roses mantled o'er. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. viii, Cold dews and wild flowers [later edd. wild-flowers] on his head. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 444 Plants in a wild state. 1855 Tennyson Maud ii. i. 3 Plucking the harmless wild-flower on the hill. |
| 1797 Scott To a Lady ii, Wild-flower wreaths for Beauty's hair. 1810 ― Lady of L. iv. ii, The wild-rose spray. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xxii, A young lady with a wild-rose complexion. |
3. a. Produced or yielded by wild animals or plants; produced naturally without cultivation; sometimes, having the characteristic (usually inferior) quality of such productions (
cf. b).
wild silk, silk produced by wild silkworms or an imitation of this made from short silk fibres.
With ‘wild meat’
cf. OS. wildflêsc, etc.; with ‘wild leather’
cf. MSw.
wilskin.
| c 1200 Ormin 3213 Hiss drinnch wass waterr..Hiss mete wilde rotess. c 1200 [see honey n. 1 b]. 1519 Registr. Aberdon. (Maitland) II. 177 The kiching witht..ij pair of raxis. Item iij spyttis ane grit ane less and ane for wild met. 1528 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1871) 3 All maner of persouns that takis wylde meitt. 1528 Paynell Salerne's Regim. (1541) R iv b, There be also prunes called wylde prunes, y⊇ whiche growe in the woddes. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Isa. v. 2 He loked y{supt} it shulde bring forthe grapes: but it broght forthe wilde grapes. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 75 These ships..are sowed together with ropes made of Cairo, & pitched ouer with wild incense. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ix. 340 Their flesh is hot and vnsauorie, and hath a wilde tast. 1612 Sc. Bk. Rates in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 338 Leather called wyld lether the daker, xxs. 1614 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 43 Lett not my leadie our mother trubll hirself in bying much vylde meitt to your sons bapttisme. 1777 T. Anburey Trav. (1789) I. 214 A dinner entirely of wild-meats. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xviii. 418 It is very rare in the present day that honey is found wild. 1876 [see tusser 1 a]. 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 40/1 The wild or Tussah silk. 1896 [see tusser 1 b]. 1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 28 Apr. 14/2 The cargo was made up as follows: Raw silk, 960 bales; wild silk, 49 bales. 1963 R. Himmel It's Murder, Maguire vii. 46, I always suspected him of wearing wild silk underwear. 1972 J. Aiken Butterfly Picnic ix. 162 Her white wild-silk bikini. |
b. Mining. Applied to impure or inferior minerals or ores. (
Cf. G.
wilderz.)
| 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 93 A Black-jack or Mock-lead Lode... This Wild-lead is commonly found with Stones of Copper and Lead intermixed with it. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m., Wild Ground, Wild Measures, Wild Stuff. 1886 J. Barrowman Sc. Mining Terms, Wild-coal, a thin seam of inferior coal. |
4. a. Of a place or region: Uncultivated or uninhabited; hence, waste, desert, desolate. (Often with special reference to the character or aspect of such places.)
| c 893 ælfred Oros. i. i. §18 Licgað wilde moras..emnlange þæm bynum lande. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1010 On þa wildan fennas. c 1200 Ormin 17408 A wilde wesste. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2751 Me may hem ofte an erþe in wilde studes yse. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 430 Quhare now þe corne is beste, Þat tyme wes wilde foreste. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2163 Ariadne, In an yle amyd the wilde se. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) K vj b, The erthe that is vntylled, and waxen wyld. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 4 These high wilde hilles, and rough vneeuen waies. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 36 Fenny and woody wild grounds. 1644 H. Manwayring Sea-mans Dict. 85 A wild Roade, is a Roade where there is little Land on any side, but lies all open to the sea. 1703 Rowe Ulysses ii. i, Some fair field..That..left unheeded, like a barren Moor, Lies fenceless, wild, uncultivate, and waste. 1817 Bradbury Trav. Amer. 297 They are well aware that, by undertaking to bring wild land into a state of cultivation, they must undergo some hardships. 1849 Lever Con Cregan xxv, The scenery was wild without being grand. 1883 Eng. Illustr. Mag. Nov. 72/1 The wild beauty of Wicken Fen is in striking contrast with the cultivated land lying around it. 1885 W. H. White M. Rutherford's Deliv. iii, The garden was large and half-wild. |
b. transf. Belonging to or characteristic of a wild region; of or in a wilderness.
| 1690 C. Nesse O. & N. Test. I. 298 Neither God nor good men take any pleasure in a..wild retiredness. 1817 Moore Lalla Rookh 131 The glories of Nature and her wild, fragrant airs, playing freshly over the current of youthful spirits. |
5. Of persons (or their attributes): Uncivilized, savage; uncultured, rude; also, not accepting, or resisting, the constituted government; rebellious. (Sometimes with implication of sense 8.) See also
wild Irish in 16.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 24747 For þof mi [MS. in] wijt war neuer sa wild..Þat giues me lust of hir to rede. a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) i. 60 Þare was crakked many a crowne Of wild Scottes and alls of tame. c 1450 Holland Howlat 616 The rouch Wodwyss wyld. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 59 She was euyl clothid and half wilde and sauage. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems l. 25 Was never vyld Robeine wnder bewch,..So bauld a bairne as he. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV 23 The prince..had tamed..the furious rage of the wild and sauage Welshemen. 1561 Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. M iij b, A man at armes in fourm of a wield shepehearde. 1586 Holinshed Chron. I. Hist. Scot. 358/2 After the example of one..Robert Hood a wild or vplandish man. 1670 Dryden 1st Pt. Conq. Granada i. (1672) 7 When wild in woods the noble Savage ran. 1700 Prior Carmen Sec. xxxvii, Nations yet wild by Precept to reclaim, And teach 'em Arms, and Arts. 1709 Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1720) 303 A Party of the Goths and wild Russes. 1822 Scott Nigel v, It's ill taking the breeks aff a wild Highlandman. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxxvi. 15 Those wild eyes that watch the wave In roarings round the coral reef. 1901 Scotsman 29 Nov. 6/1 These men..are up to all the ‘slim’ ways of the wild Boer. |
II. 6. Not under, or not submitting to, control or restraint; taking, or disposed to take, one's own way; uncontrolled. Primarily of animals (
cf. 1), and hence of persons (see also 7) and things, with various shades of meaning.
a. Acting or moving freely without restraint; going at one's own will; unconfined, unrestricted.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 1465 Ða wæs culufre eft of cofan sended..wilde seo wide fleah. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 202 Hors wilde yrnan. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xv. 48 Thar er wes wilde ase the ro, Nou y swyke. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 71 A wilde and wanton heard..of youthful and vn⁓handled colts. 1599 Shakes., etc. Pass. Pilgr. xii. 8 Youth is wild, and Age is tame. 1671 Milton Samson 974 In his wild aerie flight. 1761 Colman Jealous Wife iii, That the wild little Thing shou'd take Wing, and fly away the Lord knows whither! 1817 Byron Manfred iii. iv, I have found our thoughts take wildest flight Even at the moment when they should array Themselves in pensive order. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. iii. 136 The dark linked ivy tangling wild. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Medit. Monmouth-St., The children wild in the streets, the mother a destitute widow. 1865 Princess Alice Mem. (1884) 101 Victoria is very wild, and speaks more German than English. |
b. Resisting control or restraint, unruly, restive; flighty, thoughtless; reckless, careless;
fig. not according to rule, irregular; erratic; unsteady. (
Cf. 15.)
| c 1350 Libeaus Desc. (Kaluza) 188 A child Þat is witles and wilde. 1450 Paston Lett. I. 159 But if the day of the oyer and termyner stonde, it wole be full harde, by cause the peple is so wylde. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. I 3 b, Like the trauaile wherein smithes put wilde horses when they shoo them. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 81 Your fift, sixt, and seuenth notes be wilde and vnformall. 1628 Shirley Witty Fair One ii. ii, You are too wild and aery to be constant to that affection. 1748 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 256, I meant nothing in the world by wild, but the thoughtlessness of a boy of nineteen. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. xviii, Depriving Cupid's wing of some wild feathers. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, Johnson the young bowler is getting wild, and bowls a ball almost wide to the off. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Wild, a ship's motion when she steers badly, or is badly steered. 1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight ii. 25 The new lashes sometimes take a wrong direction, and turn their points against the eyeball. They are then popularly called wild hairs. |
c. Shy;
esp. of game, afraid of or avoiding the pursuer (
opp. to
tame a. 3);
transf. having a timid expression like a wild animal.
| 1594 Willobie Avisa xlvii, Though copy at first she seeme and wielde. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. i. 35 She is too disdainfull, I know her spirits are as coy and wilde, As Haggerds of the rocke. 1813 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 76 The birds were so extremely wild that it was almost impossible to get near them. 1877 March. Dufferin Canad. Jrnl. (1891) 362 They did not bring back a great deal—the birds were so wild. 1887 Rider Haggard Allan Quatermain xi, The woman had a sweet face, wild and shy. |
d. Phr.
to run wild: (
a) of an animal or plant (combining senses 1 or 2 and 6), to live in, or revert to, a state of nature, not under domestication or cultivation; (
b) of a person (or thing personified), with various shades of meaning (see above), sometimes passing into other senses (
e.g. 7, 11, 12).
| 1549–62 [see run v. 2 b]. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 347 Of all countries..where the horse runs wild, Arabia produces the most beautiful breed. 1799 Wordsw. Matthew 3 That every hour thy heart runs wild, Yet never once doth go astray. 1838 [see run v. 2 b]. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. lv, He had a bold spirit, and he ran a little wild, and went for a soldier. 1892 Longman's Mag. XIX. 614 The boy had run wild since his young mother's death. |
(
c) of an oil-well, to release uncontrollable quantities of fluid or gas. Also
to blow wild.
| 1925 [see relief well s.v. relief2 9 b]. 1931 Times 18 Feb. 15/6 When the wells ‘blow wild’ the city is enveloped in a dark spray of oil. 1975 L. Crook Oil Terms 35 Blow out, a situation where a well becomes out of control due to the fluids from the formation ‘blowing wild’ at the surface. |
7. spec. a. Not submitting to moral control; taking one's own way in defiance of moral obligation or authority; unruly, insubordinate; wayward, self-willed.
Often scarcely distinguishable from 6 a or b, but implying blame or reproach.
| c 1000 Sal. & Sat. 377 He ᵹeong færeð, hafað wilde mod. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 5 Ne beo þu þereuore prud ne wilde ne sterc. c 1200 Ormin 6191 Ȝiff þatt ȝho iss gætelæs, & eȝȝelæs & wilde. c 1205 Lay. 785 Þat nan ne beo so wilde nan swa unwitti, Þat word talie..ær he ihere minne horn. a 1300 Cursor M. 9307 Quarfor er yee o will sa wild? c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 431 Somme men ben beterid bi bynding to þise chargis, þat ellis wolden be wylde. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 67 Mannys flesche ys so wyld and lusty to synne. 1535 Coverdale 2 Macc. xi. 4 Not consideringe the power of God, but was wylde in his mynde. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 151 Man was sa wylde and nyce, And rageing in all vyce. 1579 Lyly Euphues R iv b, The wildest child is as soone corrected with a word as with a weapon. 1700 Prior Carmen Sec. 66 Valour grown wild by Pride, and Pow'r by Rage. 1797–1812 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xliii, ‘He is now gone into the army’, she added, ‘but I am afraid he has turned out very wild.’ 1836 Marryat Japhet xxvii, When a curate, he had had an only son, very wild, who would go to sea in spite of his remonstrances. 1898 ‘H. S. Merriman’ Roden's Corner xii. 128 It was about that time..that I took seriously to my work. Before, I had been a little wild. |
b. Giving way to sexual passion; also, more widely, licentious, dissolute, loose.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2013 His wif wurð wilde, and nam in ðoȝt Vn-riȝt-wis luue. 13.. St. Paula 87 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 5 Whon þe ȝonge in hote blood Bigonne to waxe wylde of mod. 13.. St. Theodora 221 ibid. 38 His monk was waxen to wyld Þat hedde igeten him such a child. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2367 Bot þat was for no wylyde werke, ne wowyng nauþer. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xix. 167 Ther was neuer man neghyd hyr nere, In word ne wark she was neuer wylde. 1522 World & Child A ij, Dalyaunce,..It is a name that is ryght wylde. 1550 Crowley Last Trumpet 1505 If thou se hir wanton and wilde. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. ii. 74 Hee kept companie with the wilde Prince, and Pointz. 1614 D. Dyke Myst. Self-Deceiv. 328 Wild and wanton widowes. 1778 Johnson 13 May in Boswell, If a young man is wild, and must run after women and bad company. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 50 The wildest of libertines. |
8. Fierce, savage, ferocious; furious, violent, destructive, cruel. (In later use passing into other senses:
cf. 5, 9, 11. See also
wild beast,
wild horse, in 16.)
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1322 Þe prinse..Þat in time of worre as a lomb is boþe mek & milde & in time of pes as leon boþe cruel & wilde. 13.. K. Horn 1045 (Harl. MS.), Y come..from brudale wylde of maide remenylde. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13796 Was neuere..wilde wolf ne dragoun, Þat was so wod, beste to byte, As Wawayn was Romayns to smyte. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 805 Thisbe, Allas there comyth a wilde lyones. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1463 A man witty & wise, wight, wildist in Armes. c 1425 Wynuton Cron. v. xiii. 4384 Wolwis wulde þan weryit men. c 1435 Chron. London (Kingsford 1905) 52 He wole be as wilde a Tyraunte to holy Cherche as euer was eny. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 38 b, Brynge to me y⊇ wyldest bull that is. 1530 Palsgr. 329/2 Wylde or sharpe prickyng as a nettyll is, griasche. 1595 Shakes. John iv. iii. 48 This is the bloodiest shame, The wildest Sauagery. |
9. a. Of the sea, a stream, the weather, etc.: Violently agitated, rough, stormy, tempestuous, ‘raging’; hence
fig. or
gen. Full of disturbance or confusion, tumultuous, turbulent, disorderly.
| c 1205 Lay. 6226 We habbeð ihaued..moni walc moni wind bi wilde þisse watere. a 1250 Owl & Night. 946 Wraþþe meynþ þe heorte blod Þat hit floweþ so wilde flod. 1381 in Knighton's Chron. (Rolls) II. 139 Synne fareth as wilde flode. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) xli, Thay were drounet on the see, With wild waturs slone. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. ii. i. 21 Man..Lord of the wide world, and wilde watry seas. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 9 The Times are wilde: Contention..madly hath broke loose. 1605 ― Lear ii. iv. 311 'Tis a wild night..come out oth' storme. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 566 Wilde Brookes meeting together make a broad poole. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. i, It was the Winter wilde, While the Heav'n-born-childe, All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies. 1673 [R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 112 Your state of conscience leads to a wilder anarchy. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 386 The..Bear..In Woods and Fields a wild destruction makes. ― Past. ix. 59 Let the wild Surges vainly beat the Shore. 1713 Addison Cato iii. ii, His passions and his virtues..mixt together in so wild a tumult, That [etc.]. 1769 Gray Installat. Ode 89 Thro' the wild waves as they roar. 1818 Byron Mazeppa xiv, The wild horse swims the wilder stream! 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes ii, On a bad winter's night in the wild Atlantic. 1864 Lowell Study Wind. (1886) 110 He is still in wild water. 1883 ‘Ouida’ Wanda i, ‘I think we shall have wild weather’, said the Princess. |
† b. In imprecations or intensive expressions.
| a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) v. 30 In þe wilde waniand was þaire hertes light. c 1440 York Myst. xxx. 545 Now in þe wilde vengeaunce ye walke with þat wight. a 1530 Heywood Wether 430 (Brandl) A myschyefe vpon them and a wylde thunder. c 1580 Bugbears iv. iv. 11 Now a wild wannion on it. |
c. Of vocal sounds: Loud and unrestrained.
| 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 39 The herrons gaif ane vyild skrech. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 710 Confusion heard his voice, and wilde uproar Stood rul'd. 1742 Gray Adversity 19 Wild Laughter, Noise, and thoughtless Joy. 1831 James Phil. Augustus iii, Filling the air with his long wild neighings. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxxix, Those who should be left dead..indifferent for ever to those wild shouts. |
10. Of feelings or their expression: Highly excited or agitated; passionately vehement or impetuous.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 229 But that still vse of greefe, makes wilde greefe tame, My tongue should to thy eares not name my Boyes, Till that my Nayles were anchor'd in thine eyes. 1718 Pope Iliad iii. 512 Too deep my anguish, and too wild my woe. 1730 ― Ode St. Cecilia Addit. Stanza, Amphion thus bade wild dissension cease. 1813 Scott Rokeby iv. x, The child Renew'd again his moaning wild. 1828 Carlyle Ess., Burns (1840) I. 370 Wild Desires and wild Repentance alternately oppress him. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay x, She clung to him and burst into a fit of wild weeping. 1890 Hall Caine Bondman iii. i, ‘The sweep!’ ‘the thief!’ ‘the wastrel!’ ‘the gomer⁓stang!’ they called him, with wilder names beside. |
11. Of persons: Violently excited.
a. Extremely irritated or vexed; angry, ‘furious’.
| 1653 Holcroft Procopius iii. Goth. Wars 103 Artabanes was wild at this misfortune [orig. Quam rem cum calamitatis loco Artabanes duceret, & ægerrime ferret]. a 1839 Praed County Ball xviii, He makes a College Fellow wild By asking for his wife and child. 1873 March. Dufferin Canad. Jrnl. (1891) 79 Dent, my precious maid, wild about her boxes, and giving warning on the spot. 1889 Jerome Three Men in Boat xi, It made me awfully wild, especially as George burst out laughing. |
b. Passionately or excitedly desirous
to do something. Also
const. for.
| 1797 Jane Austen Sense & Sens. xxvi, Mrs. Palmer..was wild to buy all, could determine on none. 1797–1812 ― Pride & Prej. xlvi, She was wild to be at home. a 1817 ― Persuasion (1818) III. vi. 107 The girls were wild for dancing. 1847 Tennyson Princess i. 149 All wild to found an University For maidens. 1894 Fenn Real Gold ii, He is wild to go. 1937 J. T. Farrell Fellow Countrymen 184 He imagined that she was his woman... She was saying she was crazy about him... She was wild for him. |
c. Elated, enthusiastic, ‘raving’. Also
† const. after.
| a 1817 Jane Austen Persuasion (1818) IV. vii. 134 The men are all wild after Miss Elliot. 1865 R. Henning Let. 21 Oct. (1966) 214 The whole family are wild after music. 1868 G. J. Whyte-Melville White Rose xxviii, He was wild about..the town, and the castle, and the Black Forest. 1889 ‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob xi, She was quite wild about it, when I went to tell her the news. 1891 C. T. C. James Rom. Rigmarole 180 She had accepted me, and I was wild with joy. |
d. like wild: with passionate eagerness, with great excitement.
Cf. like mad s.v. mad a. 1 c.
| 1674 C. Stewkeley Let. 4 May in M. M. Verney Mem. (1899) IV. vii. 225 Ursula..hath bin at all the Salsbury rasis, dancing like wild with Mr Clarks. 1962 Radio Times 17 May 43 Should he [sc. a jazz musician] ‘blow’ with feeling, or great excitement (‘like wild’) [etc.]. |
12. a. Not having control of one's mental faculties; demented, out of one's wits; distracted; hence in weakened sense, Extremely foolish or unreasonable; holding absurd or fantastic views (
cf. 13).
| c 1300 K. Horn 252 (Camb.) Heo louede so horn child Þat neȝ heo gan wexe wild. Ibid. 296 Anon upon Aþulf child Rymenhild gan wexe wild. 13.. in Horstm. Alt. Leg. (1881) 14 Furth scho went als woman wilde, To se þe lordes, and left hir childe. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 1650 For wa he wex al wilde and wode. 1630 Randolph Aristippus 7, I am the Wilde-man, and I will be wilde: is that an age to be in a mans right wits? 1769 Burke Late St. Nat. 25 Is this writer wild enough to imagine [etc.]? 1796 M. Robinson Angelina II. 291, I am really almost wild with affliction! 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz, Parish v, Her misery had actually drove her wild. 1841 Helps Ess., Man of Business (1842) 82 Else he may be driven wild by any great pressure of business. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 6 When the fictions of Oates had driven the nation wild. |
| advb. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. iv. 26 If I chance to talke a little wilde, forgiue me: I had it from my Father. An. Bul. Was he mad Sir? |
b. Of the eyes or look: Having an expression of distraction.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. i. 28 Your lookes are pale and wild, and do import Some misaduenture. a 1658 Cleveland Ruins of St. Pauls 28 Now its Face appears like whither'd Care, Or wilder than the Looks of Fevers are. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xiv. 158 His face being flushed, eyes wild, and head aching. 1878 J. P. Hopps Jesus iv. 17 Poor mad people..recovered their senses when he looked into their wild eyes. |
† c. Bewildered, perplexed;
= will a. 2 b, 3 b.
| c 1440 Bone Flor. 35 Whan the emperys was dedd, The emperowre was wylde of redd. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 33 All the warld is in a wylde thocht, un⁓stedefast. |
13. a. Of undertakings, actions, notions, statements, etc.: Going beyond prudent or reasonable limits; rashly or inconsiderately venturesome; going to extremes of extravagance or absurdity; fantastically unreasonable. Also in
phr. in or beyond one's wildest dreams, in or beyond one's most fantastic or unrestrained imaginings or expectations.
| 1515 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1869) I. 158 Gif it sall happin the toun to hald the commoun mylnis and proffeittis thairof and the wild aventouris into thair awin handis. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. iv. 7 This vnheedfull, desperate, wilde aduenture. 1602 ― Ham. i. v. 133 (Qo. 1) These are but wild and wherling words, my Lord. 1604 ― Oth. ii. i. 62 He hath atchieu'd a Maid That paragons description, and wilde Fame. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 509 A wild Reformation; to reforme Hierarchy by Anarchy, a Remedy worse then the Disease. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 112 Mimic Fansie..misjoyning shapes, Wilde work produces oft. 1699 Bentley Phal. 427 The wild Question that the Examiner puts to me. a 1728 Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils (1729) I. i. 84 'Twas not a very wild Name, Ludus, to be given, to a Dye, or Talus lusorius; considering how humourous a Writer Paracelsus was. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. iv. §16 How came you to entertain so wild a Notion? 1829 Scott Anne of G. xi, I should make wild work were I to attempt a description of such an animal. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 442 We cannot..wonder that wild stories..were..believed by the common people. Ibid. viii. II. 308 To cherish a wild hope. 1887 Saintsbury Hist. Elizab. Lit. 247 Serious arguments are mixed up with the wildest buffoonery. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman v. ii, Two long weeks he spent in this wild quest. 1961 C. McCullers Clock without Hands x. 203 In his wildest dreams he could not associate Johnny with danger. 1969 Listener 24 July 123/3 The programme has succeeded beyond its instigators' wildest dreams. 1984 Tampa (Florida) Tribune 5 Apr. 6c/2 You know, it's hard to believe I'm really here. It's beyond my wildest dreams that I'd be managing a team that I once played for. |
† b. Used as a nickname for the extreme Evangelical party in the Church of Scotland, as
opp. to
moderate: see
moderate B. b.
Obs.| 1778 D. Loch Tour Scotl. 49 The people here are very wild with regard to religious principles, there being no less than three large seceding meeting-houses, and but one small kirk of the established religion. 1820 Alex. Stewart in Mem. 352 [I] am settled minister of what is called the First Charge of Canongate Parish (where seldom has wild man been placed before). a 1830 H. Cockburn Mem. (1856) 234 Except Sir Harry Moncrieff, the Wild (as the Evangelical party is called) have never had an established head. |
14. a. Artless, free, unconventional, fanciful, or romantic in style; having a somewhat barbaric character (usually in good sense, as a pleasing quality).
| 1632 Milton L'Allegro 134 If..sweetest Shakespear fancies childe, Warble his native Wood-notes wilde. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 27 Feb. 1644, We then saw a large and very rare grotto of shell-worke, in the shape of satyres and other wild fancys. 1802 Leyden Mermaid xxv, Say, heard'st thou not these wild notes swell? 1813 Byron Corsair ii. ii, While dance the Almas to wild minstrelsy. 1859 Jephson Brittany xvii. 284 A wild ballad, still sung in Cornouaille, to an equally wild tune. a 1864 Bryant Sella 4 When man to man gave willing faith, and loved A tale the better that 'twas wild and strange. 1891 Rider Haggard Nada Pref., The setting out of a wild tale of savage life. |
b. Of strange aspect; fantastic in appearance.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. iii. 40 These,..so wilde in their attyre, That looke not like th' Inhabitants o' th' Earth. 1784 Cowper Task v. 118 There, embossed and fretted wild, The growing wonder takes a thousand shapes Capricious. 1844 Mrs. Browning Brown Rosary i. iv, To dilate and assume a wild shape in the mist. |
c. U.S. slang. Remarkable, unusual, exciting. Used as a general term of approbation.
| 1955 L. Feather Encycl. Jazz x. 347/2 Wild, adj., remarkable, exciting. 1960 [see lay v.1 55 l]. 1968 Listener 22 Aug. 236/3 Los Angeles is so wild they should just let it swing and see what happens. 1978 Hot Car June 103/5 Naugahyde..has long been the favourite amongst Stateside rodders because of its stretchy qualities, amazing range of colours (including some wild marble-like effects). |
15. a. (
fig. from 6.) Aimed wide of the mark, or at random; random: usually
advb. at random, astray.
| a 1810 Shelley M. Nicholson Fragm. 14 Wild flew the meteors o'er the maddened main. 1831 James Phil. Augustus xxvii, The soldier who fronted him, struck wild, reeled, staggered. 1890 W. Camp in St. Nicholas Aug. 831/1 The catcher..must begin by a resolution..to consider no ball beyond his reach, no matter how wild. 1895 Edin. Rev. July 149 The Chinese shells found in the abandoned forts ‘went wild’ when the Japanese gunners tried to fire them. |
b. Of a playing card: having any rank chosen by the player holding it. Also
fig. See also
wild card, sense 16 below.
| 1927 Auction Bridge Mag. May 26/1 These are played with all the twos as jokers and usually known as ‘Deuces Wild’. 1940 O. Jacoby On Poker x. 139 Any card or cards may be counted as wild, in which case they have the same rights as jokers. 1963 E. Linington Death of Busybody vi. 72 Don't tell me, a tie-up. Look, Luis, let's not call every card in the deck wild, for God's sake. 1973 M. Catto Sam Casanova vi. 109 Think of the amazing variations of the game [sc. poker]! Five-Card stud. Seven-Card Draw with Joker wild. |
III. 16. Special Collocations (sometimes hyphened as in 1 and 2,
esp. in verse to indicate stress, and regularly in
attrib. use);
wild beast,
orig. in sense 1, now always with mixture of sense 8 (see
beast n. 2 c); also
fig. (
cf. beast n. 1 c, 5);
wild berry, the berry of a wild plant;
app. applied locally to particular kinds;
wild boar (in early use also as one word): see
boar n. 1 c;
wild card, (
a) (see sense 15 b above); also
fig.; (
b)
Sport (
orig. U.S.), a player or team chosen for a tournament at the discretion of the organizers after the regular places have been taken up;
freq. attrib.; (
c)
Computers, a character that will match any character or combination of characters in a file name, etc.;
wild cherry: see
cherry n. 3 a;
wild dog, any wild species of dog, or of the dog tribe, as the
hyena-dog of S. Africa (hunting-dog 2 a), the Dhole of India (hunting-dog 2 b), the Dingo of Australia, etc.;
wild duck, a duck belonging to any of numerous undomesticated species;
wild garden, a group of hardy plants, exotic or native, in an informal setting, designed to look as natural as possible; hence
wild gardener,
gardening;
wild geranium S. Afr. = geranium 2;
wild ginger, in North America, any of several plants of the genus
Asarum,
esp. A. canadense, or, in India, a wild plant of the genus
Zingiber;
wild goat, any wild species of goat, as the ibex, or (
loosely) a goat-like antelope, as the chamois;
wild grape, a wild species of
Vitis or its fruit;
wild horse, a horse not domesticated or broken in;
esp. in phrases referring to a mode of punishment or torture (
cf. quots. s.v. draw v. 5), and hence humorously with negative (see
quots.); in
quot. 1834 (with hyphen) rendering
Du. wildepaard as a name for the zebra;
Wild Huntsman, a phantom huntsman of Teutonic legend, fabled to ride at night through the fields and woods with shouts and baying of hounds;
wild Irish (see
Irish B. 1 a);
wild Irishman (see
Irishman b); also a name for a spiny rhamnaceous shrub of New Zealand and Australia, of the genus
Discaria;
wild lime: see
lime n.2 b;
wild mare: see
mare1 2 b; also
attrib. in
wild mare hunch (
wild mare hinch,
wild mare hitch), a name for string-halt;
wild orange: see
orange n.1 3; also, in Australia, any of several species of
Capparis or
Canthium; in South Africa
= Kaffir orange s.v. Kaffir 4;
wild parsnip: see
parsnip 2; also,
= cow-parsnip; also, a poisonous plant of the family Umbelliferæ,
esp., in North America, the water hemlock,
Cicuta maculata, or, in Australia,
Trachymene glaucifolia;
wild party, a boisterous, unchecked, or dissolute party;
wild pig = Captain Cooker;
wild pitch Baseball, a pitch which is not hit by the batter and cannot be stopped by the catcher, enabling a base-runner to advance; hence as
v. trans., to enable (a runner) to advance in this way;
wild plum: see
plum n. 3;
wild rice, an aquatic grass,
Zizania aquatica, native to North America, having seeds resembling rice and used as food;
wild rye: see
rye n.1 2 c; a North American grass of the genus
Elymus;
wild talent , any of various psychic powers such as extrasensory perception, telepathy, telekinesis, etc.;
wild track Cinematogr. (see
quot. 1940);
wild well, an oil well which is out of control and blowing oil or gas from the borehole (
cf. sense 6 d (
c) above);
wild wind, a violent wind, whirlwind, hurricane (
obs. or
dial.);
† wild worm, a fantastic notion, whim. See also
wild cat,
wild-fire, etc.
| 1297–1833 *Wild beast [see beast n. 2 c]. |
| 1855 Leifchild Cornwall 67 For fruits you have only furze and *wild-berries. 1918 H. Bindloss Agatha's Fortune xxi, She liked the acid wild-berries he brought on a bark tray. |
| c 1205–1863 *Wild boar [see boar n. 1 c]. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. xvi, A wyldbore..with his teeth rent..a grete pyece of his body. 1813 Scott Rokeby iv. xii, How the grim wild-boar fought and fell. |
| 1940 O. Jacoby On Poker x. 138 The Bug, three sixes and a ten merely count as three sixes since the Bug is not strictly a *wild card. 1971 Guardian 17 June 12/6 Kennedy is the wild card in the 1972 Deck, as the Nixon men see it. 1976 M. Nelson Crusoe Test iii. 35 The joker. The wild card. The card the holder can use as he pleases. 1976 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 15 Aug. 3/11 Renee was not ranked high enough to be accepted on her standard of play, but she could be nominated as the ‘wild card’—a crowd pleaser. 1977 Hongkong Standard 14 Apr. 11/2 Fifteen-year-old Betty Newfield of the US reached the second round by defeating Marlie Buehler of Australia 4–6, 6–0, 7–5 after getting into the draw as a wild card. 1984 Times 21 Sept. 19/6 The wild card in the BPCC pack is Mr Maxwell's dual role as head of both BPCC and Mirror Group Newspapers. 1984 K. Buckner et al. Using UCSD p-System vi. 56 The wildcard ‘?’ should be used to remove several files from a disk. 1985 Personal Computer World Feb. 244/1 (Advt.), Powerful wild cards permit editing of categories of file name in one instruction. |
| 1666 Brief Descr. Province Carolina 4 There are many sorts of fruit Trees, as Vines, Medlars, Peach, *Wild Cherries. 1784 W. Walton Narr. Captivity B. Gilbert 81 They were under the Necessity of eating wild Cherries. 1972 G. Chadbund Flowering Cherries 11 Wild cherries occur naturally on chalky soil. |
| 1786 tr. Sparrman's Voy. I. 157 These *wild dogs are some of the most pernicious beasts of prey. 1816 Byron Siege Cor. xvi, The scalps were in the wild dog's maw. 1844 E. Warburton Crescent & Cross v, A beggar devouring his crust, but religiously leaving a portion of it in some clean spot for the wild dogs. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 324/2 The wild dog of the Falkland Islands (Canis antarcticus). |
| 1538 Nottingham Rec. III. 378 He kyllyd ij. *wyld duckes with a crosbow. 1676 Grew Musæum, Anat. Stomach & Guts viii. 33 The Wild-Duck and Teal also, I suppose all of this kind, and most other Birds, are without a Crop. 1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. M6, Draw and truss your Wild Ducks, parboil them, and half roast them. 1881 O. Wilde Poems 115 The water-rat..Made for the wild-duck's nest. |
| 1852 C. M. Yonge Two Guardians iii. 29 Strangers would..think her *wild garden a collection of weeds. 1925 J. Buchan John Macnab xiii. 268 An expert from Kew..had made a wonderful wild garden. 1980 A. Wilson Setting World on Fire ii. vi. 170 It's your garden parties that are ridiculous... And Rosemary's famous wild garden. |
| 1966 ‘J. Berrisford’ Wild Garden x. 117 The *wild gardener who is also a plantsman..may grow the meconopses. |
| 1870 W. Robinson Wild Garden i. 19 It [sc. Caucasian comfrey] will soon run about, exterminate the weeds, and prove quite a lesson in *wild and natural gardening. 1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 30 Apr. (Mag. Section) 3/4 The cult of wild gardening is apt to run into the same kind of excesses as the pursuit of the simple life. 1978 A. J. Huxley Illustr. Hist. Gardening ix. 309 William Robinson and Gertrude Jekyll..preached a return to more naturalistic and even ‘wild’ gardening. |
| 1840 *Wild geranium [see ivy-berry b]. 1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo xvii. 281 Here and there are Pelargoniums—wild geraniums to us. |
| 1804 M. Lewis Jrnl. 1 June in Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1905) VI. iv. 154 *Wild ginger grows in rich bottom land. 1866 [see ginger n. 2 b]. 1964 R. Perry World of Tiger xi. 160 The Great Indian rhino..feeding on the succulent shoots of marsh reeds and especially the wild ginger. 1973 M. R. Crowell Greener Pastures 187 We recognize the wild ginger. |
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xxii. (1495) bb iiij, The *wylde gote hyghte Caprea. 1530 Palsgr. 289/1 Wylde goote, cheuereul. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. 162/1 The Aspian wild Goat..some term..a Shamois. 1744 Mason Musæus 253 Nor did the wild goat bronze the shrubby rocks. 1813 Scott Rokeby ii. xiv, Now, like the wild goat, must he dare An unsupported leap in air. |
| 1763 G. Milligen-Johnston Short Descr. Prov. S. Carolina (1770) 9 *Wild Grapes grow on this Land. 1843 [see guarri]. 1929 M. de la Roche Whiteoaks xvi. 202 The jewelled leaves of the wild grape..scarcely dried before another dew. 1958 G. A. Petrides Field Guide to Trees & Shrubs 114 The number of cultivated varieties have been developed from wild grapes. |
| c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xli. 303 Swa swa *wildu hors, ðonne we hie æresð ᵹefangnu habbað, we hie ðacciað straciað. c 995 in Kemble Cod. Dipl. VI. 133 Hio becwið Cynelufe hyre dæl ðera wildera horsa ðe mid Eadmere synt. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1062 Þu naddest non oþer dom ne laȝe, Bute mid wilde horse were todraȝe. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 318 Wyld hors & tayme. a 1400–50 [see horse n. 1 e]. c 1400 Melayne 57 He sall be hangede or oþer morne And with wylde horse be drawen. 1424 in Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 71, iiij Wildehorsez, ad tunc nuper tractros vel in stabulo. c 1546 in Suss. Star Chamber Proc. (1913) 36 Or ells they wolde draw hym fourth with wylde horses. 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. 14 The buffalo bendeth to my yoke, The wild-horse to my rein. 1883 D. C. Murray Hearts xii, After that wild horses would not have drawn him to an exculpation of himself. 1890 [see horse n. 1 e]. |
| 1796 Scott (title of poem) The *Wild Huntsman. 1829 ― Anne. of G. xxii, Sailed to the mountains of the Brockenberg, where witches hold their sabbath, or gone on a hunting-party with the Wild Huntsman. |
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles Prol. 10 Whyle he werrid be west on þe *wilde yrisshe. 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. iii. (1870) 132 Irland..is deuyded in ii. partes, one is the Englysh pale, & the other, the wyld Irysh. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII 138 The Wild-Irish fled into the Woods and Bogges. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. Introd., Highlanders, and Wild-Irish can agree My Pilgrim should familiar with them be. 1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Liv. iv, The low-browed rooms where the wild Irish sat howling and wrangling over their liquor. |
| 1401 Close Roll 2 Hen. IV, ii. m. 6 (P.R.O.) Si Nicholaus Hogonona capellanus per suggestionem quod ipse fuit *Wildehirissheman Hibernicus et inimicus noster in prisona..detentus existat. c 1450 Brut ii. 357 Þese rebellis of Ireland bith callid ‘wilde Irisch men’. 1608 Dekker Lanth. & Candle-light iii. D, No wild-Irishman could out-runne him. 1862 J. Von Haast Geol. Westland 25 (Morris) Discaria toumatoo, the Wild Irishman of the settlers. |
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 268 Hee playes at Quoits well,..and rides the *wilde-Mare with the Boyes. 1622 Wither Faire-Virtue, etc. O 4 b, The Boyes are come to catch the Owles, The Wild-mare in is bringing. 1661 M. Stevenson Twelve Moneths 4 And the ventrous youth show their agility in shooing the Wild-Mare. |
| 1802 J. Drayton View S. Carolina 8 Small rising grounds sometimes present themselves, on which grow..*wild orange. 1858 J. A. Warder Hedges & Evergreens 44 Our beautiful Wild Orange..is much planted about Southern residences, for hedges. 1932 [see klapper]. 1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xvii. 165 The wild orange, ten feet high, dark green brittle leaves, large yellow-stemmed flowers, and bearing fruit as big as tennis-balls, with pomegranate seeds inside. 1969 T. H. Everett Living Trees of World xx. 172/1 Known as wild-orange and mock-orange, it [sc. Prunus carolina] has creamy white flowers and glossy black fruits. |
| 1790 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. III. 234, I have heard this poisonous herb, called by the names of Wild-Carrot, *Wild-Parsnep,..and Mock-Eel-Root. 1807 [see musquash-root s.v. musquash 3]. 1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 142 The sudden death of numbers of cattle in the vicinity of Dandenong..was attributed to their having eaten a plant known as the wild parsnip. 1932 J. W. Winson Weather & Wings 51 The poison is described further as being ‘wild-parsnip’, ‘cowbane’, [etc.]. 1955 Arctic Terms 88/1 Wild parsnip. The cow parsnip. 1965 Austral. Encycl. VIII. 546/2 The wild parsnip of inland plains, does seem to be responsible for stock losses. |
| 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald Lett. (1964) 295 It is true I saved McAlmon from a beating he probably deserved and that we went on some *wild parties in London with a certain Marchioness of Milford Haven. 1970 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird iii. 35 He was probably just afraid of the talk. It was rather a wild party. |
| 1840 W. Deans Let. 30 Oct. in J. Deans Pioneers of Canterbury (1937) i. 29, I will visit it [sc. Palliser Bay] in company with 50 or 60 natives who are going to hunt *wild pigs. 1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 1st Ser. x. 237 Stonyhurst has always been a great place for wild pigs. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds iv. 75 Wild pigs frightened of nothing, savage and flesh-eating, black hairy things the size of fully grown cows. |
| 1867 Ball Players' Chron. 4 July 1/2 Zeller,..getting round on a passed ball and *wild pitch, came home on another passed ball. 1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. d1/8 In the first game, young Bob Grich led off the home 10th with a single and Coleman wild-pitched him to second base. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 1 Apr. c6/4 Greg Laing walked in the bottom of the eighth and scored on a wild pitch. |
| 1748 H. Ellis Voy. Hudson's-Bay 170 By the Sides of Lakes and Rivers there is abundance of *wild Rice. 1778 J. Carver Trav. N.-Amer. 522 Wild Rice..grows in the greatest plenty throughout the interior parts of North America. 1911 G. S. Porter Harvester vi. 94 Wild rice..he had planted for the birds. 1934 H. Miller Tropic of Cancer 47 They were eating too. A young chicken with wild rice. 1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Sept. 1064/5 The paper..was full of reports of discontent around Ompah at overcropping of wildrice. 1984 Times 13 June 9/4 Wild rice is not really rice at all but the seeds of a grass that grows wild along the waters-edge of lakes in Minnesota, Wisconsin and southern Canada. |
| 1751 C. Gist Jrnl. 27 Jan. (1893) 43 The *wild Rye appeared very green and flourishing. 1968 F. W. Gould Grass Systematics 181 Widespread and variable in the United States are Elymus canadensis L., Canada wildrye, and E. virginicus L., Virginia wildrye. |
| 1944 A. Huxley Let. 28 July (1969) 510 The fact of what Charles Fort calls ‘*wild talents’ is admitted by all open-minded people. 1960 K. Amis New Maps of Hell (1961) iv. 98 A new type of human being, sometimes outré in appearance, more often gifted with the ‘wild talent’ which has become a science fiction catch-phrase and convention. |
| 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 908/2 *Wild track, a soundtrack which is recorded independently of any photographic track or mute, but is destined to be used in editing a sound-film. 1980 ‘P. Loraine’ Lions' Ransom i. iii. 51 Fox was..making a ‘wild-track’ of Busai's morning birdsong. |
| 1915 Redwood & Eastlake Petroleum Technologist's Pocket-bk. iv. 244 ‘*Wild’ well. This term is used to denote a well which produces such quantities of oil or gas, or both, under such high pressure that it is either impossible to bring it under control or it is only controlled when a very considerable time has elapsed after the oil or gas has been met with. 1977 Sunday Times 24 Apr. 1/2 If the wild well..is not brought under control within the next 24 hours, the fight could last for weeks, months even. |
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Essex (1662) i. 319 In the year of our Lord 1639 in November here happened an Hirecano or *wild wind. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstrel (1823) I. 79 The frighted wild-wind trembles to a breeze. |
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Rich. III 42 The *wilde worme of vengaunce wauerynge in his hed. Ibid., Hen. V 44 Some priuate Scorpion in your heartes, or some wild worme in your heades. |
| 1801 Marvellous Love-Story II. 198 Raree-shows, and wild-beast exhibitions. 1834 Lytton Pompeii i. iii, When is our next wild-beast fight? 1879 Browning Halbert & Hob 10 The genuine wild-beast breed. |
| a 1850 Mrs. Browning Confessions ix, Then, at least, have the Human shared with thee their wild berry⁓wine? 1918 H. Bindloss Agatha's Fortune xxvii, He..fell among a clump of wild-berry canes. |
| 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad iii. 89 Dextrous in the wild-boar chace. 1818 Keats Teignmouth ii, No wild-boar tushes and no Mermaid's toes. 1842 Dumfries Herald Oct., That fine flavour..in the wild-boar ham. 1866 Treas. Bot., Wild-boar's tree, a San Domingo name for Hedwigia balsamifera. |
| 1970 New Yorker 3 Oct. 34/3 The other thirteen games..will be ‘wild-card’ encounters, to be played on alternate Monday nights. 1981 Washington Post 18 Mar. d3 The conference championship games are now played on the home field of the competitor that has the best season record, unless it's a wild-card team. 1984 K. Buckner et al. Using UCSD p-System xv. 156 the WILD unit makes available wild card pattern matching on string variables. |
| 1899 S. O. Jewett Queen's Twin 81 She had a sprig of wild-cherry blossom in her dress. |
| a 1916 ‘Saki’ Toys of Peace (1919) 82 By the time they had arrived at the wild duck course it was beginning to be a rather expensive lunch. |
| 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3966/4 Stolen or strayed.., two Mares, one a white-grey,..has the Wild Mare Hunch with the far hind Leg. 1824 Carr Craven Gloss., Wild-mare-hinch or hitch, string-halt. |
| 1964 Hall & Whannell Popular Arts ix. 258 The..combined use of wild-track voices with counter⁓pointing visual images. |
| fig. 1847 Tennyson Princess v. 256, I.., when first I heard War-music, felt the blind wildbeast of force.. Stir in me. 1886 Gillmore Hunter's Arcadia p. vii, Some bastard descendants of Europeans..this weapon is better than argument with such wild beasts. |
17. Combinations.
a. with
pples., in adverbial relation (
= ‘wildly’) as
wild-billowing,
wild-booming,
wild-flying,
wild-fought,
wild-made,
wild-staring,
wild-warring,
wild-woven adjs.; or in complemental relation, as
wild-born,
wild-bred,
wild-caught,
wild-grown,
wild looking adjs. b. parasynthetic, as
wild-blooded,
wild-brained,
wild-coloured,
wild-eyed,
wild-haired,
wild-headed,
wild-hearted,
wild-spirited,
wild-winged,
wild-witted adjs. c. with
ns., forming descriptive appellations corresponding to the
adjs. in b, as
wild-blood (a wild-blooded person),
wild-brain,
wild-head (a wild-brained or wild-headed person, a harebrain).
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. vii. viii, One red sea of Fire, *wild-billowing, enwraps the World. |
| 1820 Scott Abbot xix, Even in the Castle of Avenel thou wert a *wild-blood enough. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. v. ii, So..whirls and spins this immeasurable tormentum of a Revolution; *wild-booming. |
| 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. xv, A *wild-born falcon with clipt wing. |
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Testu, a headstrong fellow, a *wildebrayne. 1608 Middleton Mad World i. i, I must..turn wilde-braine, lay my wits vpo' th' Tenters. 1894 ‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Oct. (1914) 675/2 *Wild-brained martyrdom was succeeded by uprising and organization. |
| 1885 Rider Haggard K. Sol. Mines vi, We knew what a wonderful instinct these *wild-bred men possess. 1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 20 Sept. 3/1 Wild-bred pheasants appear to have done fairly well. |
| 1949 Amer. Speech XXIV. 98 American mink..may be either *wild-caught or ranch-raised. 1970 Saunders & Phelps in H. W. Mulligan Afr. Trypanosomiases xiv. 329 The ovaries of wild-caught females..can be used. |
| 1954 M. K. Wilson tr. K. Z. Lorenz's Man meets Dog (1964) xix. 176 The striped markings in the face of the ‘*wild-coloured’ cat enhance the least movements of the facial skin. |
| 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam iv. xx, The *wild-eyed women. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xx, The fierce and wild-eyed bullocks. |
| 1617 Fletcher Valentinian i. ii, His *wild flying courses. 1902 S. Phillips Ulysses i. ii, The wild-flying cloud. |
| 1795 Fawcett Art of War 18 Their *wild-fought field. |
| 1885 W. K. Parker Mammal. Desc. vi. 153 The peri⁓chondrial..bone..takes on a very remarkable form; it becomes *wild-grown so to speak. |
| 1872 J. G. Whittier in Atlantic Monthly Apr. 474 The *wild-haired Bacchant's yell. 1896 Howells Impr. & Exper. 24 The wildest-haired Comeouter. |
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 147 All the *wilde-heds of the Parish, conuenting togither. c 1590 Trag. Rich. II (1870) 13 A wild⁓head, yett a kingly gentleman. |
| a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 12 Sum..þat ere *wild-hedid. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. iv. 1 If they that neuer were taught Gods trueth bee wildeheaded. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 259 A wild-headed Turke tooke my hat from my head. 1702 Calamy Abridgm. Baxter's Life vi. 108 Wild-headed Sectaries. |
| 1904 W. De La Mare Henry Brocken viii. 83 Beasts of a long-sharpened sagacity, *wild-hearted, rebellious. 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) iv. 171 He was alone and young and wilful and wild-hearted. |
| 1814 Scott Diary 16 Aug. in Lockhart, The hogs are..queer *wild-looking creatures. |
| 15.. Sir Andrew Barton xvii. in Surtees Misc. (1890) 69 Before Ile leave off my serving God, My *wild maide oeth may brooken be. |
| 1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. xxvii, His warm-hearted, *wild-spirited son. |
| 1608 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iii. Schism 863 *Wilde-staring Hag. 1727 Somerville Occas. Poems, Offic. Messenger 261 Wild-staring, thunder-struck, and dumb. |
| 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. xli, *Wild-warbling nature. |
| 1777 Potter æschylus 64 With vollied thunders and *wild warring winds. |
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xv. 637 Floods that nourish *wild-wing'd fowles. 1906 Hardy Dynasts II. i. v. 161 A straggler merely he... But they decide, At last, to post his news, wild-winged or no. 1936 L. B. Lyon Bright Feather Fading 45 The wild-winged bliss. |
| 1614 J. Cooke Greene's Tu Quoque D 1 b, *Wilde witted sister, I haue preuented you. 1839 Darley Beaum. & Fl. Wks. I. Introd. p. xlix, A wild-witted, mercurial comedy. |
| 1800 Campbell Exile of Erin ii, The *wild-woven flowers. |
d. in nonce
poet. uses, as
wild-worst,
wild-worth.
| 1876 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 59 The cross to her she calls Christ to her, christens her wild-worst Best. c 1878 Ibid. 75 Only the breathing temple and fleet Life, this wildworth blown so sweet. |
B. n. † 1. A wild animal, or wild animals collectively;
spec. a beast, or beasts, of the chase; a hunted animal or animals; game.
Obs. OE. *wild (see
etym. above) is recorded only in
gen. sing. wildres,
nom. pl. wildru,
gen. wildra,
dat. wildrum.
| c 1205 Lay. 1129 Þa Troinisce men tuhten to þon deoren & duden of þan wilden al heora iwilla. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1150 At þe fyrst quethe of þe quest quaked þe wylde. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xlix. [l.] 11 All þe wilde of wodis. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 657 That nane werreye my wylde, botte Way⁓nour hir seluene. c 1465 Chevy Chase vi, Then the wyld thorowe the woodes went, on euery syde shear. c 1480 Henryson Lion & Mouse xxviii, The lioun..slew baith tayme and wyld. 1599 A. Hume Poems (S.T.S.) Hymn ii. 181 All venneson, an vther wilde they serue him at his neid. |
† 2. Phr.
at wild,
on wild: ? bewildered, distracted.
Obs. rare.
| c 1430 Syr Tryam. 801 Some were wery and on wylde. 1477 Paston Lett. III. 179 Trust hym never the more for the bylle that I sent yow by hym, but as a man at wylde, for every thyng that he told me is not trewe. |
3. a. (
a) A wild or waste place; a region or tract of uncultivated and uninhabited land; a waste, a wilderness. Now mostly
rhet. or
poet.| 1637 Heylin Answ. Burton 191 As if wee lived in the wild of Africke. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 407 The wild Of South⁓most Abarim. 1709 Prior Henry & Emma 395 Nor Wild, nor Deep our common Way divide. 1722 Tickell Kens. Garden 1 A snow of blossoms, and a wilde of flowers. 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 7 A wild, where weeds and flow'rs promiscuous shoot. 1847 Tennyson Princess iii. 230 You young savage of the Northern wild! 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 313 Turned from a wild into a garden. 1905 D. Wallace Labrador Wild iv. 55 The plunge into the wild. |
(
b)
pl. (Chiefly in
the wilds of a specified region.)
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vii. 41 The Hircanion deserts, and the vaste wildes Of wide Arabia. 1612 Drayton Polyolb. v. 312 The sandie Wyldes of spicefull Barbarie. 1634 Milton Comus 424 Huge Forests..and sandy perilous wildes. 1726–31 Waldron Descr. Isle of Man (1744) 53 They call them the good People, and say they live in Wilds and Forests. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie i, The..resolute forester who first penetrated the wilds. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes viii, Among the wilds and forests of the west. 1868 Nettleship Ess. Browning ii. 63 A northern principality..which kept its rough simple traditions in its own wilds. |
b. transf. of air, water, etc.
| 1712 Pope Rape Lock i. 107 The crystal wilds of air. 1795 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Frogmore Fête Wks. 1812 III. 308 As soon might lift old Ocean from his bed And dash his wild of waters to the skies. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab viii. 57 A lighthouse o'er the wild of dreary waves. |
c. fig.| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 184 Where euery something being blent together, Turnes to a wilde of nothing, saue of ioy Exprest, and not exprest. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuff 66 To this wild of sorrowes and excruciament she was confined. 1651 Biggs New Disp. ¶73 [To] confine themselves to a mediocrity in opinioning, and not ramble over the whole wild of Fancy. a 1704 T. Brown 1st Sat. Persius imit. Wks. 1730 I. 52 His tagg'd nonsense, t'other's wilds of wit. a 1832 Bentham Princ. Legisl. xviii. §27 note Striving to cut a new road through the wilds of jurisprudence. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. xvi. i, To save My yet young life in the wilds of Time. |
4. Phr.
to play the wild: to behave in a careless or reckless manner; to play havoc
with.
U.S.| 1849 J. B. Jones Wild Western Scenes i. 10 But love can play the ‘wild’ with any young man. 1911 R. D. Saunders Col. Todhunter ix. 143 I'm shorely glad to get home. I been playin' the wild in St. Louis. |
▪ II. wild, v. rare.
(
waɪld)
[f. wild a. Cf. awilden (OE. áwildian), MHG. wilden.] 1. intr. Of an animal or plant: To be or become wild; to run wild, grow wild.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 136 Vet kelf & to wilde is þet fleschs þet awiligeð [MS. T. wildes] so sone hit euer uetteð. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. iii. (Skeat) l. 45 Heerdes gonne to wilde. 1880 Earle Engl. Plant Names 80 This is held by botanists to be an old garden-plant escaped and wilded. |
2. trans. To make wild, in various senses;
† esp. to affect with frenzy, to madden (
obs.).
| 1421 Hoccleve Compl. 235 This grevous venyme that had enfectyd and wildyd my brayne. 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. [i.] xxii. 71 The Mad worme hath wilded all Humanitie. 1655 Vaughan Silex Scint. i. Misery 81 Thus wilded by a peevish heart..I storm at thee. |
Add:
3. Only in the progressive and as
pres. pple. Of a gang or its members: to go on a protracted and violent rampage: see *
wilding n. U.S. slang.
| 1989 N.Y. Times 22 Apr. 1/3 They just said ‘We were going {oqq}wilding{cqq}.’ In my mind at this point, it implies that they were going to go raise hell. 1989 Independent 3 May 17 He has been ‘wilding’ for years..without anybody getting hurt. Wilding means letting off steam. |
▪ III. wild(e obs. ff.
weald,
wield v.;
obs. pa. tense of
will v.