waɪld adj., adv., & n. --adj. 1 (of an
animal or plant) in
its original natural state;
not domesticated or cultivated (esp. of
species or varieties
allied to others
that are not wild). 2 not civilized;
barbarous. 3 (of
scenery etc.) having a conspicuously
desolate appearance. 4
unrestrained,
disorderly,
uncontrolled (a wild
youth; wild hair). 5
tempestuous,
violent (a wild night). 6 a intensely
eager; excited,
frantic (wild
with excitement; wild delight). b (of looks, appearance, etc.) indicating
distraction. c (foll. by about) colloq. enthusiastically
devoted to (a
person or subject). 7 colloq. infuriated,
angry (makes me wild). 8
haphazard, ill-aimed, rash (a wild
guess; a wild shot; a wild venture). 9 (of a
horse, game-bird, etc.) shy;
easily startled. 10 colloq.
exciting,
delightful. 11 (of a card) having
any rank
chosen by
the player holding it (the
joker is wild). --adv. in a wild
manner (shooting wild). --n. 1 a wild tract. 2 a desert. øin the wild in an
uncultivated etc. state. in (or
out in) the wilds colloq.
far from normal habitation.
run wild
grow or
stray unchecked or
undisciplined. sow one's wild oats see
OAT. wild
and woolly uncouth;
lacking refinement. wild
boar see BOAR. wild card 1 see
sense 11 of adj. 2 Computing a
character that will match any character or
sequence of characters in a file
name etc. 3
Sport an
extra player or
team chosen to
enter a
competition at the selectors'
discretion. wild
cat any of
various smallish cats,
esp. the
European Felis sylvestris (cf. WILDCAT). wild-goose chase a
foolish or
hopeless and
unproductive quest. wild horse 1 a horse not domesticated or
broken in. 2 (in pl.) colloq. even the
most powerful influence etc. (wild horses
would not
drag the
secret from me). wild
hyacinth =
BLUEBELL 1. wild
man of the woods colloq. an
orang-utan. wild
rice any
tall grass of the
genus Zizania,
yielding edible grains. wild
silk 1 silk from wild silkworms. 2 an
imitation of
this from
short silk fibres. Wild
West the
western US in a
time of lawlessness in its
early history. øøwildish adj. wildly adv. wildness n. [OE wilde f. Gmc]
