Like mad

Like mad
Mad Mad, a. [Compar. {Madder}; superl. {Maddest}.] [AS. gem?d, gem[=a]d, mad; akin to OS. gem?d foolish, OHG. gameit, Icel. mei?a to hurt, Goth. gam['a]ids weak, broken. ?.] 1. Disordered in intellect; crazy; insane. [1913 Webster]

I have heard my grandsire say full oft, Extremity of griefs would make men mad. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2. Excited beyond self-control or the restraint of reason; inflamed by violent or uncontrollable desire, passion, or appetite; as, to be mad with terror, lust, or hatred; mad against political reform. [1913 Webster]

It is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. --Jer. 1. 88. [1913 Webster]

And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. --Acts xxvi. 11. [1913 Webster]

3. Proceeding from, or indicating, madness; expressing distraction; prompted by infatuation, fury, or extreme rashness. ``Mad demeanor.'' --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Mad wars destroy in one year the works of many years of peace. --Franklin. [1913 Webster]

The mad promise of Cleon was fulfilled. --Jowett (Thucyd.). [1913 Webster]

4. Extravagant; immoderate. ``Be mad and merry.'' --Shak. ``Fetching mad bounds.'' --Shak. [1913 Webster]

5. Furious with rage, terror, or disease; -- said of the lower animals; as, a mad bull; esp., having hydrophobia; rabid; as, a mad dog. [1913 Webster]

6. Angry; out of patience; vexed; as, to get mad at a person. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

7. Having impaired polarity; -- applied to a compass needle. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

{Like mad}, like a mad person; in a furious manner; as, to run like mad. --L'Estrange.

{To run mad}. (a) To become wild with excitement. (b) To run wildly about under the influence of hydrophobia; to become affected with hydrophobia.

{To run mad after}, to pursue under the influence of infatuation or immoderate desire. ``The world is running mad after farce.'' --Dryden. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • like mad — or[like crazy] {adv.}, {slang}, {informal} With great enthusiasm and vigor; very fast. * /We had to drive like mad (like crazy) to get there on time./ See: LIKE HELL(1) …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • like mad — or[like crazy] {adv.}, {slang}, {informal} With great enthusiasm and vigor; very fast. * /We had to drive like mad (like crazy) to get there on time./ See: LIKE HELL(1) …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • like\ mad — • like mad • like crazy adv slang informal With great enthusiasm and vigor; very fast. We had to drive like mad (like crazy) to get there on time. See: like hell(1) …   Словарь американских идиом

  • like mad — informal if something hurts like mad it hurts very much, and if you do something like mad you do it very quickly and with a lot of force. This cut stings like mad. I braked like mad but couldn t stop in time and hit the car in front …   New idioms dictionary

  • like mad — informal 1) very quickly and with great effort We had to work like mad to finish the job before the weekend. 2) a lot They ve all been practising like mad. 3) in a way that you cannot control or stop She was blushing like mad …   English dictionary

  • like mad — informal 1) I ran like mad Syn: fast, quickly, rapidly, speedily, hastily, hurriedly 2) he had to fight like mad Syn: energetically, enthusiastically, madly, furiously, with a will …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • like mad — phrasal to an extreme degree < spending like mad > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • like mad — very fast, with great energy I worked like mad but I was unable to finish the project by noon as I had hoped …   Idioms and examples

  • like mad — at a furious pace: rushing around like mad[/ex] …   From formal English to slang

  • like mad — Synonyms and related words: a corps perdu, all to pieces, carelessly, demonically, desperately, fanatically, fiercely, frantically, frenetically, furiously, happen what may, hastily, head over heels, headfirst, headforemost, headlong, heedlessly …   Moby Thesaurus

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