The Collaborative Dictionary

Wild \Wild\, a. [Compar. Wilder; superl. Wildest.] [OE. wilde, AS. wilde; akin to OFries. wilde, D. wild, OS. & OHG. wildi, G. wild, Sw. & Dan. vild, Icel. villr wild, bewildered, astray, Goth. wilpeis wild, and G. & OHG. wild game, deer; of uncertain origin.] [1913 Webster]

Living in a state of nature; inhabiting natural haunts, as the forest or open field; not familiar with, or not easily approached by, man; not tamed or domesticated; as, a wild boar; a wild ox; a wild cat. [1913 Webster] Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese fly that way. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Growing or produced without culture; growing or prepared without the aid and care of man; native; not cultivated; brought forth by unassisted nature or by animals not domesticated; as, wild parsnip, wild camomile, wild strawberry, wild honey. [1913 Webster] The woods and desert caves, With wild thyme and gadding vine o'ergrown. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Desert; not inhabited or cultivated; as, wild land. "To trace the forests wild." --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Savage; uncivilized; not refined by culture; ferocious; rude; as, wild natives of Africa or America. [1913 Webster]

Not submitted to restraint, training, or regulation; turbulent; tempestuous; violent; ungoverned; licentious; inordinate; disorderly; irregular; fanciful; imaginary; visionary; crazy. "Valor grown wild by pride." --Prior. "A wild, speculative project." --Swift. [1913 Webster] What are these So withered and so wild in their attire ? --Shak. [1913 Webster] With mountains, as with weapons, armed; which makes Wild work in heaven. --Milton. [1913 Webster] The wild winds howl. --Addison. [1913 Webster] Search then the ruling passion, there, alone The wild are constant, and the cunning known. --Pope. [1913 Webster]

Exposed to the wind and sea; unsheltered; as, a wild roadstead. [1913 Webster]

Indicating strong emotion, intense excitement, or ?ewilderment; as, a wild look. [1913 Webster]

(Naut.) Hard to steer; -- said of a vessel. [1913 Webster] Note: Many plants are named by prefixing wild to the names of other better known or cultivated plants to which they a bear a real or fancied resemblance; as, wild allspice, wild pink, etc. See the Phrases below. [1913 Webster] [1913 Webster] To run wild, to go unrestrained or untamed; to live or untamed; to live or grow without culture or training. To sow one's wild oats. See under Oat. [1913 Webster] Wild allspice. (Bot.), spicewood. Wild balsam apple (Bot.), an American climbing cucurbitaceous plant (Echinocystis lobata). Wild basil (Bot.), a fragrant labiate herb (Calamintha Clinopodium) common in Europe and America. Wild bean (Bot.), a name of several leguminous plants, mostly species of Phaseolus and Apios. Wild bee (Zool.), any one of numerous species of undomesticated social bees, especially the domestic bee when it has escaped from domestication and built its nest in a hollow tree or among rocks. Wild bergamot. (Bot.) See under Bergamot. Wild boar (Zool.), the European wild hog (Sus scrofa), from which the common domesticated swine is descended. Wild brier (Bot.), any uncultivated species of brier. See Brier. Wild bugloss (Bot.), an annual rough-leaved plant (Lycopsis arvensis) with small blue flowers. Wild camomile (Bot.), one or more plants of the composite genus Matricaria, much resembling camomile. Wild cat. (Zool.) (a) A European carnivore (Felis catus) somewhat resembling the domestic cat, but larger stronger, and having a short tail. It is destructive to the smaller domestic animals, such as lambs, kids, poultry, and the like. (b) The common American lynx, or bay lynx. (c) (Naut.) A wheel which can be adjusted so as to revolve either with, or on, the shaft of a capstan. --Luce. Wild celery. (Bot.) See Tape grass, under Tape. Wild cherry. (Bot.) (a) Any uncultivated tree which bears cherries. The wild red cherry is Prunus Pennsylvanica. The wild black cherry is Prunus serotina, the wood of which is much used for cabinetwork, being of a light red color and a compact texture. (b) The fruit of various species of Prunus. Wild cinnamon. See the Note under Canella. Wild comfrey (Bot.), an American plant (Cynoglossum Virginicum) of the Borage family. It has large bristly leaves and small blue flowers. Wild cumin (Bot.), an annual umbelliferous plant (Lag[oe]cia cuminoides) native in the countries about the Mediterranean. Wild drake (Zool.) the mallard. Wild elder (Bot.), an American plant (Aralia hispida) of the Ginseng family. Wild fowl (Zool.) any wild bird, especially any of those considered as game birds. Wild goose (Zool.), any one of several species of undomesticated geese, especially the Canada goose (Branta Canadensis), the European bean goose, and the graylag. See Graylag, and Bean goose, under Bean. Wild goose chase, the pursuit of something unattainable, or of something as unlikely to be caught as the wild goose. --Shak. Wild honey, honey made by wild bees, and deposited in trees, rocks, the like. Wild hyacinth. (Bot.) See Hyacinth, 1 (b) . Wild Irishman (Bot.), a thorny bush (Discaria Toumatou) of the Buckthorn family, found in New Zealand, where the natives use the spines in tattooing. Wild land. (a) Land not cultivated, or in a state that renders it unfit for cultivation. (b) Land which is not settled and cultivated. Wild licorice. (Bot.) See under Licorice. Wild mammee (Bot.), the oblong, yellowish, acid fruit of a tropical American tree (Rheedia lateriflora); -- so called in the West Indies. Wild marjoram (Bot.), a labiate plant (Origanum vulgare) much like the sweet marjoram, but less aromatic. Wild oat. (Bot.) (a) A tall, oatlike kind of soft grass (Arrhenatherum avenaceum). (b) See Wild oats, under Oat. Wild pieplant (Bot.), a species of dock (Rumex hymenosepalus) found from Texas to California. Its acid, juicy stems are used as a substitute for the garden rhubarb. Wild pigeon. (Zool.) (a) The rock dove. (b) The passenger pigeon. Wild pink (Bot.), an American plant (Silene Pennsylvanica) with pale, pinkish flowers; a kind of catchfly. Wild plantain (Bot.), an arborescent endogenous herb (Heliconia Bihai), much resembling the banana. Its leaves and leaf sheaths are much used in the West Indies as coverings for packages of merchandise. Wild plum. (Bot.) (a) Any kind of plum growing without cultivation. (b) The South African prune. See under Prune. Wild rice. (Bot.) See Indian rice, under Rice. Wild rosemary (Bot.), the evergreen shrub Andromeda polifolia. See Marsh rosemary, under Rosemary. Wild sage. (Bot.) See Sagebrush. Wild sarsaparilla (Bot.), a species of ginseng (Aralia nudicaulis) bearing a single long-stalked leaf. Wild sensitive plant (Bot.), either one of two annual leguminous herbs (Cassia Chamaecrista, and Cassia nictitans), in both of which the leaflets close quickly when the plant is disturbed. Wild service.(Bot.) See Sorb. Wild Spaniard (Bot.), any one of several umbelliferous plants of the genus Aciphylla, natives of New Zealand. The leaves bear numerous bayonetlike spines, and the plants form an impenetrable thicket. Wild turkey. (Zool.) See 2d Turkey. [1913 Webster]

Wild \Wild\, adv. Wildly; as, to talk wild. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Wild \Wild\, n. An uninhabited and uncultivated tract or region; a forest or desert; a wilderness; a waste; as, the wilds of America; the wilds of Africa. [1913 Webster] then Libya first, of all her moisture drained, Became a barren waste, a wild of sand. --Addison. [1913 Webster]

Word Net

wild adj

1 marked by extreme lack of restraint or control; "wild ideas"; "wild talk"; "wild originality"; "wild parties" [ant: tame]

2 in a natural state; not tamed or domesticated or cultivated; "wild geese"; "edible wild plants" [syn: untamed] [ant: tame]

3 in a state of extreme emotion; "wild with anger"; "wild with grief"

4 deviating widely from an intended course; "a wild bullet"; "a wild pitch"

5 (of colors or sounds) intensely vivid or loud; "a violent clash of colors"; "her dress was a violent red"; "a violent noise"; "wild colors"; "wild shouts" [syn: violent]

6 not subjected to control or restraint; "a piano played with a wild exuberance"- Louis Bromfield

7 talking or behaving irrationally; "a raving lunatic" [syn: raving, raving mad]

8 produced without being planted or without human labor; "wild strawberries" [syn: spontaneous]

9 located in a dismal or remote area; desolate; "a desert island"; "a godforsaken wilderness crossroads"; "a wild stretch of land"; "waste places" [syn: desert, godforsaken, waste]

10 without civilizing influences; "barbarian invaders"; "barbaric practices"; "a savage people"; "fighting is crude and uncivilized especially if the weapons are efficient"-Margaret Meade; "wild tribes" [syn: barbarian, barbaric, savage, uncivilized, uncivilised]

11 (of the elements) as if showing violent anger; "angry clouds on the horizon"; "furious winds"; "the raging sea" [syn: angry, furious, raging, tempestuous]

1 a wild primitive state untouched by civilization; "he lived in the wild" [syn: natural state, state of nature]

2 a wild and uninhabited area [syn: wilderness] adv

1 in an uncontrolled and rampant manner; "weeds grew rampantly around here" [syn: rampantly]

2 in a wild or undomesticated manner; "growing wild"; "roaming wild"

Moby Thesaurus

Arabia Deserta, Death Valley, Dionysiac, Gothic, Neanderthal, Sahara, abandoned, absurd, accident-prone, addled, adventurous, agitated, agrarian, amok, anarchic, angry, animal, at fever pitch, atrocious, audacious, bacchic, back, back country, back of beyond, back-country, backwood, backwoods, backwoodsy, barbarian, barbaric, barbarous, baroque, barren, barren land, barrens, bellowing, berserk, bestial, bewildered, beyond belief, beyond control, bizarre, blatant, bloody, blustering, blusterous, blustery, boisterous, bold, boondock, boondocks, borderland, brain-born, brash, breachy, breakneck, brush, brutal, brutish, bush, bush country, bushveld, carefree, careless, carried away, chaotic, clamorous, coarse, cockamamie, cocksure, confused, contumacious, corybantic, crazy, daredevil, daring, dashing, death-defying, debauched, defiant, delirious, demented, demoniac, deranged, desert, desolation, desperate, devil-may-care, dirty, disorderly, dissipated, dissolute, distracted, distrait, distraught, dream-built, dust bowl, ecstatic, enraged, enraptured, escaped, extravagant, fanatical, fanciful, fancy-born, fancy-built, fancy-woven, fantasque, fantastic, fast, febrile, feckless, feral, ferine, ferocious, feverish, fierce, fiery, fighting mad, fire-eating, florid, foolhardy, foolish, forests, forward, fractious, frantic, free, frenetic, frenzied, frontier, fulminating, fuming, furious, gallant, gay, go-go, graceless, grotesque, haggard, harebrained, harsh, harum-scarum, hasty, headlong, heath, hectic, heedless, hellish, high-flown, hinterland, hog-wild, hopping mad, hotheaded, howling, howling wilderness, hurried, hysteric, hysterical, ill-bred, immoderate, impatient of control, impetuous, impolite, in a rage, in a transport, in hysterics, incautious, incontinent, incorrigible, incredible, indocile, indomitable, indulgent, infatuated, infuriate, infuriated, inhuman, insane, insensate, insuppressible, intemperate, intoxicated, intractable, irrepressible, irresponsible, karroo, kill-crazy, knock-down-and-drag-out, knockabout, laughable, lax, lewd, licentious, like one possessed, loose, ludicrous, lunar landscape, lunar waste, mad, madbrain, madbrained, madcap, madding, maenadic, maggoty, malign, malignant, maniac, maniacal, merciless, mindless, monstrous, muddled, murderous, native, natural, noncivilized, nonrestrictive, nonsensical, notional, obstreperous, orgasmic, orgastic, orgiastic, ornery, out of control, out of hand, outback, outlandish, outpost, outrageous, outre, overanxious, overdesirous, overeager, overenthusiastic, overzealous, pandemoniac, passionate, perfervid, permissive, perplexed, perturbed, pitiless, poppycockish, possessed, precipitant, precipitate, precipitous, preposterous, presumptuous, primitive, profligate, rabid, raffish, raging, rakehell, rakehellish, rakehelly, rakish, rambling, rambunctious, rampageous, rampant, ramping, ranting, rash, ravening, raving, raving mad, ravished, recalcitrant, reckless, refractory, reinless, resistant, resisting, restive, revolutionary, ridiculous, riotous, rip-roaring, roaring, roaring mad, rococo, roisterous, rollicking, rough, rough-and-ready, rough-and-tumble, rowdy, rude, running mad, running wild, ruthless, salt flat, sanguinary, savage, severe, shrewish, simmering, slap-bang, slapdash, sporty, stark-raving mad, storming, stormy, swaggering, sylvan, tameless, tasteless, tempestuous, terrorist, the bush, thoughtless, timbers, tornadic, transported, troglodytic, troublous, tumultuous, turbulent, ultrazealous, unbiddable, unbridled, unchaste, unchecked, uncivil, uncivilized, uncoerced, uncombed, uncompelled, unconstrained, uncontrollable, uncontrolled, uncouth, uncultivated, uncultured, uncurbed, undisciplined, undomesticated, unforced, ungentle, ungovernable, ungoverned, uninhabited region, uninhibited, unkempt, unmalleable, unmanageable, unmastered, unmeasured, unmoldable, unmuzzled, unpolished, unrefined, unreined, unrepressed, unreserved, unrestrained, unrestrictive, unruly, unsubdued, unsubmissive, unsuppressed, untamed, untoward, up-country, uproarious, upset, vehement, vicious, violent, virgin, virgin land, virgin territory, volcanic, vulgar, wandering, wanton, waste, wasteland, weary waste, weird, whimsical, wild West, wild-ass, wild-eyed, wild-looking, wilderness, wildness, wilds, woodland, woodlands, woods

see Wild

English

Etymology

wilde

Pronunciation

• , /waɪld/, /waIld/

• Rhymes: -aɪld

Adjective

1. Untamed; not domesticated.

   The island of Chincoteague is famous for its wild horses.

2. Unrestrained or uninhibited.

   I was filled with wild rage when I discovered the infidelity, and punched a hole in the wall.

3. Raucous, unruly, or licentious.

   The fraternity was infamous for its wild parties, which frequently resulted in police involvement.

4. Visibly and overtly anxious; frantic.

   Her mother was wild with fear when she didn't return home after the party.

5. Disheveled, tangled, or untidy.

   After a week on the trail without a mirror, my hair was wild and dirty.

6. Enthusiastic.

   I'm not wild about the idea of a two day car trip with my nephews, but it's my only option.

7. Inaccurate.

   ''The novice archer fired a wild shot and hit her opponent's target.

Derived terms

• wild and woolly
• wild animal
• wild blueberry
• wild boar
• wild card
• wildcard
• wildcarrot
• wild cat
• wildcat
• wildcat strike
• wildcatter
• wild cherry
• wildebeest
• wilden
• wilder
• wilderness
• wildest
• wild-eyed
• wildfire
• wildflower
• wildfowl
• wild geranium
• wild ginger
• wild goose
• wild goose chase
• wild-goose chase
• wild hyacinth
• wilding
• wildish
• wild land
• wildlife
• wildly
• wild mustard
• wildness
• wild oat
• wild pitch
• wild purslane
• wild rice
• wild rye
• wild strawberry
• wild turkey
• wild vanilla
• wild West
• wildwood

Translations

Adverb

1. Inaccurately; not on target.

   The javelin flew wild and struck a spectator, to the horror of all observing.

Noun

1. The undomesticated state of a wild animal

   After mending the lion's leg, we returned him to the wild

2. especially in plural a wilderness

Verb

1. To commit random acts of assault, robbery, and rape in an urban setting, especially as a gang.
   • 1989, David E. Pitt, Jogger's Attackers Terrorized at Least 9 in 2 Hours, New York Times (April 22, 1989), page 1:

     ...Chief of Detectives Robert Colangelo, who said the attacks appeared unrelated to money, race, drugs, or alcohol, said that some of the 20 youths brought in for questioning has told investigators that the crime spree was the product of a pastime called "wilding".

     "It's not a term that we in the police had heard before," the chief said, noting that the police were unaware of any similar incident in the park recently. "They just said, 'We were going wilding.' In my mind at this point, it implies that they were going to raise hell."...

Dutch

Noun

wild

1. game (food)

German

Etymology

Old High Germanic wildi

Pronunciation

Adjective

1. wild

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic (wálada, to give birth).

Noun

wild

1. birth

The term wild generally refers to:

• Wildlife, all non-domesticated plants, animals, and other organisms
• Wilderness or Wilderness area, a natural environment on Earth
• Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed

Wild or Wyld may also refer to:

• Wild (surname)
• Wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD), used to facilitate the occurrence of lucid dreaming
• WILD GmbH & Co. KG, a German company which produces natural ingredients for food products
• Minnesota Wild, a U.S. National Hockey League team often referred to as simply "the Wild"
• RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Wild, a computer game expansion pack
• The Wild, a Disney 3D animation film
• The Wild (novel), a novel by Whitley Strieber
• Wild Instinct a children's program

In music:

• WILD or Walk In Lay Down, a biannual concert event at Washington University in St. Louis
• Wild (band), a five-piece classical female group
• "Wild" (single), a song by Poe on her album Haunted

IN radio broadcasting:

• WILD (AM), an AM station in the Boston radio market
• WILD-FM, the former callsign of an FM station in the Boston radio market, originally WBET-FM, now WKAF
• WYLD (AM), an AM station in the New Orleans radio market
• WYLD-FM, an FM station in the New Orleans radio market
• WiLD station branding (later trademarked by Clear Channel Communications):
  • KYLD in San Francisco
  • WLLD in Tampa-St. Petersburg

See also

• Wilde
• Feral child (children raised in the wild)