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craze

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craze

  [kreyz] verb, crazed, craz⋅ing, noun
Use craze in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to derange or impair the mind of; make insane: He was crazed by jealousy.
2. to make small cracks on the surface of (a ceramic glaze, paint, or the like); crackle.
3. British Dialect. to crack.
4. Archaic. to weaken; impair: to craze one's health.
5. Obsolete. to break; shatter.
–verb (used without object)
6. to become insane; go mad.
7. to become minutely cracked, as a ceramic glaze; crackle.
8. Metallurgy.
a. (of a case-hardened object) to develop reticulated surface markings; worm.
b. (of an ingot) to develop an alligator skin as a result of being teemed into an old and worn mold.
9. Archaic. to fall to pieces; break.
–noun
10. a popular or widespread fad, fashion, etc.; mania: the newest dance craze.
11. insanity; an insane condition.
12. a minute crack or pattern of cracks in the glaze of a ceramic object.
13. Obsolete. flaw; defect.
Origin:
1325–75; ME crasen to crush < Scand; cf. Sw, Norw krasa to shatter, crush

Synonyms:
10. vogue, mode.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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craze   (krāz)   
v.   crazed, craz·ing, craz·es

v.   tr.

  1. To cause to become mentally deranged or obsessed; make insane.

  2. To produce a network of fine cracks in the surface or glaze of.

v.   intr.

  1. To become mentally deranged or obsessed; go insane.

  2. To become covered with fine cracks.

n.  

  1. A short-lived popular fashion; a fad.

  2. A fine crack in a surface or glaze.


[Middle English crasen, to shatter, of Scandinavian origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

craze 
c.1369, probably from O.N. *krasa "shatter," perhaps via an O.Fr. form. Originally "to shatter;" now-obsolete metaphoric use for "break down in health" (1476) led to n. sense of "mental breakdown." Extension to "mania, fad," is first recorded 1813. Original sense preserved in crazy quilt pattern. Crazy is from 1576 as "sickly;" from 1617 as "insane;" and from 1927 in jazz slang for "cool, exciting." Phrase crazy like a fox recorded from 1935.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: craze
Pronunciation: 'krAz
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: crazed; craz·ing
transitive senses
: to makeinsane or as if insane <crazed by pain and fear> craze intransitive senses
: to become insane
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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