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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
mad    Audio Help   [mad] Pronunciation Key adjective, mad·der, mad·dest, noun, verb, mad·ded, mad·ding.
–adjective
1.mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.
2.enraged; greatly provoked or irritated; angry.
3.(of animals)
a.abnormally furious; ferocious: a mad bull.
b.affected with rabies; rabid: a mad dog.
4.extremely foolish or unwise; imprudent; irrational: a mad scheme to invade France.
5.wildly excited or confused: frantic: mad haste.
6.overcome by desire, eagerness, enthusiasm, etc.; excessively or uncontrollably fond; infatuated: He's mad about the opera.
7.wildly gay or merry; enjoyably hilarious: to have a mad time at the Mardi Gras.
8.(of wind, storms, etc.) furious in violence: A mad gale swept across the channel.
–noun
9.an angry or ill-tempered period, mood, or spell: The last time he had a mad on, it lasted for days.
–verb (used with object)
10.Archaic. to make mad.
–verb (used without object)
11.Archaic. to be, become, or act mad.
—Idioms
12.like mad, Informal. with great haste, impulsiveness, energy, or enthusiasm: She ran like mad to catch the bus.
13.mad as a hatter, completely insane.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME mad (adj.), madden (intrans. v., deriv. of the adj.); OE gemǣd(e)d, ptp. of *gemǣdan to make mad, akin to gemād mad, foolish; c. OS geméd, OHG gimeit foolish]

—Synonyms 1. lunatic, maniacal, crazed, crazy. 2. furious, exasperated, raging, wrathful, irate. 4. ill-advised; unsafe, dangerous, perilous. Mad, crazy, insane are used to characterize wildly impractical or foolish ideas, actions, etc. Mad suggests senselessness and excess: The scheme of buying the bridge was absolutely mad. In informal usage, crazy suggests recklessness and impracticality: a crazy young couple. Insane is used with some opprobrium to express unsoundness and possible harmfulness: The new traffic system is simply insane. 5. frenzied.
—Antonyms 4. sensible, practical; sound, safe.
—Usage note Mad meaning “enraged, angry” has been used since 1300, and this sense is a very common one. Because some teachers and usage critics insist that the only correct meaning of mad is “mentally disturbed, insane,” mad is often replaced by angry in formal contexts: The President is angry at Congress for overriding his veto.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
like mad

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
mad    Audio Help   (mād)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.   mad·der, mad·dest
  1. Angry; resentful. See Synonyms at angry.
  2. Suffering from a disorder of the mind; insane.
  3. Temporarily or apparently deranged by violent sensations, emotions, or ideas: mad with jealousy.
  4. Lacking restraint or reason; foolish: I was mad to have hired her in the first place.
  5. Feeling or showing strong liking or enthusiasm: mad about sports.
  6. Marked by extreme excitement, confusion, or agitation; frantic: a mad scramble for the bus.
  7. Boisterously gay; hilarious: had a mad time.
  8. Affected by rabies; rabid.

tr. & intr.v.   mad·ded, mad·ding, mads
To make or become mad; madden.


[Middle English, from Old English gemǣdde, past participle of *gemǣdan, to madden, from gemād, insane; see mei-1 in Indo-European roots.]

mad'dish adj.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
like mad

adverb
with great speed or effort or intensity; "drove like crazy"; "worked like hell to get the job done"; "ran like sin for the storm cellar"; "work like thunder"; "fought like the devil" [syn: like hell] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
like mad
wildly, desperately, very quickly etc
Example: struggling/trying/running like mad
Arabic: كالمَجْنون
Chinese (Simplified): 发疯似的
Chinese (Traditional): 發瘋似的
Czech: jako blázen
Danish: som en gal
Dutch: als een gek
Estonian: nagu hull
Finnish: hullun lailla
French: comme un perdu
German: wie verrückt
Greek: σαν τρελός, απελπισμένα
Hungarian: eszeveszetten
Icelandic: eins og óður
Indonesian: mati-matian
Italian: come un pazzo*
Japanese: 猛烈に
Latvian: kā traks, kā neprātīgs
Lithuanian: kaip pasiutęs
Norwegian: som en gal
Polish: jak szalony
Portuguese (Brazil): como louco
Portuguese (Portugal): como um louco
Romanian: ca un ne­bun
Russian: безудержно;изо всех сил
Slovak: ako blázon
Slovenian: kot nor
Spanish: como un loco
Swedish: som en galning
Turkish: deliler gibi, delicesine
See also: madden, maddening, madman, mad, mad cow disease, "like mad" in any language

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
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