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rampant

 - 3 dictionary results

ramp⋅ant

  [ram-puhnt]
Use rampant in a Sentence
–adjective
1. violent in action or spirit; raging; furious: a rampant leopard.
2. growing luxuriantly, as weeds.
3. in full sway; prevailing or unchecked: a rampant rumor.
4. (of an animal) standing on the hind legs; ramping.
5. Heraldry. (of a beast used as a charge) represented in profile facing the dexter side, with the body upraised and resting on the left hind leg, the tail and other legs elevated, the right foreleg highest, and the head in profile unless otherwise specified: a lion rampant.
6. Architecture. (of an arch or vault) springing at one side from one level of support and resting at the other on a higher level.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < OF, prp. of ramper to ramp 1

Related forms:
ramp⋅ant⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
3. rife, widespread, unrestrained.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ram·pant   (rām'pənt)   


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adj.  

  1. Extending unchecked; unrestrained: a rampant growth of weeds in the neglected yard.

  2. Occurring without restraint and frequently, widely, or menacingly; rife: a rampant epidemic; rampant corruption in city government.

    1. Rearing on the hind legs.

    2. Heraldry Rearing on the left hind leg with the forelegs elevated, the right above the left, and usually with the head in profile.

  4. Architecture Springing from a support or an abutment that is higher at one side than at the other: a rampant arch.


[Middle English rampaunt, from Old French rampant, present participle of ramper, to ramp; see ramp2.]
ram'pan·cy n., ram'pant·ly adv.
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

rampant 
1382, "standing on the hind legs" (as a heraldic lion often does), thus, later, "fierce, ravenous" (1387), from O.Fr. rampant, prp. of ramper "to creep, climb" (see rampage). Sense of "growing without check" (in running rampant), first recorded 1619, preserves the O.Fr. sense.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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