(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
When there is a ~, a crowd of people behave violently in a public place, for example they fight, throw stones, or damage buildings and vehicles.
Twelve inmates have been killed during a ~ at the prison.
N-COUNT
2.
If people ~, they behave violently in a public place.
Last year 600 inmates ~ed, starting fires and building barricades...
VERB: V
~er (~ers)
The militia dispersed the ~ers.
N-COUNT
~ing
At least fifteen people are now known to have died in three days of ~ing.
N-UNCOUNT
3.
If you say that there is a ~ of something pleasant such as colour, you mean that there is a large amount of various types of it.
All the cacti were in flower, so that the desert was a ~ of colour...
N-SING: a N of n approval
4.
If someone in authority reads you the ~ act, they tell you that you will be punished unless you start behaving properly.
I’m glad you read the ~ act to Billy. He’s still a kid and still needs to be told what to do.
PHRASE: V inflects
5.
If people run ~, they behave in a wild and uncontrolled manner.
Rampaging prisoners ran ~ through Strangeways jail.
PHRASE: V inflects
6.
If something such as your imagination runs ~, it is not limited or controlled, and produces ideas that are new or exciting, rather than sensible.
A conservatory offers the perfect excuse to let your imagination run ~.
PHRASE: V inflects