/ waɪld; NAmE / adjective , noun
■ adjective
( wild·er , wild·est )
ANIMALS / PLANTS
1.
living or growing in natural conditions; not kept in a house or on a farm :
wild animals / flowers
a wild rabbit
wild strawberries
The plants grow wild along the banks of rivers.
SCENERY / LAND
2.
in its natural state; not changed by people :
wild moorland
OUT OF CONTROL
3.
lacking discipline or control :
The boy is wild and completely out of control.
He had a wild look in his eyes.
FEELINGS
4.
full of very strong feeling :
wild laughter
The crowd went wild .
It makes me wild (= very angry) to see such waste.
NOT SENSIBLE
5.
not carefully planned; not sensible or accurate :
He made a wild guess at the answer.
wild accusations
EXCITING
6.
( informal ) very good, enjoyable or exciting :
We had a wild time in New York.
ENTHUSIASTIC
7.
wild about sb/sth ( informal ) very enthusiastic about sb/sth :
She's totally wild about him.
I'm not wild about the idea.
WEATHER / SEA
8.
affected by storms and strong winds
SYN stormy :
a wild night
The sea was wild.
► wild·ness noun [ U ]
—see also wildly
•
IDIOMS
- beyond sb's wildest dreams
- not / never in sb's wildest dreams
- run wild
- wild horses would not drag, make, etc. sb (do sth)
—more at sow verb
■ noun
1.
the wild [ sing. ] a natural environment that is not controlled by people :
The bird is too tame now to survive in the wild .
2.
the wilds [ pl. ] areas of a country far from towns or cities, where few people live :
the wilds of Alaska
( humorous )
They live on a farm somewhere out in the wilds .
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English wilde , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German wild .