I. ˈrāj noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin rabia, from Latin rabies rage, madness, from rabere to rave, be mad; akin to Sanskrit rabhas violence, impetuosity
1.
a. : violent and uncontrolled anger often accompanied with raving : fury
overcome with a mighty rage
out of this helplessness and rage comes the will to endure — Leon Edel
b. : a fit of violent wrath
fell into an appalling rage and started out to destroy everything in sight — T.R.Ybarra
c. archaic : insanity
mopings which presage the loss of reason and conclude in rage — John Dryden
2.
a. : violent action of the elements (as wind or sea)
river hurled itself in thundering lacy-white rage against jagged boulders — F.V.W.Mason
b. : a furious storm : tempest
a rage on the bar kept seaside dwellers indoors
3.
a. : extreme force of feeling : passion , frenzy
a rage for order
a rage for power
a rage to live
convulsed with a rage of grief — Nathaniel Hawthorne
the old man is in a rage of excitement — Clemence Dane
b. : a state or feeling of exalted fervor (as of enthusiasm or inspiration)
chill penury repressed their noble rage — Thomas Gray
that sacred rage … we associate with the great novels on social issues — New Republic
4. : something eagerly and usually excessively sought after or pursued : craze , vogue
the current rage for … how-to-do-it material — W.I.Nichols
— often used in the phrase all the rage
a period when cures and taking the waters were all the rage — Peter Forster
Synonyms: see anger , fashion
II. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English ragen, from Old French ragier, from rage anger
1. : to be in a rage : be furious : rave
a person who everlastingly rages — H.A.Overstreet
— usually used with over, at, or against
raging over the waste of her small capital — American Guide Series: Tennessee
raged at him for his carelessness
rage at the imposed weight — Arnold Bennett
2.
a. : to become stirred up violently : be in a tumult
the storm still raging outside — W.H.Hudson †1922
the wind might rage unbridled — C.G.D.Roberts
b. : to move wildly or turbulently : go on a rampage
sent his brother raging after women — G.K.Chesterton
the winds of doctrine … rage through the land — V.L.Parrington
rivers rage through fertile bottom lands — American Guide Series: North Carolina
3.
a. : to be intense or overwhelming
b. : to prevail uncontrollably : spread with destructive effect
yellow fever was raging — W.P.Webb
for two weeks … the controversy raged — A.L.Funk
the fallacies … which rage in the world — H.L.Mencken