Mad Mad adjective [
Compar. Madder ;
superl. Maddest .] [ Anglo-Saxon
gem...d ,
gemād , mad; akin to Old Saxon
gem...d foolish, Old High German
gameit , Icelandic
mei...a to hurt, Goth.
gamáids weak, broken. ....]
1. Disordered in intellect; crazy; insane. I have heard my grandsire say full oft,
Extremity of griefs would make men mad .
Shak. 2. Excited beyond self-control or the restraint of reason; inflamed by violent or uncontrollable desire, passion, or appetite; as, to be mad with terror, lust, or hatred; mad against political reform. It is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
Jer. 1. 88. And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
Acts xxvi. 11. 3. Proceeding from, or indicating, madness; expressing distraction; prompted by infatuation, fury, or extreme rashness. "
Mad demeanor."
Milton. Mad wars destroy in one year the works of many years of peace.
Franklin. The mad promise of Cleon was fulfilled.
Jowett (Thucyd.). 4. Extravagant; immoderate. "Be
mad and merry."
Shak. "Fetching
mad bounds."
Shak. 5. Furious with rage, terror, or disease; -- said of the lower animals; as, a mad bull; esp., having hydrophobia; rabid; as, a mad dog. 6. Angry; out of patience; vexed; as, to get mad at a person. [ Colloq.]
7. Having impaired polarity; -- applied to a compass needle. [ Colloq.]
Like mad ,
like a mad person; in a furious manner; as, to run like mad . L'Estrange . --
To run mad .
(a) To become wild with excitement .
(b) To run wildly about under the influence of hydrophobia; to become affected with hydrophobia. --
To run mad after ,
to pursue under the influence of infatuation or immoderate desire. "The world is
running mad after farce."
Dryden.
Mad Mad transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Madded ;
present participle & verbal noun Madding .]
To make mad or furious; to madden. Had I but seen thy picture in this plight,
It would have madded me.
Shak.
Mad Mad intransitive verb To be mad; to go mad; to rave. See Madding . [ Archaic]
Chaucer. Festus said with great voice, Paul thou maddest .
Wyclif (Acts).
Mad Mad noun [ Anglo-Saxon
ma...a ; akin to D. & German
made , Goth.
mapa , and probably to English
moth .]
(Zoology) An earthworm. [ Written also
made .]
Mad-apple Mad"-ap`ple noun (Botany) See Eggplant .
Mad-headed Mad"-head`ed adjective Wild; crack- brained.
Madam Mad"am noun ;
plural Madams , or
Mesdames . [ See
Madame .]
A gentlewoman; -- an appellation or courteous form of address given to a lady, especially an elderly or a married lady; -- much used in the address, at the beginning of a letter, to a woman. The corresponding word in addressing a man is Sir .
Madame Ma`dame" noun ;
plural Mesdames . [ French, from
ma my (L.
mea ) +
dame dame. See
Dame , and confer
Madonna .]
My lady; -- a French title formerly given to ladies of quality; now, in France, given to all married women. Chaucer.
Madbrain Mad"brain` adjective Hot-headed; rash. Shak. --
noun A rash or hot- headed person.
Madbrained Mad"brained` adjective Disordered in mind; hot-headed. Shak.
Madcap Mad"cap` adjective 1. Inclined to wild sports; delighting in rash, absurd, or dangerous amusements. "The merry
madcap lord."
Shak. 2. Wild; reckless. "
Madcap follies"
Beau. & Fl.
Madcap Mad"cap` noun A person of wild behavior; an excitable, rash, violent person. Shak.
Madden Mad"den transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Maddened ;
present participle & verbal noun Maddening .]
To make mad; to drive to madness; to craze; to excite violently with passion; to make very angry; to enrage.
Madden Mad"den intransitive verb To become mad; to act as if mad. They rave, recite, and madden round the land.
Pope.
Madder Mad"der (măd"dẽr)
noun [ Middle English
mader , Anglo-Saxon
mædere ; akin to Icelandic
maðra .]
(Botany) A plant of the genus Rubia ( R. tinctorum ). The root is much used in dyeing red, and formerly was used in medicine. It is cultivated in France and Holland. See Rubiaceous . » Madder is sometimes used in forming pigments, as lakes, etc., which receive their names from their colors; as.
madder yellow .
Field madder ,
an annual European weed ( Sherardia arvensis ) resembling madder. --
Indian madder ,
the East Indian Rubia cordifolia , used in the East for dyeing; -- called also munjeet . --
Wild madder ,
Rubia peregrina of Europe; also the Galium Mollugo , a kind of bedstraw.
Madderwort Mad"der·wort` noun (Botany) A name proposed for any plant of the same natural order (Rubiaceæ) as the madder.
Madding Mad"ding adjective Affected with madness; raging; furious. --
Mad"ding*ly ,
adverb [ Archaic]
Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.
Gray. The madding wheels
Of brazen chariots raged.
Milton.
Maddish Mad"dish adjective Somewhat mad. Beau. & Fl.
Made Made noun (Zoology) See Mad , noun
Made Made imperfect & past participle of Make .
Made Made adjective Artificially produced; pieced together; formed by filling in; as, made ground; a made mast, in distinction from one consisting of a single spar. Made up .
(a) Complete; perfect . "A
made up villain."
Shak. (b) Falsely devised; fabricated; as, a made up story. (c) Artificial; as, a made up figure or complexion.
Madecass, Madecassee Mad"e·cass, Mad`e·cas"see noun A native or inhabitant of Madagascar, or Madecassee; the language of the natives of Madagascar. See Malagasy .
Madecassee Mad`e·cas"see adjective Of or pertaining to Madagascar or its inhabitants.
Madefaction, Madefication Mad`e·fac"tion, Mad`e·fi·ca"tion noun [ Latin
madefacere to make wet;
madere to be wet +
facere to make: confer French
madéfaction .]
The act of madefying, or making wet; the state of that which is made wet. [ R.]
Bacon.
Madefy Mad"e·fy transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Madefied ;
present participle & verbal noun Madefying .] [ Confer French
madéfier , Latin
madefacere . See
Madefaction .]
To make wet or moist. [ R.]
Madegassy Mad`e·gas"sy noun & adjective See Madecassee .
Madeira Ma·dei"ra noun [ Portuguese , the Island Madeira, properly, wood, from Latin
materia stuff, wood. The island was so called because well wooded. See
Matter .]
A rich wine made on the Island of Madeira. A cup of Madeira , and a cold capon's leg.
Shak. Madeira nut (Botany) ,
the European walnut; the nut of the Juglans regia .
Madeira vine Ma·dei"ra vine (Botany) A herbaceous climbing vine ( Boussingaultia baselloides ) very popular in cultivation, having shining entire leaves and racemes of small fragrant white flowers.
Madeira wood Madeira wood (Botany) (a) The mahogany tree ( Swietenia Mahogoni ). (b) A West Indian leguminous tree ( Lysiloma Latisiliqua ) the wood of which is used for boat trimming.
Mademoiselle Ma`de·moi`selle" noun ;
plural Mesdemoiselles . [ French, from
ma my, f. of
mon +
demoiselle young lady. See
Damsel .]
1. A French title of courtesy given to a girl or an unmarried lady, equivalent to the English Miss. Goldsmith. 2. (Zoology) A marine food fish ( Sciæna chrysura ), of the Southern United States; -- called also yellowtail , and silver perch .
Madge Madge noun [ Confer Old French & Prov. French
machette .]
(Zoology) (a) The barn owl. (b) The magpie.
Madhouse Mad"house` noun A house where insane persons are confined; an insane asylum; a bedlam.
Madia Ma"di·a noun [ New Latin , from Spanish
madi , from Chilian
madi , the native name.]
(Botany) A genus of composite plants, of which one species ( Madia sativa ) is cultivated for the oil yielded from its seeds by pressure. This oil is sometimes used instead of olive oil for the table.
Madid Mad"id adjective [ Latin
madidus , from
madere to be wet.]
Wet; moist; as, a madid eye. [ R.]
Beaconsfield.
Madisterium Mad`is·te"ri·um noun [ New Latin , from Greek ....]
(Surg.) An instrument to extract hairs.
Madjoun Mad"joun noun [ Hind., from Arabic
ma'j...n .]
An intoxicating confection from the hemp plant; -- used by the Turks and Hindoos. [ Written also
majoun .]
Madly Mad"ly adverb [ From
Mad ,
adjective ]
In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly.
Madman Mad"man noun ;
plural Madmen A man who is mad; lunatic; a crazy person. When a man mistakes his thoughts for person and things, he is mad. A madman is properly so defined.
Coleridge.
Madnep Mad"nep noun (Botany) The masterwort ( Peucedanum Ostruthium ).
Madness Mad"ness noun [ From
Mad ,
adjective ]
1. The condition of being mad; insanity; lunacy. 2. Frenzy; ungovernable rage; extreme folly. Syn. -- Insanity; distraction; derangement; craziness; lunacy; mania; frenzy; franticness; rage; aberration; alienation; monomania. See
Insanity .
Madonna Ma·don"na noun [ Italian
madonna my lady. See
Dame ,
Donna , and confer
Madame ,
Monkey .]
1. My lady; -- a term of address in Italian formerly used as the equivalent of Madame , but for which Signora is now substituted. Sometimes introduced into English. Shak. 2. [
plural Madonnas (nȧz).]
A picture of the Virgin Mary (usually with the babe). The Italian painters are noted for drawing the Madonnas by their own wives or mistresses.
Rymer.
Madoqua Ma"do·qua noun (Zoology) A small Abyssinian antelope ( Neotragus Saltiana ), about the size of a hare.
Madrague Ma`drague" noun [ R.]
A large fish pound used for the capture of the tunny in the Mediterranean; also applied to the seines used for the same purpose.
Madras Ma·dras" noun [ So named after
Madras , a city and presidency of India.]
A large silk-and- cotton kerchief, usually of bright colors, such as those often used by negroes for turbans. A black woman in blue cotton gown, red-and-yellow madras turban . . . crouched against the wall.
G. W. Cable.
Madreperl Ma"dre·perl noun [ Italian
madreperla .]
Mother-of-pearl.
Madrepora Mad`re·po"ra (măd`re*pō"rȧ)
noun [ New Latin See
Madrepore .]
(Zoology) A genus of reef corals abundant in tropical seas. It includes than one hundred and fifty species, most of which are elegantly branched. --
Mad`re*po"ral adjective
Madreporaria Mad`re·po·ra"ri·a noun plural [ New Latin See
Madrepore .]
(Zoology) An extensive division of Anthozoa, including most of the species that produce stony corals. See Illust. of Anthozoa . --
Mad`re*po*ra"ri*an adjective & noun
Madrepore Mad"re·pore noun [ French
madrepore , perhaps from
madré spotted, from Old French
madre ,
mazre , a kind of knotty wood with brown spots, from Old High German
masar a knot, grain, or vein in wood, a speck, German
maser + pore (see
Pore ); or perhaps French
madrépore is rather from Italian
madrepora , and this perhaps from Italian
madre mother (see
Mother ) + Greek ... a soft stone.]
(Zoology) Any coral of the genus Madrepora; formerly, often applied to any stony coral.
Madreporian, Madreporic Mad`re·po"ri·an, Mad`re·po"ric adjective (Zoology) Resembling, or pertaining to, the genus Madrepora. Madreporic plate (Zoology) ,
a perforated plate in echinoderms, through which water is admitted to the ambulacral tubes; -- called also madreporic tubercule .
Madreporiform Mad`re·po"ri·form adjective [
Madrepore +
-form .]
(Zoology) Resembling a madreporian coral in form or structure.
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