wild
♦♦ wild /w'aɪld/ (wilds wilder wildest)
1 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
Wild animals or plants live or grow in natural surroundings and are not looked after by people.
We saw two more wild cats creeping towards us in the darkness...
The lane was lined with wild flowers.
2 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
Wild land is natural and is not used by people.
Elmley is one of the few wild areas remaining in the South East.
● wildness [N-UNCOUNT]
...the wildness of the mountains.
3 [N-PLURAL] the N
The wilds of a place are the natural areas that are far away from towns.
They went canoeing in the wilds of Canada.
4 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
Wild is used to describe the weather or the sea when it is stormy.
The wild weather did not deter some people from swimming in the sea.
= stormy
5 [ADJ] oft v-link ADJ with n
Wild behaviour is uncontrolled, excited, or energetic.
The children are wild with joy...
As George himself came on stage they went wild...
They marched into town to the wild cheers of the inhabitants.
● wildly [ADV] ADV with v
As she finished each song, the crowd clapped wildly.
6 [ADJ]
If you describe someone or their behaviour as wild, you mean that they behave in a very uncontrolled way.
The house is in a mess after a wild party.
● wildly [ADV] ADV with v
Five people were injured as Reynolds slashed out wildly with a kitchen knife.
● wildness [N-UNCOUNT]
He had come to love the danger and the wildness of his life.
7 [ADJ] usu v-link ADJ
If someone is wild, they are very angry. (INFORMAL)
For a long time I daren't tell him I knew, and when I did he went wild.
= mad, crazy
8 [ADJ] ADJ n
A wild idea is unusual or extreme. A wild guess is one that you make without much thought.
Browning's prediction is no better than a wild guess.
● wildly [ADV]
`Thirteen?' he guessed wildly.
9
see also wildly, wild child
10 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you are wild about someone or something, you like them very much. (INFORMAL)
I'm just wild about Peter, and he's just wild about me...
= be crazy about
11 [PHRASE] PHR after v, v-link PHR
Animals that live in the wild live in a free and natural state and are not looked after by people.
Fewer than a thousand giant pandas still live in the wild.
12 [PHRASE] V inflects
If something or someone, especially a child, runs wild, they behave in a natural, free, or uncontrolled way.
Everything that could grow was running wild for lack of attention...
13
beyond your wildest dreams: see dream
in your wildest dreams: see dream
to sow your wild oats: see oatswild boar (wild boaror wild boars)
[N-COUNT]
A wild boar is a large fierce pig which has two long curved teeth and a hairy body, and lives in forests.wild card (wild cards)
also wildcard
1 [N-COUNT] oft N in n
If you refer to someone or something as a wild card in a particular situation, you mean that they cause uncertainty because you do not know how they will behave.
The wild card in the picture is eastern Europe.
2 [N-COUNT]
If a sports player is given a wild card for a particular competition, they are allowed to play in it, although they have not qualified for it in the usual way. You can also use wild card to refer to a player who enters a competition in this way.
3 [N-COUNT]
A wildcard is a symbol such as * or ? which is used in some computing commands or searches in order to represent any character or range of characters. (COMPUTING)wild child
[N-SING]
Journalists sometimes use wild child to refer to a teenage girl who enjoys herself in an uncontrolled way, for example by going to a lot of parties. (BRIT)wild flow|er (wild flowers)
also wildflower
[N-COUNT]
Wild flowers are flowers which grow naturally in the countryside, rather than being grown by people in gardens.wild goose chase (wild goose chases)
also wild-goose chase
[N-COUNT] usu on N
If you are on a wild goose chase, you waste a lot of time searching for something that you have little chance of finding, because you have been given incorrect information.
Harry wondered if Potts had deliberately sent him on a wild goose chase.
1 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
Wild animals or plants live or grow in natural surroundings and are not looked after by people.
We saw two more wild cats creeping towards us in the darkness...
The lane was lined with wild flowers.
2 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
Wild land is natural and is not used by people.
Elmley is one of the few wild areas remaining in the South East.
● wildness [N-UNCOUNT]
...the wildness of the mountains.
3 [N-PLURAL] the N
The wilds of a place are the natural areas that are far away from towns.
They went canoeing in the wilds of Canada.
4 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
Wild is used to describe the weather or the sea when it is stormy.
The wild weather did not deter some people from swimming in the sea.
= stormy
5 [ADJ] oft v-link ADJ with n
Wild behaviour is uncontrolled, excited, or energetic.
The children are wild with joy...
As George himself came on stage they went wild...
They marched into town to the wild cheers of the inhabitants.
● wildly [ADV] ADV with v
As she finished each song, the crowd clapped wildly.
6 [ADJ]
If you describe someone or their behaviour as wild, you mean that they behave in a very uncontrolled way.
The house is in a mess after a wild party.
● wildly [ADV] ADV with v
Five people were injured as Reynolds slashed out wildly with a kitchen knife.
● wildness [N-UNCOUNT]
He had come to love the danger and the wildness of his life.
7 [ADJ] usu v-link ADJ
If someone is wild, they are very angry. (INFORMAL)
For a long time I daren't tell him I knew, and when I did he went wild.
= mad, crazy
8 [ADJ] ADJ n
A wild idea is unusual or extreme. A wild guess is one that you make without much thought.
Browning's prediction is no better than a wild guess.
● wildly [ADV]
`Thirteen?' he guessed wildly.
9
see also wildly, wild child
10 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you are wild about someone or something, you like them very much. (INFORMAL)
I'm just wild about Peter, and he's just wild about me...
= be crazy about
11 [PHRASE] PHR after v, v-link PHR
Animals that live in the wild live in a free and natural state and are not looked after by people.
Fewer than a thousand giant pandas still live in the wild.
12 [PHRASE] V inflects
If something or someone, especially a child, runs wild, they behave in a natural, free, or uncontrolled way.
Everything that could grow was running wild for lack of attention...
13
beyond your wildest dreams: see dream
in your wildest dreams: see dream
to sow your wild oats: see oatswild boar (wild boaror wild boars)
[N-COUNT]
A wild boar is a large fierce pig which has two long curved teeth and a hairy body, and lives in forests.wild card (wild cards)
also wildcard
1 [N-COUNT] oft N in n
If you refer to someone or something as a wild card in a particular situation, you mean that they cause uncertainty because you do not know how they will behave.
The wild card in the picture is eastern Europe.
2 [N-COUNT]
If a sports player is given a wild card for a particular competition, they are allowed to play in it, although they have not qualified for it in the usual way. You can also use wild card to refer to a player who enters a competition in this way.
3 [N-COUNT]
A wildcard is a symbol such as * or ? which is used in some computing commands or searches in order to represent any character or range of characters. (COMPUTING)wild child
[N-SING]
Journalists sometimes use wild child to refer to a teenage girl who enjoys herself in an uncontrolled way, for example by going to a lot of parties. (BRIT)wild flow|er (wild flowers)
also wildflower
[N-COUNT]
Wild flowers are flowers which grow naturally in the countryside, rather than being grown by people in gardens.wild goose chase (wild goose chases)
also wild-goose chase
[N-COUNT] usu on N
If you are on a wild goose chase, you waste a lot of time searching for something that you have little chance of finding, because you have been given incorrect information.
Harry wondered if Potts had deliberately sent him on a wild goose chase.