|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
mad
mad / mad/ • adj. (mad·der , mad·dest ) mentally ill; insane: he felt as if he were going mad. ∎ (of a person, conduct, or an idea) extremely foolish or ill-advised: they were all mad to go believing such a cock-and-bull story. ∎ in a frenzied mental or physical state: she pictured loved ones mad with anxiety about her it was a mad dash to get ready. ∎ inf. enthusiastic about someone or something: I wasn't mad about mountain bikes | [in comb.] a sports-mad nation. ∎ inf. very angry: they were mad at each other. ∎ (of a dog) rabid. ∎ Brit., inf. very exciting. • v. (mad·ded / madəd/ , mad·ding ) [tr.] archaic make mad or insane. PHRASES: like mad inf. with great intensity, energy, or enthusiasm: I ran like mad. (as) mad as a hatter inf. completely crazy. |
|
|
Cite this article
"mad." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mad." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mad005.html "mad." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mad005.html |
|
mad
mad don't get mad, get even there is more satisfaction in requiting a wrong than resenting it. Proverbial saying, late 20th century (compare the earlier revenge is a dish that can be eaten cold).
mad as a hatter completely insane. Hat-makers sometimes suffered from mercury poisoning as a result of the use of mercurous nitrate in the manufacture of felt hats, and the idea was personified in one of the two eccentric hosts (the Mad Hatter) at the ‘mad tea party’ in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). mad as a March hare completely insane; the allusion here is to the running and leaping of hares in the breeding season, and again was reinforced by the character created by Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). See also whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. |
|
|
Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mad." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mad." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-mad.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mad." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-mad.html |
|
mad
mad out of one's mind, foolish, (now) insanely foolish; wildly excited, furious. XIII (mad, med). Aphetic of ME. † amad, repr. OE. ǵemǣd(d), ġemǣded, pp. of *ġemǣdan render insane, f. ġemād insane = OS. gimēd foolish, OHG. gameit, kimeit foolish, vain, boastful. Goth. gamaips crippled:- Gmc. *ʒamaiōaz, f. *ʒa- y- + *maiða- :- IE. *moitó-, pp. formation on *moi- *mei- change (cf. L. mūtāre); cf. Goth. maidjan adulterate, inmaideins exchange.
Hence madden XVIII (-EN5); superseded mad vb. (XIV) in gen. use. |
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "mad." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "mad." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-mad.html T. F. HOAD. "mad." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-mad.html |
|
MAD
MAD • abbr. mutual assured destruction. |
|
|
Cite this article
"MAD." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "MAD." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mad.html "MAD." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mad.html |
|
MAD
MAD abbr. mutual assured destruction.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"MAD." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "MAD." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-MAD.html "MAD." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-MAD.html |
|
mad
mad •ad, add, Allahabad, bad, Baghdad, bedad, begad, cad, Chad, clad, dad, egad, fad, forbade, gad, glad, grad, had, jihad, lad, mad, pad, plaid, rad, Riyadh, sad, scad, shad, Strad, tad, trad
•chiliad • oread
•dryad, dyad, naiad, triad
•Sinbad • Ahmadabad • Jalalabad
•Faisalabad • Islamabad • Hyderabad
•grandad • Soledad • Trinidad
•doodad • Galahad • Akkad • ecad
•cycad, nicad
•ironclad • nomad • maenad
•monad, trichomonad
•gonad • scratch pad • sketch pad
•keypad • helipad • launch pad
•notepad • footpad • touch pad • farad
•tetrad • Stalingrad • Leningrad
•Conrad • Titograd • undergrad
•Volgograd • Petrograd • hexad
•Mossad • Upanishad • pentad
•heptad • octad
|
|
|
Cite this article
"mad." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mad." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-mad.html "mad." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-mad.html |
|
MAD
MAD (mæd) magnetic anomaly detection
• maintenance, assembly, and disassembly • Psychiatry major affective disorder • Commerce mean absolute deviation • Military mutual assured destruction |
|
|
Cite this article
FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "MAD." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "MAD." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-MAD.html FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "MAD." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-MAD.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
