Wild a. and sb.

Forms: 1–7 wilde, (3 wuilde), 3–6 wylde, 4–7 wyld, (4 wiylde, wijlde, whilde, wyled, 4–6 wield(e, 4–7 Sc. vylde, 5 wiilde, wyelde, wyyld(e, Sc. wulde, 6 wylld, Sc. vild, vyld, vyild, wyild, 7 weild), 3– wild. [Com. Teut.: OE. wilde = OFris. wilde, MDu. wilde, wilt, (LG., Du. wild), OHG. wildi (MHG. wilde, wild, G. wild), ON. villr bewildered, astray, whence WILL a. (Norw. vill wild, Sw. vill confused, giddy, Sw., Da. vild wild), Goth. wilþeis:—OTeut. *wilþijaz. The sb., OE. *wild, *wildor (cf. wildorlic adj.), pl. wildru (later wildéor, wildedéor WILD DEER), OHG. wild, pl. wildir wild beast, is app. a derivative (*wilþaz-, -iz-) with s-stem from the same root (cf. lamb).

  The problem of the ulterior relations of this word is complicated by uncertainty as to its primary meaning. The possible analogy of sense-development in L. silvestris, silvāticus (whence F. sauvage wild, etc.), f. silva wood, has suggested connection with OTeut. *walþus forest (OE. weald, wald WOLD). But it is more probable that OTeut. *wilþijaz represents a pre-Teut. *ghweltijos, the root of which is found in OWelsh gwyllt, Ir. geilt wild, and may have a parallel form in ghwēr-, the base of L. ferus, Gr. θήρ, Lith. zvèrìs, OSl. zvĕrъ wild beast (for a similar phonological development of ghw- cf. WARM a.).]

  A.  adj.

  I.  1. Of an animal: Living in a state of nature; not tame, not domesticated: opp. to TAME a. 1.

  Freq. in names of particular species or varieties, for which see the sbs.: see also Special Collocations (16), and WILD CAT, FOWL, GOOSE in the main series.

  In later use often hyphened to the following sb., esp. in names of particular species, or in verse to indicate rhythmic stress on the adj.

c. 725.  Corpus Gloss. (Hessels), I 427. Indomitus, wilde.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, ciii[i]. 11. Drencað ða alle wilddeor wuda; bidað wilde assan in ðurs[t] heara.

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 17. Ða beoð swyðe dyre mid Finnum, for ðæm hy foð þa wildan hranas mid.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., III. 180. On .xv. nihte monan hys god to fixianne & huntum heortas to secanne & wilde swin.

c. 1050.  [see WILD GOOSE 1].

c. 1205.  Lay., 1781. Wind stod on willen, ploȝede þe wilde fisc.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Monk’s T., 267. To wode she went And many a wilde hertes blood she shedde With arwes brode.

a. 1400[?].  Morte Arth., 3232. Woluez, and whilde swynne, and wykkyde bestez.

1529.  Burgh Rec. Edin. (1871), II. 9. Ony maner of wyld foule or tayme.

1538.  Nottingham Rec., III. 378. He kyllyd ij. wyld duckes with a crosbow.

1606.  Shaks., Ant. & Cl., II. ii. 183. Eight Wilde-Boares rosted whole.

1676.  Grew, Musæum, Anat. Stomach & Guts, viii. 33. The Wild-Duck and Teal also, I suppose all of this kind, and most other Birds, are without a Crop.

1778.  Pennant, Brit. Zool., II. 447. The goose, in its wild state always retains the same marks.

1793.  Coleridge, Songs of Pixies, iv. The murmuring throng Of wild-bees hum their drowsy song.

1808.  Scott, Marm., II. Introd. And mark the wild swans [later edd. wild-swans] mount the gale.

1827.  P. Cunningham, N. S. Wales, xvii. I. 321. Our wild turkeys … consist of two varieties, the dusky and the blue-feathered.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, IV. 414. The leader wildswan.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 312. Wild animals of large size were then far more numerous than at present.

  fig.  c. 1645.  Howell, Lett., I. v. xxvii. Twas a tough task believe it, thus to tame A wilde and wealthy language.

  absol.  c. 1205.  Lay., 112. Heo wenden vt i wide sæ, þa wilde wurðen itemede.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xviii. (Egipciane), 1037. To þis day saw I nane,… Of vylde, na tame, na kind beste.

c. 1480.  Henryson, Lion & Mouse, 192. He … slew baith tayme and wyld.

  2.  Of a plant (or flower): Growing in a state of nature; not cultivated.

  Freq. in names (unlimited in number) of particular species or varieties, for which see the sbs. To sow one’s wild oats (fig.); see OAT sb. 4.

  Often hyphened as in 1 (and regularly in phrases used attrib.) or (chiefly in early use) combined with the following sb. as one word.

c. 725.  Corpus Gloss., A 396. Agre[s]tis, wilde.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., il. 90. Oleastrum þæt is wilde elebeam.

1382.  Wyclif, Rom. xi. 24. The kyndely wylde [later vers. wielde] olyue tre.

14[?].  Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 569/2. Brionia, wyldenepe.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 528/1. Wyylde malowe, or holyhokke.

c. 1489.  Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xviii. 401. Suche wylde herbes as grewe in the woode.

1549.  Compl. Scot., i. 20. Al the grond … is ouergane vitht gyrse ande vild scroggis.

1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., II. i. 249. I know a banke where the wilde time blowes.

1665.  Boyle, Occas. Refl., I. 63. The Husbandman uses onely to prune the Trees of his Garden, not those that grow wild in his Woods.

1781.  Cowper, Retirem., 420. Her hedge-row shrubs … With woodbine and wild roses mantled o’er.

1810.  Scott, Lady of L., I. viii. Cold dews and wild flowers [later edd. wild flowers] on his head.

1842.  Loudon, Suburban Hort., 444. Plants in a wild state.

1855.  Tennyson, Maud, II. I. 3. Plucking the harmless wild-flower on the hill.

1797.  Scott, To a Lady, ii. Wild flower wreaths for Beauty’s hair. Ibid. (1810), Lady of L., IV. ii. The wild-rose spray.

1890.  ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Col. Reformer, xxii. A young lady with a wild-rose complexion.

  3.  Produced or yielded by wild animals or plants; produced naturally without cultivation; sometimes, having the characteristic (usually inferior) quality of such productions (cf. b).

  With ‘wild meat’ cf. OS. wildflêsc, etc.; with ‘wild leather’ cf. MSw. wilskin.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 3213. Hiss drinnch wass waterr … Hiss mete wilde rotess.

c. 1200.  [see HONEY sb. 1 b].

1519.  Registr. Aberdon. (Maitland), II. 177. The kiching witht … ij pair of raxis. Item iij spyttis ane grit ane less and ane for wild met.

1528.  Burgh Rec. Edin. (1871), 3. All maner of persouns that takis wylde meitt.

1528.  Paynell, Salerne’s Regim. (1541), R iv b. There be also prunes called wylde prunes, y^e whiche growe in the woddes.

1560.  Bible (Geneva), Isa. v. 2. He loked y^t it shulde bring forthe grapes: but it broght forthe wilde grapes.

1582.  N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., 75. These ships … are sowed together with ropes made of Cairo, & pitched ouer with wild incense.

1600.  J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, IX. 340. Their flesh is hot and vnsauorie, and hath a wilde tast.

1612.  Sc. Bk. Rates, in Halyburton’s Ledger (1867), 338. Leather called wyld lether the daker, xx s.

1614.  in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 43. Lett not my leadie our mother trubll hirself in bying much vylde meitt to your sons bapttisme.

1777.  Anburey, Trav. (1789), I. 214. A dinner entirely of wild-meats.

1866.  Rogers, Agric. & Prices, I. xviii. 418. It is very rare in the present day that honey is found wild.

1883.  R. Haldane, Workshop Rec., Ser. II. 40/1. The wild or Tussah silk.

  b.  Mining. Applied to impure or inferior minerals or ores. (Cf. G. wilderz.)

1778.  Pryce, Min. Cornub., 93. A Black-jack or Mock-lead Lode…. This Wild-lead is commonly found with Stones of Copper and Lead intermixed with it.

1883.  Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, Wild Ground, Wild Measures, Wild Stuff.

1886.  J. Barrowman, Sc. Mining Terms, Wild-coal, a thin seam of inferior coal.

  4.  Of a place or region: Uncultivated or uninhabited; hence, waste, desert, desolate. (Often with special reference to the character or aspect of such places.)

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 18. Licgað wilde moras … emnlange þæm bynum lande.

a. 1122.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1010. On þa wildan fennas.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 17408. A wilde wesste.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2751. Me may hem ofte an erþe in wilde studes yse.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xl. (Ninian), 430. Quhare now þe corne is beste, Þat tyme wes wilde foreste.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 2163, Ariadne. In an yle amyd the wilde se.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546), K vj b. The erthe that is vntylled, and waxen wyld.

1593.  Shaks., Rich. II., II. iii. 4. These high wilde hilles, and rough vneeuen waies.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., I. 36. Fenny and woody wild grounds.

1644.  Manwayring, Sea-mans Dict., 85. A wild Roade, is a Roade where there is little Land on any side, but lies all open to the sea.

1703.  Rowe, Ulysses, II. i. Some fair Field … That … left unheeded, like a barren Moor, Lies fenceless, wild, uncultivate, and waste.

1817.  J. Bradbury, Trav. Amer., 297. They are well aware that, by undertaking to bring wild land into a state of cultivation, they must undergo some hardships.

1849.  Lever, Con Cregan, xxv. The scenery was wild without being grand.

1851.  Mayne Reid, Scalp Hunters, i. (1852), 7. The Wild West.

1883.  Engl. Illustr. Mag., Nov., 72/1. The wild beauty of Wicken Fen is in striking contrast with the cultivated land lying around it.

1885.  [W. H. White], M. Rutherford’s Deliv., iii. 51. The garden was large and half-wild.

  b.  transf. Belonging to or characteristic of a wild region; of or in a wilderness.

1690.  C. Nesse, O. & N. Test., I. 298. Neither God nor good men take any pleasure in a … wild retiredness.

1817.  Moore, Lalla Rookh, 131. The glories of Nature and her wild, fragrant airs, playing freshly over the current of youthful spirits.

  5.  Of persons (or their attributes): Uncivilized, savage; uncultured, rude; also, not accepting, or resisting, the constituted government; rebellious. (Sometimes with implication of sense 8.) See also wild Irish in 16.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 24747. For þof mi [MS. in] wijt war neuer sa wild … Þat giues me lust of hir to rede.

a. 1352.  Minot, Poems (ed. Hall), i. 60. Þare was crakked many a crowne Of wild Scottes and alls of tame.

c. 1450.  Holland, Howlat, 616. The rouch Wodwyss wyld.

1471.  Caxton, Recuyell (Sommer), 59. She was euyl clothid and half wilde and sauage.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, I. 25. Was never vyld Robeine wnder bewch,… So bauld a bairne as he.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Hen. IV., 23. The prince … had tamed … the furious rage of the wild and sauage Welshemen.

1561.  T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, II. M iij b. A man at armes in fourm of a wield shepehearde.

1586.  Holinshed, Chron., I. Hist. Scot., 358/2. After the example of one … Robert Hood a wild or vplandish man.

1670.  Dryden, 1st Pt. Conq. Granada, I. (1672), 7. When wild in woods the noble Savage ran.

1700.  Prior, Carmen Sec., xxxvii. Nations yet wild by Precept to reclaim, And teach ’em Arms, and Arts.

1709.  Mrs. Manley, Secret Mem. (1720), 303. A Party of the Goths and wild Russes.

1822.  Scott, Nigel, v. It’s ill taking the breeks aff a wild Highlandman.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., xxxvi. 15. Those wild eyes that watch the wave In roarings round the coral reef.

1901.  Scotsman, 29 Nov., 6/1. These men … are up to all the ‘slim’ ways of the wild Boer.

  II.  6. Not under, or not submitting to, control or restraint; taking, or disposed to take, one’s own way; uncontrolled. Primarily of animals (cf. 1), and hence of persons (see also 7) and things, with various shades of meaning. a. Acting or moving freely without restraint; going at one’s own will; unconfined, unrestricted.

a. 1000.  Cædmon’s Gen., 1465. Ða was culufre eft of cofan sended … wilde seo wide fleah.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., III. 202. Hors wilde yrnan.

a. 1310.  in Wright, Lyric P., xv. 48. Thar er wes wilde ase the ro, Nou y swyke.

1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., V. i. 71. A wilde and wanton heard … of youthful and vnhandled colts.

1599.  Shaks., etc., Pass. Pilgr., xii. 8. Youth is wild, and Age is tame.

1671.  Milton, Samson, 974. In his wild aerie flight.

1761.  Colman, Jealous Wife, III. That the wild little Thing shou’d take Wing, and fly away the Lord knows whither!

1817.  Byron, Manfred, III. iv. I have found our thoughts take wildest flight Even at the moment when they should array Themselves in pensive order.

1820.  Shelley, Prometh. Unb., III. iii. 136. The dark linked ivy tangling wild.

1836.  Dickens, Sk. Boz, Medit. Monmouth-St. The children wild in the streets, the mother a destitute widow.

1865.  P’cess Alice, Mem. (1884), 101. Victoria is very wild, and speaks more German than English.

  b.  Resisting control or restraint, unruly, restive; flighty, thoughtless; reckless, careless; fig. not according to rule, irregular; erratic; unsteady. (Cf. 15.)

c. 1350.  Libeaus Desc. (Kaluza), 188. A child Þat is witles and wilde.

1450.  Paston Lett., I. 159. But if the day of the oyer and termyner stonde, it wole be full harde, by cause the peple is so wylde.

1594.  Nashe, Unfort. Trav., I 3 b. Like the trauaile wherein smithes put wilde horses when they shoo them.

1597.  Morley, Introd. Mus., 81. Your fift, sixt, and seuenth notes be wilde and vnformall.

1628.  Shirley, Witty Fair One, II. ii. You are too wild and aery to be constant to that affection.

1748.  H. Walpole, Lett. (1846), II. 256. I meant nothing in the world by wild, but the thoughtlessness of a boy of nineteen.

1831.  Scott, Ct. Robt., xviii. Depriving Cupid’s wing of some wild feathers.

1857.  Hughes, Tom Brown, II. viii. Johnson the young bowler is getting wild, and bowls a ball almost wide to the off.

1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Wild, a ship’s motion when she steers badly, or is badly steered.

1879.  Harlan, Eyesight, ii. 25. The new lashes sometimes take a wrong direction, and turn their points against the eyeball. They are then popularly called wild hairs.

  c.  Shy; esp. of game, afraid of or avoiding the pursuer (opp. to TAME a. 3); transf. having a timid expression like a wild animal.

1594.  Willobie, Avisa, xlvii. Though coy at first she seeme and wielde.

1599.  Shaks., Much Ado, III. i. 35. She is too disdainfull, I know her spirits are as coy and wilde, As Haggerds of the rocke.

1813.  Col. Hawker, Diary (1893), I. 76. The birds were so extremely wild that it was almost impossible to get near them.

1877.  March. Dufferin, Canad. Jrnl. (1891), 362. They did not bring back a great deal—the birds were so wild.

1887.  Rider Haggard, Allan Quatermain, xi. The woman had a sweet face, wild and shy.

  d.  Phr. to run wild: (a) of an animal or plant (combining senses 1 or 2 and 6), to live in, or revert to, a state of nature, not under domestication or cultivation; (b) of a person (or thing personified), with various shades of meaning (see above), sometimes passing into other senses (e.g., 7, 11, 12).

1549–62.  [see RUN v. 2 b].

1774.  Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), II. 347. Of all countries … where the horse runs wild, Arabia produces the most beautiful breed.

1799.  Wordsw., Matthew, 3. That every hour thy heart runs wild, Yet never once doth go astray.

1838.  [see RUN v. 2 b].

1853.  Dickens, Bleak Ho., lv. He had a bold spirit, and he ran a little wild, and went for a soldier.

1892.  E. W. Hornung, in Longman’s Mag., XIX. 614. The boy had run wild since his young mother’s death.

  7.  spec. Not submitting to moral control; taking one’s own way in defiance of moral obligation or authority; unruly, insubordinate; wayward, self-willed.

  Often scarcely distinguishable from 6 a or b, but implying blame or reproach.

a. 1000.  Sal. & Sat., 377. He ʓeong færeð, hafað wilde mod.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 5. Ne beo þu þereuore prud ne wilde ne sterc.

  c. 1200.  Ormin, 6191. Ȝiff þatt ȝho iss gætelæs, & eȝȝelæs & wilde.

c. 1205.  Lay., 785. Þat nan ne beo so wilde nan swa unwitti, Þat word talie … ær he ihere minne horn.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 9307. Quarfor er yee o will sa wild?

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 431. Somme men ben beterid bi bynding to þise chargis, þat ellis wolden be wylde.

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 67. Mannys flesche ys so wyld and lusty to synne.

1535.  Coverdale, 2 Macc. xi. 4. Not consideringe the power of God, but was wylde in his mynde.

1567.  Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 151. Man was sa wylde and nyce, And rageing in all vyce.

1579.  Lyly, Euphues, R iv b. The wildest child is as soone corrected with a word as with a weapon.

1700.  Prior, Carmen Sec., 66. Valour grown wild by Pride, and Pow’r by Rage.

1797–1812.  Jane Austen, Pride & Prej., xliii. ‘He is now gone into the army,’ she added, ‘but I am afraid he has turned out very wild.’

1836.  Marryat, Japhet, xxvii. When a curate, he had had an only son, very wild, who would go to sea in spite of his remonstrances.

1898.  ‘H. S. Merriman,’ Roden’s Corner, xii. 128. It was about that time … that I took seriously to my work. Before, I had been a little wild.

  b.  Giving way to sexual passion; also, more widely, licentious, dissolute, loose.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 2013. His wif wurð wilde, and nam in ðoȝt Vn-riȝt-wis luue.

13[?].  St. Paula, 87, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1878), 5. Whon þe ȝonge in hote blood Bigonne to waxe wylde of mod.

13[?].  St. Theodora, 221, ibid. 38. His monk was waxen to wyld Þat hedde igeten him such a child.

13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 2367. Bot þat was for no wylyde werke, ne wowyng nauþer.

c. 1460.  Towneley Myst., xix. 167. Ther was neuer man neghyd hyr nere, In word ne wark she was neuer wylde.

1522.  World & Child, A ij. Dalyaunce,… It is a name that is ryght wylde.

1550.  Crowley, Last Trumpet, 1505. If thou se hir wanton and wilde.

1598.  Shaks., Merry W., III. ii. 74. Hee kept companie with the wilde Prince, and Pointz.

1614.  D. Dyke, Myst. Self-Deceiv., 328. Wild and wanton widowes.

1778.  (13 May) Johnson, in Boswell. If a young man is wild, and must run after women and bad company.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 50. The wildest of libertines.

  8.  Fierce, savage, ferocious; furious, violent, destructive, cruel. (In later use passing into other senses: cf. 5, 9, 11. See also wild beast, wild horse, in 16.)

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 1322. Þe prinse … Þat in time of worre as a lomb is boþe mek & milde & in time of pes as leon boþe cruel & wilde.

13[?].  K. Horn, 1045 (Harl. MS.). Y come … from brudale wylde of maide remenylde.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 13796. Was neuere … wilde wolf ne dragoun, Þat was so wod, beste to byte, As Wawayn was Romayns to smyte.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 805, Thisbe. Allas there comyth a wilde lyones.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 1463. A man witty & wise, wight, wildist in Armes.

c. 1425.  Wyntoun, Cron., V. xiii. 4384. Wolwis wulde þan weryit men.

c. 1435.  Chron. London (Kingsford, 1905), 52. He wole be as wilde a Tyraunte to holy Cherche as euer was eny.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 38 b. Brynge to me y^e wyldest bull that is.

1530.  Palsgr., 329/2. Wylde or sharpe prickyng as a nettyll is, griasche.

1595.  Shaks., John, IV. iii. 48. This is the bloodiest shame, The wildest Sauagery.

  9.  Of the sea, a stream, the weather, etc.: Violently agitated, rough, stormy, tempestuous, ‘raging’; hence fig. or gen. Full of disturbance or confusion, tumultuous, turbulent, disorderly.

c. 1205.  Lay., 6226. We habbeð ihaued … moni walc moni wind bi wilde þisse watere.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 946. Wraþþe meynþ þe heorte blod Þat hit floweþ so wilde flod.

1381.  in Knighton’s Chron. (Rolls), II. 139. Synne fareth as wilde flode.

c. 1420.  Sir Amadace (Camden), xli. Thay were drounet on the see, With wild waturs slone.

1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., II. i. 21. Man … Lord of the wide world, and wilde watry seas. Ibid. (1597), 2 Hen. IV., I. i. 9. The Times are wilde: Contention … madly hath broke loose. Ibid. (1605), Lear, II. iv. 311. ’Tis a wild night … come out oth’ storme.

1610.  Holland, Camden’s Brit., I. 566. Wilde Brookes meeting together make a broad poole.

1629.  Milton, Hymn Nativ., i. It was the Winter wilde, While the Heav’n-born-childe, All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies.

1673.  [R. Leigh], Transp. Reh., 112. Your state of conscience leads to a wilder anarchy.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 386. The … Bear … In Woods and Fields a wild destruction makes. Ibid., Past., IX. 59. Let the wild Surges vainly beat the Shore.

1713.  Addison, Cato, III. ii. His passions and his virtues … mixt together in so wild a tumult, That [etc.].

1769.  Gray, Installat. Ode, 89. Thro’ the wild waves as they roar.

1818.  Byron, Mazeppa, xiv. The wild horse swims the wilder stream!

1842.  Dickens, Amer. Notes, ii. On a bad winter’s night in the wild Atlantic.

1864.  Lowell, Study Wind. (1886), 110. He is still in wild water.

1883.  ‘Ouida,’ Wanda, i. ‘I think we shall have wild weather,’ said the Princess.

  † b.  In imprecations or intensive expressions.

a. 1352.  Minot, Poems (ed. Hall), v. 30. In þe wilde waniand was þaire hertes light.

c. 1440.  York Myst., xxx. 545. Now in þe wilde vengeaunce ye walke with þat wight.

a. 1530.  Heywood, Wether, 430 (Brandl). A myschyefe vpon them and a wylde thunder.

c. 1580.  Bugbears, IV. iv. 11. Now a wild wannion on it.

  c.  Of vocal sounds: Loud and unrestrained.

1549.  Compl. Scot., vi. 39. The herrons gaif ane vyild skrech.

1667.  Milton, P. L., III. 710. Confusion heard his voice, and wilde uproar Stood rul’d.

1742.  Gray, Adversity, 19. Wild Laughter, Noise, and thoughtless Joy.

1831.  G. P. R. James, Philip Aug., iii. Filling the air with his long wild neighings.

1891.  Farrar, Darkn. & Dawn, xxxix. Those who should be left dead … indifferent for ever to those wild shouts.

  10.  Of feelings or their expression: Highly excited or agitated; passionately vehement or impetuous.

1594.  Shaks., Rich. III., IV. iv. 229. But that still vse of greefe, makes wilde greefe tame, My tongue should to thy eares not name my Boyes, Till that my Nayles were anchor’d in thine eyes.

1718.  Pope, Iliad, III. 512. Too deep my anguish, and too wild my woe. Ibid. (1730), Ode St. Cecilia, Addit. Stanza. Amphion thus bade wild dissension cease.

1813.  Scott, Rokeby, IV. x. The child Renew’d again his moaning wild.

1828.  Carlyle, Ess., Burns (1840), I. 370. Wild Desires and wild Repentance alternately oppress him.

1885.  ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ At Bay, x. She clung to him and burst into a fit of wild weeping.

1890.  Hall Caine, Bondman, III. i. ‘The sweep!’ ‘the thief!’ ‘the wastrel!’ ‘the gomerstang!’ they called him, with wilder names beside.

  11.  Of persons: Violently excited. a. Extremely irritated or vexed; angry, ‘furious.’

1653.  Holcroft, Procopius, III. Goth. Wars, 103. Artabanes was wild at this misfortune [orig. Quam rem cum calamitatis loco Artabanes duceret, & ægerrime ferret].

a. 1839.  Praed, County Ball, xviii. He makes a College Fellow wild By asking for his wife and child.

1873.  March. Dufferin, Canad. Jrnl. (1891), 79. Dent, my precious maid, wild about her boxes, and giving warning on the spot.

1889.  J. K. Jerome, Three Men in Boat, xi. It made me awfully wild, especially as George burst out laughing.

  b.  Passionately or excitedly desirous to do something.

1797.  Jane Austen, Sense & Sens., xxvi. Mrs. Palmer … was wild to buy all, could determine on none. Ibid. (1797–1812), Pride & Prej., xlvi. She was wild to be at home.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, I. 149. All wild to found an University For maidens.

1894.  Fenn, Real Gold, ii. 30. He is wild to go.

  c.  Elated, enthusiastic, ‘raving.’

1868.  Whyte-Melville, White Rose, xxviii. He was wild about … the town, and the castle, and the Black Forest.

1889.  ‘J. S. Winter,’ Mrs. Bob, xi. She was quite wild about it, when I went to tell her the news.

1891.  C. James, Rom. Rigmarole, 180. She had accepted me, and I was wild with joy.

  12.  Not having control of one’s mental faculties; demented, out of one’s wits; distracted; hence in weakened sense, Extremely foolish or unreasonable; holding absurd or fantastic views (cf. 13).

a. 1300.  K. Horn, 252 (Camb.). Heo louede so horn child Þat neȝ heo gan wexe wild. Ibid., 296. Anon upon Aþulf child Rymenhild gan wexe wild.

13[?].  in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1881), 14. Furth scho went als woman wilde, To se þe lordes, and left hir childe.

c. 1400.  Ywaine & Gaw., 1650. For wa he wex al wilde and wode.

1630.  Randolph, Aristippus, 7. I am the Wilde-man, and I will be wilde: is this an age to be in a mans right wits?

1769.  Burke, Late St. Nat., 25. Is this writer wild enough to imagine [etc.]?

1796.  Mrs. M. Robinson, Angelina, II. 291. I am really almost wild with affliction!

1835.  Dickens, Sk. Boz, Parish, v. Her misery had actually drove her wild.

1841.  Helps, Ess., Man of Business (1842), 82. Else he may be driven wild by any great pressure of business.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 6. When the fictions of Oates had driven the nation wild.

  advb.  1613.  Shaks., Hen. VIII., I. iv. 26. If I chance to talke a little wilde, forgiue me: I had it from my Father. An. Bul. Was he mad Sir?

  b.  Of the eyes or look: Having an expression of distraction.

1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., V. i. 28. Your lookes are pale and wild, and do import Some misaduenture.

a. 1658.  Cleveland, Ruins of St. Pauls, 28. Now its Face appears like whither’d Care, Or wilder than the Looks of Fevers are.

1843.  R. J. Graves, Syst. Clin. Med., xiv. 158. His face being flushed, eyes wild, and head aching.

1878.  J. P. Hopps, Jesus, iv. 17. Poor mad people … recovered their senses when he looked into their wild eyes.

  † c.  Bewildered, perplexed; = WILL a. 2 b, 3 b.

c. 1440.  Bone Flor., 35. Whan the emperys was dedd, The emperowre was wylde of redd.

1456.  Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 33. All the warld is in a wylde thocht, unstedefast.

  13.  Of undertakings, actions, notions, statements, etc.: Going beyond prudent or reasonable limits; rashly or inconsiderately venturesome; going to extremes of extravagance or absurdity; fantastically unreasonable.

1515.  Burgh Rec. Edin. (1869), I. 158. Gif it sall happin the toun to hald the commoun mylnis and proffeittis thairof and the wild aventouris into thair awin handis.

1591.  Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., IV. iv. 7. This vnheedfull, desperate, wilde aduenture. Ibid. (1602), Ham., I. v. 133 (Qo. 1). These are but wild and wherling words, my Lord. Ibid. (1604), Oth., II. i. 62. He hath atchieu’d a Maid That paragons description, and wilde Fame.

1654.  R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 509. A wild Reformation; to reforme Hierarchy by Anarchy, a Remedy worse then the Disease.

1667.  Milton, P. L., V. 112. Mimic Fansie … misjoyning shapes, Wilde work produces oft.

1699.  Bentley, Phal., 427. The wild Question that the Examiner puts to me.

a. 1728.  Woodward, Nat. Hist. Fossils (1729), I. I. 84. ’Twas not a very wild Name, Ludus, to be given, to a Dye, or Talus lusorius; considering how humourous a Writer Paracelsus was.

1732.  Berkeley, Alciphr., IV. § 16. How came you to entertain so wild a Notion?

1829.  Scott, Anne of G., xi. I should make wild work were I to attempt a description of such an animal.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iv. I. 442. We cannot … wonder that wild stories … were … believed by the common people. Ibid., viii. II. 308. To cherish a wild hope.

1887.  Saintsbury, Hist. Elizab. Lit., 247. Serious arguments are mixed up with the wildest buffoonery.

1894.  Hall Caine, Manxman, V. ii. Two long weeks he spent in this wild quest.

  † b.  Used as a nickname for the extreme Evangelical party in the Church of Scotland, as opp. to moderate: see MODERATE B. b. Obs.

1778.  D. Loch, Tour Scotl., 49. The people here are very wild with regard to religious principles, there being no less than three large seceding meeting-houses, and but one small kirk of the established religion.

1820.  Alex. Stewart, in Mem., 352. [I] am settled minister of what is called the First Charge of Canongate Parish (where seldom has wild man been placed before).

a. 1830.  H. Cockburn, Mem. (1856), 234. Except Sir Harry Moncrieff, the Wild (as the Evangelical party is called) have never had an established head.

  14.  Artless, free, unconventional, fanciful or romantic in style; having a somewhat barbaric character (usually in good sense, as a pleasing quality).

1632.  Milton, L’Allegro, 134. If … sweetest Shakespear fancies childe, Warble his native Wood-notes wilde.

a. 1700.  Evelyn, Diary, 27 Feb. 1644. We then saw a large and very rare grotto of shell-worke, in the shape of satyres and other wild fancys.

1802.  Leyden, Mermaid, xxv. Say, heard’st thou not these wild notes swell?

1813.  Byron, Corsair, II. ii. While dance the Almas to wild minstrelsy.

1859.  Jephson, Brittany, xvii. 284. A wild ballad, still sung in Cornouaille, to an equally wild tune.

a. 1864.  Bryant, Sella, 4. When man to man gave willing faith, and loved A tale the better that ’twas wild and strange.

1891.  Rider Haggard, Nada, Pref. The setting out of a wild tale of savage life.

  b.  Of strange aspect; fantastic in appearance.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., I. iii. 40. These,… so wilde in their attyre, That looke not like th’ Inhabitants o’ th’ Earth.

1784.  Cowper, Task, V. 118. There, embossed and fretted wild, The growing wonder takes a thousand shapes Capricious.

1844.  Mrs. Browning, Lay of Brawn Rosary, I. iv. To dilate and assume a wild shape in the mist.

  15.  (fig. from 6.) Aimed wide of the mark, or at random; random: usually advb. at random, astray.

a. 1810.  Shelley, M. Nicholson Fragm., 14. Wild flew the meteors o’er the maddened main.

1831.  G. P. R. James, Phil. Augustus, xxvii. The soldier who fronted him, struck wild, reeled, staggered.

1890.  W. Camp, in St. Nicholas, Aug., 831/1. He [the catcher] must begin by a resolution to try for everything, and to consider no ball beyond his reach, no matter how wild.

1895.  Edin. Rev., July, 149. At Wei-hai-wei the Chinese shells found in the abandoned forts ‘went wild’ when the Japanese gunners tried to fire them.

  III.  16. Special Collocations (sometimes hyphened as in 1 and 2, esp. in verse to indicate stress, and regularly in attrib. use): wild beast, orig. in sense 1, now always with mixture of sense 8 (see BEAST sb. 2 c); also fig. (cf. BEAST sb. 1 c, 5); wild berry, the berry of a wild plant; app. applied locally to particular kinds; wild boar (in early use also as one word): see BOAR sb. 1 c; wild dog, any wild species of dog, or of the dog tribe, as the HYENA-DOG of S. Africa (HUNTING-DOG 2 a), the Dhole of India (HUNTING-DOG 2 b), the Dingo of Australia, etc.; wild goat, any wild species of goat, as the ibex, or (loosely) a goat-like antelope, as the chamois; wild horse, a horse not domesticated or broken in; esp. in phrases referring to a mode of punishment or torture (cf. quots. s.v. DRAW v. 5), and hence humorously with negative (see quots.); in quot. 1834 (with hyphen) rendering Du. wildepaard as a name for the zebra; Wild Huntsman, a phantom huntsman of Teutonic legend, fabled to ride at night through the fields and woods with shouts and baying of hounds; wild Irish (see IRISH B. 1 a); wild Irishman (see IRISHMAN b); also a name for a spiny rhamnaceous shrub of New Zealand and Australia, of the genus Discaria; wild mare: see MARE¹ 2 b; also attrib. in wild mare hunch (hinch, hitch), a name for string-halt; wild wind, a violent wind, whirlwind, hurricane (obs. or dial.); † wild worm, a fantastic notion, whim. See also WILD CAT, WILDFIRE, etc.

1297–1833.  *Wild beast [see BEAST sb. 2 c].

  fig.  1847.  Tennyson, Princess, V. 256. I…, when first I heard War-music, felt the blind wildbeast of force … Stir in me.

1886.  P. Gillmore, Hunter’s Arcadia, Pref. p. vii. There are some bastard descendants of Europeans knocking about, and this weapon is better than argument with such wild beasts.

  attrib.  1801.  Marvellous Love-Story, II. 198. Raree-shows, and wild-beast exhibitions.

1834.  Lytton, Pompeii, I. iii. When is our next wild-beast fight?

1879.  Browning, Halbert & Hob, 10. The genuine wild-beast breed.

1855.  Leifchild, Cornwall, 67. For fruits you have only furze and *wild-berries.

1918.  H. Bindloss, Agatha’s Fortune, xxi. She liked the acid wild-berries he brought on a bark tray.

  attrib.  a. 1850.  Mrs. Browning, Confessions, ix. Then, at least, have the Human shared with thee their wild berry-wine?

1918.  H. Bindloss, Agatha’s Fortune, xxvii. He tried to creep round the opening, but fell among a clump of wild-berry canes.

c. 1205–1863.  *Wild boar [see BOAR sb. 1 c].

1484.  Caxton, Fables of Æsop, I. xvi. A wyldbore … with his teeth rent … a grete pyece of his body.

1813.  Scott, Rokeby, IV. xii. How the grim wild-boar fought and fell.

  attrib.  1776.  Mickle, trans. Camoens’ Lusiad, III. 89. Dextrous in the wild-boar chace.

1818.  Keats, Teignmouth, ii. No wild-boar tushes and no Mermaid’s toes.

1842.  Dumfries Herald, Oct. That fine flavour … in the wild-boar ham.

1866.  Treas. Bot., Wild-boar’s tree, a San Domingo name for Hedwigia balsamifera.

1786.  trans. Sparrman’s Voy., I. 157. These *wild dogs are some of the most pernicious beasts of prey.

1816.  Byron, Siege of Corinth, xvi. The scalps were in the wild dog’s maw.

1844.  E. Warburton, Crescent & Cross, v. A beggar devouring his crust, but religiously leaving a portion of it in some clean spot for the wild dogs.

1877.  Encycl. Brit., VII. 324/2. The wild dog of the Falkland Islands (Canis antarcticus).

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. xxii. (1495), bb iiij. The *wylde gote hyghte Caprea.

1530.  Palsgr., 289/1. Wylde goote, cheuereul.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, II. 162/1. The Aspian wild Goat … some term … a Shamois.

1744.  Mason, Musæus, 253. Nor did the wild goat brouze the shrubby rocks.

1813.  Scott, Rokeby, II. xiv. Now, like the wild goat, must he dare An unsupported leap in air.

c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xli. 303. Swa swa *wildu hors, ðonne we hie æresð ʓefangnu habbað, we hie ðacciað & straciað.

c. 995.  in Kemble, Cod. Dipl., VI. 133. Hio becwið Cynelufe hyre dæl ðera wildera horsa ðe mid Eadmere synt.

a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 1062. Þu naddest non oþer dom ne laȝe, Bute mid wilde horse were todraȝe.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xxix. (Placidas), 318. Wyld hors & tayme.

a. 1400–50.  [see HORSE sb. 1 e].

c. 1400.  Melayne, 57. He sall be hangede or oþer morne And with wylde horse be drawen.

1424.  in Wills & Inv. N. C. (Surtees, 1835), 71. iiij Wildehorsez, ad tunc nuper tractos vel in stabulo.

c. 1546.  in Suss. Star Chamber Proc. (1913), 36. Or ells they wolde draw hym fourth with wylde horses.

1834.  Pringle, Afr. Sk., 14.

1883.  D. C. Murray, Hearts, xii. After that wild horses would not have drawn him to an exculpation of himself.

1890.  [see HORSE sb. 1 e].

1796.  Scott (title of poem), The *Wild Huntsman. Ibid. (1829), Anne of G., xxii. Sailed to the mountains of the Brockenberg, where witches hold their sabbath, or gone on a hunting-party with the Wild Huntsman.

1399.  Langl., Rich. Redeles, Prol. 10. Whyle he werrid be west on þe *wilde yrisshe.

1547.  Boorde, Introd. Knowl., iii. (1870), 132. Irland … is deuyded in ii. partes, one is the Englysh pale, & the other, the wyld Irysh.

1622.  Bacon, Hen. VII., 138. The Wild-Irish fled into the Woods and Bogges.

1684.  Bunyan, Pilgr., II. Introd. Highlanders, and Wild-Irish can agree My Pilgrim should familiar with them be.

1857.  G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, iv. The low-browed rooms where the wild Irish sat howling and wrangling over their liquor.

1401.  Close Roll 2 Hen. IV., I. m. 6 (P.R.O.). Si Nicholaus Hogonona capellanus per suggestionem quod ipse fuit *Wildehirissheman Hibernicus et inimicus noster in prisona … detentus existat.

c. 1450.  Brut, II. 357. Þese rebellis of Ireland bith callid ‘wilde Irisch men.’

1608.  Dekker, Lanth. & Candle-light, iii. D. No wild-Irishman could out-runne him.

1862.  J. Von Haast, Geol. Canterbury & Westland, N.Z., 25 (Morris). Groves of large specimens of Discaria toumatoo, the Wild Irishman of the settlers, were growing.

1597.  Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. iv. 268. Hee playes at Quoits well,… and rides the *wilde-Mare with the Boyes.

1622.  Wither, Faire-Virtue, etc., O 4 b. The Boyes are come to catch the Owles, The Wild-mare in is bringing.

1661.  M. Stevenson, Twelve Moneths, 4. And the ventrous youth show their agility in shooing the Wild-Mare.

  attrib.  1703.  Lond. Gaz., No. 3966/4. Stolen or strayed…, two Mares, one a white-grey,… has the *Wild Mare Hunch with the far hind Leg.

1824.  Carr, Craven Gloss., Wild-mare-hinch or hitch, string-halt.

a. 1661.  Fuller, Worthies, Essex (1662), I. 319. In the year of our Lord 1639 in November here happened an Hirecano or *wild wind.

1821.  Clare, Vill. Minstr. (1823), I. 79. The frighted wild-wind trembles to a breeze.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron. Rich. III., 42. The *wilde worme of vengaunce wauerynge in his hed. Ibid., Hen. V., 44. Some priuate Scorpion in your heartes, or some wild worme in your heades.

  17.  Combinations. a. with pples., in adverbial relation (= ‘wildly’), as wild-billowing, -booming, -flying, -fought, -made, -staring, -warring, -woven adjs.; or in complemental relation, as wild-born, -bred, -grown, -looking adjs. b. parasynthetic, as wild-blooded, -brained, -eyed, -haired, -headed, -spirited, -winged, -witted adjs. c. with sbs., forming descriptive appellations corresponding to the adjs. in b, as wild-blood (a wild-blooded person), wild-brain, wild-head (a wild-brained or wild-headed person, a harebrain).

1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., III. VII. viii. One red sea of Fire, *wild-billowing, enwraps the World.

1820.  Scott, Abbot, xix. Even in the Castle of Avenel thou wert a *wild-blood enough.

1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., III. V. ii. So … whirls and spins this immeasurable tormentum of a Revolution; *wild-booming.

1816.  Byron, Ch. Har., III. xv. A *wild-born falcon with clipt wing.

1580.  Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Testu, a headstrong fellow, a *wildebrayne.

1608.  Middleton, Mad World, I. i. I must … turne wilde-braine, lay my wits vpo’ th’ Tenters.

1885.  Rider Haggard, K. Sol. Mines, vi. We knew what a wonderful instinct these *wild-bred men possess.

1888.  Pall Mall Gaz., 20 Sept., 3/1. Wild-bred pheasants appear to have done fairly well.

1817.  Shelley, Rev. Islam, IV. xx. The *wild-eyed women.

1890.  ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Col. Reformer, xx. The fierce and wild-eyed bullocks.

1617.  Fletcher, Valentinian, I. ii. His *wild flying courses.

1902.  S. Phillips, Ulysses, I. ii. The wild-flying cloud.

1795.  Fawcett, Art of War, 18. Their *wild-fought field.

1885.  W. K. Parker, Mammal. Desc., vi. 153. The perichondrial … bone … takes on a very remarkable form; it becomes *wild-grown so to speak.

1896.  Howells, Impressions & Exp., 24. The *wildest-haired Comeouter.

1583.  Stubbes, Anat. Abus., I. (1879), 147. All the *wilde-heds of the Parish, conuenting togither.

c. 1590.  Trag. Rich. II. (1870), 13. A wild-head, yett a kingly gentleman.

a. 1400–50.  Wars Alex., 12. Sum … þat ere *wild-hedid.

1583.  Golding, Calvin on Deut. iv. 1. If they that neuer were taught Gods trueth bee wildeheaded.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., I. 259. A wild-headed Turke tooke my hat from my head.

1702.  Calamy, Abridgm. Baxter’s Life, vi. 108. Wild-headed Sectaries.

1814.  Scott, Diary, 16 Aug., in Lockhart. The hogs are … queer wild-looking creatures.

15[?].  Sir Andrew Barton, xvii. in Surtees Misc. (1890), 69. Before Ile leave off my serving God, My *wild maide oeth may brooken be.

1856.  Miss Yonge, Daisy Chain, I. xxvii. His warm-hearted, *wild-spirited son.

1608.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iv. III. Schism, 863. *Wilde-staring Hag.

1727.  Somerville, Occas. Poems, Offic. Messenger, 261. Wild-staring, thunder-struck, and dumb.

1748.  Thomson, Cast. Indol., I. xli. *Wild-warbling nature.

1777.  Potter, Æschylus, 64. With vollied thunders and *wild warring winds.

c. 1611.  Chapman, Iliad, XV. 637. Floods that nourish *wild-wing’d fowles.

1614.  J. Cooke, Greene’s Tu Quoque, D 1 b. *Wilde witted sister, I haue preuented you.

1839.  Darley, Beaum. & Fl. Wks., I. Introd. p. xlix. A wild-witted, mercurial comedy.

1800.  Campbell, Exile of Erin, ii. The *wild-woven flowers.

  B.  sb.

  † 1.  A wild animal, or wild animals collectively; spec. a beast, or beasts, of the chase; a hunted animal or animals; game. Obs.

  OE. *wild (see etym. above) is recorded only in gen. sing. wildres, nom, pl. wildru, gen. wildra, dat. wildrum.

c. 1205.  Lay., 1129. Þa Troinisce men tuhten to þon deoren & duden of þan wilden al heora iwilla.

13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1150. At þe fyrst quethe of þe quest quaked þe wylde.

a. 1340.  Hampole, Psalter, xlix. [l.] 11. All þe wilde of wodis.

a. 1400[?].  Morte Arth., 657. That nane werreye my wylde, botte Waynour hir seluene.

c. 1465.  Chevy Chase, vi. Then the wyld thorowe the woodes went, on euery syde shear.

c. 1480.  Henryson, Lion & Mouse, xxviii. The lioun … slew baith tayme and wyld.

1599.  Alex. Hume, Poems (S.T.S.), Hymn, ii. 181. All venneson, and vther wilde they serue him at his neid.

  † 2.  Phr. at wild, on wild: ? bewildered, distracted. Obs. rare.

c. 1430.  Syr Tryam., 801. Some were wery and on wylde.

1477.  Paston Lett., III. 179. Trust hym never the more for the bylle that I sent yow by hym, but as a man at wylde, for every thyng that he told me is not trewe.

  3.  A wild or waste place; a region or tract of uncultivated and uninhabited land; a waste, a wilderness. Now mostly rhet. or poet.

1637.  Heylin, Answ. Burton, 191. As if wee lived in the wild of Africke.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 407. The wild Of Southmost Abarim.

1709.  Prior, Henry & Emma, 395. Nor Wild, nor Deep our common Way divide.

1722.  Tickell, Kens. Garden, 1. A snow of blossoms, and a wilde of flowers.

1732.  Pope, Ess. Man, I. 7. A wild, where weeds and flow’rs promiscuous shoot.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, III. 230. You young savage of the Northern wild!

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 313. Turned from a wild into a garden.

1905.  D. Wallace, Lure of Labrador Wild, iv. 55, chap. title. The plunge into the wild.

  (b)  pl. (Chiefly in the wilds of a specified region.)

1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., II. vii. 41. The Hircanion deserts, and the vaste wildes Of wide Arabia.

1612.  Drayton, Poly-olb., v. 312. The sandie Wyldes of spicefull Barbarie.

1634.  Milton, Comus, 424. Huge Forests … and sandy perilous wildes.

1726–31.  Waldron, Descr. Isle of Man (1744), 53. They call them the good People, and say they live in Wilds and Forests.

1827.  J. F. Cooper, Prairie, i. The … resolute forester who first penetrated the wilds.

1842.  Dickens, Amer. Notes, viii. Among the wilds and forests of the west.

1868.  Nettleship, Ess. Browning, ii. 63. A northern principality … which kept its rough simple traditions in its own wilds.

  b.  transf. of air, water, etc.

1712.  Pope, Rape Lock, I. 107. The crystal wilds of air.

1795.  Wolcot (P. Pindar), Frogmore Fête, Wks. 1812, III. 308. As soon might lift old Ocean from his bed And dash his wild of waters to the skies.

1813.  Shelley, Q. Mab, VIII. 57. A lighthouse o’er the wild of dreary waves.

  c.  fig.

1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., III. ii. 184. Where euery something being blent together, Turnes to a wilde of nothing, saue of ioy Exprest, and not exprest.

1599.  Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, 66. To this wild of sorrowes and excruciament she was confined.

1651.  Biggs, New Disp., ¶ 73. [To] confine themselves to a mediocrity in opinioning, and not ramble over the whole wild of Fancy.

a. 1704.  T. Brown, 1st Sat. Persius imit., Wks. 1730, I. 52. His tagg’d nonsense, t’other’s wilds of wit.

a. 1832.  Bentham, Princ. Legisl., xviii. § 27, note. Striving to cut a new road through the wilds of jurisprudence.

1855.  Tennyson, Maud, I. XVI. i. To save My yet young life in the wilds of Time.