like mad
AdverbWordNet 3.0
Adverb (1)
- with great speed or effort or intensity“drove like crazy”“worked like hell to get the job done”“ran like sin for the storm cellar”“work like thunder”“fought like the devil”Synonyms: like helllike madlike crazylike sinlike thunderlike the devil
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
1.Disordered in intellect; crazy; insane. [1913 Webster]
I have heard my grandsire say full oft, Extremity of griefs would make men mad.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
It is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.— Jer. 1. 88.[1913 Webster]
And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.— Acts xxvi. 11.[1913 Webster]
3.Proceeding from, or indicating, madness; expressing distraction; prompted by infatuation, fury, or extreme rashness. "Mad demeanor." --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Mad wars destroy in one year the works of many years of peace.— Franklin.[1913 Webster]
The mad promise of Cleon was fulfilled.— Jowett (Thucyd.).[1913 Webster]
4.Extravagant; immoderate. "Be mad and merry." --Shak. "Fetching mad bounds." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
5.Furious with rage, terror, or disease; -- said of the lower animals; as, a mad bull; esp., having hydrophobia; rabid; as, a mad dog. [1913 Webster]
6.Angry; out of patience; vexed; as, to get mad at a person. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
7.Having impaired polarity; -- applied to a compass needle. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]