madder

Noun · Verb

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

Eurasian herb having small yellow flowers and red roots formerly an important source of the dye alizarinSynonyms: Rubia tinctorum

Verb (1)

color a moderate to strong red

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Mad \Mad\, a. [Compar. Madder; superl. Maddest.] [AS. gem?d, gem[=a]d, mad; akin to OS. gem?d foolish, OHG. gameit, Icel. mei?a to hurt, Goth. gam['a]ids weak, broken. ?.]

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]

Madder \Mad"der\ (m[a^]d"d[~e]r), n. [OE. mader, AS. maedere; akin to Icel. ma[eth]ra.] (Bot.) A plant of the genus Rubia (Rubia tinctorum). The root is much used in dyeing red, and formerly was used in medicine. It is cultivated in France and Holland. See Rubiaceous. [1913 Webster]

Note: Madder is sometimes used in forming pigments, as lakes, etc., which receive their names from their colors, such as madder yellow. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]