Eurasian herb having small yellow flowers and red roots formerly an important source of the dye alizarin
<noun.plant> [ verb ]
color a moderate to strong red
<verb.change>
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.
I have heard my grandsire say full oft, Extremity of griefs would make men mad. --Shak.
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.
It is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. --Jer. 1. 88.
And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. --Acts xxvi. 11.
3. Proceeding from, or indicating, madness; expressing distraction; prompted by infatuation, fury, or extreme rashness. ``Mad demeanor.'' --Milton.
Mad wars destroy in one year the works of many years of peace. --Franklin.
The mad promise of Cleon was fulfilled. --Jowett (Thucyd.).
5. Furious with rage, terror, or disease; -- said of the lower animals; as, a mad bull; esp., having hydrophobia; rabid; as, a mad dog.
6. Angry; out of patience; vexed; as, to get mad at a person. [Colloq.]
7. Having impaired polarity; -- applied to a compass needle. [Colloq.]
{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.
Madder \Mad"der\ (m[a^]d"d[~e]r), n. [OE. mader, AS. m[ae]dere; 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}.
Note: Madder is sometimes used in forming pigments, as lakes, etc., which receive their names from their colors, such as {madder yellow}.
{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.
"This farm-state governor is madder than hell to be asked to pay for this," GOP Gov. Terry Branstad of Iowa said of the thrift bailout.
Inis Meain Knitwear is worn by discerning men and women from Tokyo to Capri. The colours are inspired by the dry-stone walling on the Aran Islands. Traditionally its men wore natural colours, indigos and slate greys, its women, madder red and navy.
By page 637, one cries: "Enough with the 'ancient madder neckties, black flannel trousers and half-brogue shoes'!"