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  1. rampant love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Extending unchecked; unrestrained: a rampant growth of weeds in the neglected yard.
  2. adj. Occurring without restraint and frequently, widely, or menacingly; rife: a rampant epidemic; rampant corruption in city government.
  3. adj. Rearing on the hind legs.
  4. adj. Heraldry Rearing on the left hind leg with the forelegs elevated, the right above the left, and usually with the head in profile.
  5. adj. Architecture Springing from a support or an abutment that is higher at one side than at the other: a rampant arch.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Climbing or springing unchecked; rank in growth; exuberant: as, rampant weeds.
  2. Overleaping restraint or usual limits; unbridled; unrestricted.
  3. Ramping; rearing.
  4. In heraldry, rising with both fore legs elevated, the dexter uppermost, and the head seen sidewise, the dexter hind leg also higher than the sinister, as if the weight of the creature were borne upon the latter: noting a lion or other beast of prey. Also ramping, effrayé. See also cut under affronté.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. originally rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended
  2. adj. heraldry : rearing on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
  3. adj. architecture tilted, said of an arch with one side higher than the other.
  4. adj. unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner.
  5. adj. rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Ramping; leaping; springing; rearing upon the hind legs; hence, raging; furious.
  2. adj. Ascending; climbing; rank in growth; exuberant.
  3. adj. (Her.) Rising with fore paws in the air as if attacking; -- said of a beast of prey, especially a lion. The right fore leg and right hind leg should be raised higher than the left.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. rearing on left hind leg with forelegs elevated and head usually in profile
  2. adj. unrestrained and violent
  3. adj. (of a plant) having a lush and unchecked growth

Etymologies

  1. Recorded since 1382, "standing on the hind legs" (as in heraldry), later, "fierce, ravenous" (1387); from Old French rampant, the past present participle of ramper ("to creep, climb") (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English rampaunt, from Old French rampant, present participle of ramper, to ramp; see ramp2. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Two Lions rampant, when face to face, are _Counter rampant_, or”

    The Handbook to English Heraldry

  • “I propose the term rampant fantasy for books that: ... pile concept upon concept while the previous concept hasn't been adequately absorbed in the story.”

    a new term

  • “But the term rampant grower does not do it justice.”

    Fairy Gazebo « Fairegarden

  • “Markets Raj Rajaratnam's remarkable journey from Sri Lanka to the heights of the hedge-fund world to felon ended Thursday in a defining moment for the government's campaign to stamp out what it describes as rampant illegal trading on Wall Street, when he was sentenced to 11 years in prison, the longest term ever imposed in an insider-trading case.”

    The Wall Street Journal: Iran Accused, Cain Leaps to 1, RIM Outage

  • “Activist criticism The activists, who have been campaigning for a strong anti-graft law, say the draft legislation is too weak to address what they call rampant corruption in the country.”

    Voice of America: India Considers Anti-Corruption Bill Amid Calls for Tougher Law

  • “While the top players of the over Rs 850 billion pharmaceutical business are up in arms over what they call rampant spread of counterfeit drugs (allegedly 20 to 25 per cent of total pharma sales) in the country, enforcement agencies and some pharma associations say the situation is not that alarming.”

    The Wall Street Journal: India News Digest: Mumbai Prepares for Highest Tide in 100 Years

  • “According to interviews with several law enforcement officials in Bernalillo County and a review of documents, White traveled to Washington with two other Republican operatives in 2006 to complain to the Justice Department that Iglesias was balking at bringing criminal charges against what they called rampant voter fraud – and that he should be fired.”

    GOP Contender Linked to Attorney Firing

  • “In 2006, this former high-level immigration official testified before Congress on what he described as rampant corruption in the agency.”

    CNN Transcript Mar 22, 2008

  • “In 2006 this former high level immigration official testified before congress on what he described as rampant corruption in the agency.”

    CNN Transcript Mar 23, 2008

  • “In 2006, this former high-level immigration official testified before Congress on what he described as rampant description in the agency.”

    CNN Transcript Mar 22, 2008

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synonyms (11)

Words with the same meaning

  1. ramping
  2. leaping
  1. springing
  2. furious
  1. ascending
  2. climbing
  1. exuberant
  2. boisterous
  1. raging
  2. violent
  1. luxurious

equivalents (5)

Other words for ‘rampant’

  1. upright
  1. vertical
  1. erect
  1. uncontrolled
  1. abundant

same context (20)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. blatant
  2. unbridled
  3. uncontrolled
  4. widespread
  1. mindless
  2. outright
  3. overt
  4. wanton
  1. sheer
  2. incurable
  3. rabid
  4. incipient
  1. atrocious
  2. latent
  3. reckless
  4. undisguised
  1. insatiable
  2. insane
  3. aggressive
  4. gross

reverse dictionary (34)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. barrel vault
  2. ramping
  3. effrayé
  4. gardant
  5. rampant
  6. ramp
  1. combattant
  2. morne
  3. mounting
  4. rampancy
  5. ravissant
  6. segreant
  1. anglomanist
  2. consumerism
  3. careerism
  4. lionné
  5. kleptocracy
  6. purple loosestrife
  1. rampantly
  2. spiked loosestrife
  3. wild
  4. lythrum salicaria
  5. salient
  6. rampish
  1. run
  2. rampageous
  3. rampant arch
  4. rampant gardant
  5. rampant regardant
  6. rampant vault
  1. counter-rampant
  2. rabid
  3. respectant
  4. cowpea

tags (4)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. heraldry
  1. cvccvcc
  1. occuring without restraint and frequently
  1. architecture

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Comments

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  • chained_bear In heraldry, describes the position of any beast reared up on one (left) hind leg with forelegs in the air, the right above the left, and the head in profile. (cited in OED) Feb 4, 2007

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‘rampant’ has been looked up 3533 times, loved by 4 people, added to 62 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 11.