craze

plural crazes · alternative crase · alternative craise · alternative craize

1. A strong habitual desire or fancy.
2. A temporary passion or infatuation, as for some new amusement, pursuit, or fashion; a fad.

   Have you heard about the new dance craze? / Listen to us, I'm sure you'll be amazed / Big fun to be had by everyone / It's up to you, it surely can be done

   1978 September 21, Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers, “Le Freak”, in C'est Chic, performed by Chic, track 2

   1 more example

   Winemaking was a huge craze in the 1970s, when affordable package holidays to the continent gave people a taste for winedrinking, but the recession made it hard to afford off-license prices back home.

   2012, Alan Titchmarsh, The Complete Countryman: A User's Guide to Traditional Skills and Lost Crafts

   Synonyms: bug

3. ceramicsA crack in the glaze or enamel caused by exposure of the pottery to great or irregular heat.
4. archaicCraziness; insanity.

   ‘A poor fellow with a craze, sir,’ said Mr. Dick, ‘a simpleton, a weak-minded person […] may do what wonderful people may not do. […]’

   1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC

present singular third person crazes · participle present crazing · participle past crazed · past crazed · alternative crase · alternative craise · alternative craize

1. archaicTo weaken; to impair; to render decrepit.

   till length of years / And ſedentary numneſs craze my limbs

   1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 39, lines 571–572

2. To derange the intellect of; to render insane.

   Grief hath crazed my wits.

   c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]

   1 more example

   any man […] that is crazed and out of his wits

   1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], London: […] B. Aylmer, […]; [a]nd W. Rogers, […], published 1696, →OCLC

3. To be crazed, or to act or appear as one that is crazed; to rave; to become insane.

   And if Robin should be cast / Sudden from his turfed grave, / And if Marian should have / Once again her forest days, / She would weep and he would craze: [...]

   1820, John Keats, “Robin Hood”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 135

4. archaicintransitivetransitiveTo break into pieces; to crush; to grind to powder. See crase.

   God looking forth will trouble all his Hoſt / And craze thir Chariot wheels:

   1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 1100–1101

5. intransitivetransitiveTo crack, as the glazing of porcelain or pottery.