rampant

comparative more rampant · superlative most rampant · alternative obsolete rampaunt

1. originallyRearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.

   The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement.

2. governmentRearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.

   little pieces of moustache on his upper lip, like a pair of minnows rampant

   1892, Thomas Hardy, The Well-Beloved

   2 more examples

   ‘I forget your coat of arms.’ ‘A human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.’

   1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado

   The crest consists of a demi-lion rampant gules (red) holding between its paws a wheel argent similar to those included in the arms.

   1957 February 28, “B.T.C. Armorial Bearings”, in Railway Magazine, page 81

3. architectureTilted, said of an arch with one side higher than the other, or a vault whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane.
4. Unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner.

   Weeds are rampant in any neglected garden.

   3 more examples

   Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat.

   2012 March 28, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87

   The craze for -ization — a word first employed by Charles Dickens in “Our Mutual Friend” — has been around for a very long time. The patron saint of rampant suffixization is Thomas Nashe, author of the 1593 pamphlet “Christ’s Tears Over Jerusalem.” His ebullient creations included myrmidonize, unmortalize, anthropophagize, retranquillize, cabbalize, palpabrize, superficialize and citizenize — not to mention collachrymate, assertionate and intercessionate.

   2012 October 28, Helen Sword, “Mutant Verbs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Apr 2024, Draft

   In contrast to the despair of his opposite number, it was a day of delight for new City boss Manuel Pellegrini as he watched the rampant Blues make a powerful statement about their Premier League ambitions.

   2013 September 22, Phil McNulty, “Man City 4-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport

5. Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.

   There was rampant corruption in the city.

comparative more rampant · superlative most rampant · alternative obsolete rampaunt

1. informalnonstandardRampantly.

   Things seem to be running rampant around here lately.