wildcat 
Fclisand Lynx; especially, in North America, 
the bay lynx (L. ntfu,s) and Canada lynx (L. ca- 
nadensis), and sometimes the cougar (F eon- 
color). Seecafl, and cuts under couoar and lynx. 
11. a. Wild ; reckless ; haphazard : applied 
especially to unsound business enterprises : as 
mldcdt banking (see below); u-ildcat currency 
(currency issued by a wildcat bank); a loildcat 
scheme (a reckless, unstable venture); wildcat 
stock (stock of some wildcat or unsound com- 
pany or organization). [Colloq., U. S.] 
The first night of our journey was spent at Ashford in 
h^;i.TH"H"k"""^r *'= '"■rived late in the evening arS 
here the bother of vrild^at currency, as it was afterward 
called, was forced upon our attention. a"erwara 
JoHah Quincy, Figures of the Past, p. 196. 
6925 
These paths and bowers doubt not but our joint hands 
W lU lieep from uiMemess with ease. 
Milton, P. L., ix. 246. 
= Syn. 1. WiXderwM, Desert. .See desert^ 
Wilde's incision. In otology, a free incision 
_ The present system, though an immense imnrovement 
S■d^a'■.T^'£"fl;^'"='<'■■°8™'^°"^ o'^l b"eTotTtate 
^v„S^^;f ''?'J^' ""•' «™°Bht ruin in 1836 and 1857, is 
neyertheless of the same dangerous character. 
-V. A. Rev., CXLI. 199. 
""?.'^?'* banking, a name given, especially in the west 
d^L"'^'* ^^*-^]? "■? »P«™«o"s "f organizations Zvt 
diTiduals who, under the loose .State banking-laws which 
fST^I^,'^ 'f "'■'' "'•' P'''^'«« "' ""= -^■«tionTBankIct of 
?nTii«?e or no'IlpTa?.""'^ "' "'^"""'"^^ "-«•• ^^ ' 
l^^nC^A f^'^M'""''^'" irredeemable governn^,entissnls 
SpintTaVl?ee''„''ir"'"'^^"™"'"''^'''^^'^'^'l"«'<''^'« 
W. G. .Sumner, Andrew Jackson, p. 363. 
Wildcat engine. .See engine 
Wildebeest (wii'de-bast), ». m., = e tciid 
_befist.2 The gnu. [South Africa.] 
Wilder (wil'der), r. t. [A freq. form, < uild, a 
prob. suggested by wilderne.'i.s, and as to form 
by wander. Hence bncilder.] To cause to lose 
the way or track ; puzzle with mazes or diffi- 
culties; bewilder. 
So that it mlderd and lost it selfe in those many by- 
* • Purcftag, Pilgrimage, p. 364. 
We are a widow's three poor sons, 
Lang wilder d on the sea. 
Jiimner Uafmand (Child's Ballads, I. 254). 
„ . , ,^ When red mom 
Made paler the p,ale moon, to her cold home, 
WUdered and wan and panting, she returned. 
Shelley, Alastor. 
Wllderedly (wil'd6rd-li), ade. [< wihUred, pp., 
•■';•?-'• i" a wildered manner; bewilderedly; 
wildly; incoherently. 
It is but in thy passion and thy heat 
Thou speak'st so unlderedly. 
Sir II. Taylor, Isaac Comnenns, ii. 2. 
Wildering («il'der-ing), H. Same as wildino. 
Wllderment (wll'der-ment), n. [< wilder + 
-mciit. Ct. bewilderment:] Bewilderment; con- 
fusion. [Poetical.] 
This tmlderment of wreck and death. 
Moore, Ulla Rookh, Tlic Fire Worshippers. 
.So in wildermmt of gazing I looked up, ami I looked down. 
Mr». Bromini/, I«st Bower, st. .')7. 
Wildemt, «■ [ME., also wHdenw; prob. < AS 
"tcildern, < wilder, a reduced form of wildeor. 
Wild dfor, a wild beast : see wiUn and deer. Of 
icildernes.s.'i A wilderness. 
Alse wuremes breden on wfldeme. 
Rcliquisp Antiqn/F, I. 130. 
wilderness (wil'der-nes), «. [< ME. wildrr- 
n<:t.fc, wyldernys (= MD. wilflerni.t.ie); < wildern 
(or the orig. AS. wilder) + .»?,,«.] l. a tract 
of land inhabited only l)y wild beasts; a desert 
whether forest or plain.' ' 
And after that Men comen out of Surreye, and cntren 
In to Wyldemesse, and there the Weyc is sondy. 
Mandedlle, Travels, p. 34. 
Ich wentc forth wyde where walkyngc myn one 
In a wylde uytdrrnfuHe by a wode-syde. 
Pier» I'lmnnan (C), xi. 61. 
O for a lodge in some vast trildernem, 
Some boundless contiguity of shade! 
. Caliper, Task, ii. 1. 
2. A wild; a waste of any kind. 
Environ'd with a tcUdernmx n( sea. 
Shak., 'I'lt. And., iii. 1. 94. 
down to the bone over the mastoid process, 
made m certain cases of disease of the ear. 
Wlld-flre (wild'fir), «. [Early mod. E. wylde 
Jyer, wylde fyre ; < ME. wilde fir, toylde /««)•, 
wylde fyr, wilde fur, wylde fur ; < loihn + lire.-] 
1. A composition of inflammable materials 
readily catching fire and hard to be extin- 
guished; Greek lire: often used figuratively. 
Faith his sheild must be 
10 quench the balles of irilde-.fyer presentlie. 
Tiynes' WhisUe (E. E. T. S.), p. 145. 
Balls of toUdfire may be safely touch'd, 
-Not violently sunder'd and thrown up. 
Ford, Lover's Melancholy, iv. 2. 
I was at that time rich in fame — for my book ran like 
mld-Jire. Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, xxx. 
2. Sheet-lightning; a kind of lightning unac- 
companied by thunder. 
What is called "summer lightning" or "mid-tire" is 
sometimes a rather puzzling phenomenon. 
P. G. Tait, Encyc. Brit., XXIII. 330. 
St. The blue flames of alcohol burnt in some 
dishes when brought on table, as with plum- 
puddmg. 
Swiche maHcre bake-metes and dissh-metes brennynge 
of mldejir, and peynted and castelled with papir. 
Chancer, Parson's Tale. 
4. In coal-mining, the name formerly some- 
times given by miners to flre-danp.— 5. Ery- 
sipelas; also, lichen eircumscriptus, an erup- 
tive disease, consisting of clusters or patches 
of papula?. 
A wylde fyr upon thair bodyes falle. 
Chaucer, Reeve's Tale, 1. 252. 
6. A disease of sheep, attended with inflam- 
Zf}]?""^ f- «ie skin.-'v^ud-flre rash, a skin eruption, 
usually of infants only, consisting of papules arranged in 
circumscribed patches appearing in succession on differ- 
ent parts of the Ixxiy ; strophulus volaticus 
Wild-flying (wild'fli"ing), a. Flighty. 
If any thing redeem the emperor 
From his n-ild-flyiuy courses, this is she. 
Bean, and Fl., Valentinian, i. 2. 
Wild-fowl (wild'foul), n. [< ME. wi/lde fowie, 
wyyldefowle, < AS. wild-fuqel, wild fowl': see 
wd<n and/ow/l.] The birds of the duck tribe 
collectively considered; the Auatidse ; water- 
fowl: sometimes extended to other birds ordi- 
narily pursued as game. 
Wildgrave (wild'grav), n. [= G. wildgraf; < 
wild, game, -I- graf, count : see wild^ and greive^.-] 
The title of various German counts or nobles 
whose office originally was connected with the 
forests or with hunting. 
The Wildrprave winds his bugle-horn, 
To horse, to horse ! halloo, halloo ! 
Scott, Wild Huntsman. 
Wilding (wil'ding), n. and a. [< wiUn + -ingS.} 
I. «. A plant that is wild or that grows with- 
out cultivation; specifically, a wild crab-apple 
tree ; also, the fruit of such a plant. 
And uildinijg or the seasons fruite 
He did in scrip bestow. 
Warner, Albion's England, iv. 29. 
A choice dish of loildings here, to scald 
And mingle with your cream. 
B. Jomon, .Sad .Shepherd, ii. 2. 
Matthew is in his grave, yet now 
Me thinks I see him stand 
As at that moment, with a bough 
Of wildimj in his hand. 
Wordsworth, Two April Mornings (1799). 
A leafless wilding shivering by the wall. 
Lowell, Under the Willows. 
The watery n-ildemem yields no supply. 
Waller, Instruction to a Painter. 
3. A part of a garden set apart for plants to 
grow in with unchecked luxuriance. //«/*. nirt. 
— 4. A confuse<l or bewildering mass, heap, or 
collection. 
Rome is but a mtderness of tigers. 
.Shak., Tit. And., iii. 1. 54. 
The land thou hast left a irildemcm of wretches. 
Fletcher, Hoiuiuca, v. 1. 
Flowering wiours, cassia, nard, and balm ; 
A wUdemess of sweets. Milton, P. L., v. 294. 
6t. Wildness. 
Such a warjied slip of vnlderness 
N'e'er issued from his bl<Mid. 
Shak., .M. for M., iii. 1. 14'2. 
4.35 
II. a. Wild; not cultivated or domesticated. 
[Poetical.] 
O unlding rose, whom fancy thus endears, 
• I bid your blossoms in my bonnet wave. 
Scott, L. of the L., iv. 1. 
Whose fleld of life, by angels sown. 
The icUding vines o'erran. 
Whittier, William Forster. 
wildisll(wil'dish), «. [<jc(Ml -f -!.«/(!.] Some- 
what wild. 
He is a little icildish, they siiy. 
Richardson, Pamela, I. xxxii. 
'Twonid be a wildish destiny 
If we, who thus together roam 
In a strange Land and far from home. 
Were in this place the guests of Chance. 
Wordsworth, Stepping Westward. 
wildly (wild'li), adv. In a wild state or man- 
ner, in aiiv sense. 
Wildlyt (wild'li), «. [(.wiUn + -Iji^.-] Wild. 
Lest red-eyed Ferrets, wildly Foxes should 
Them undermine, if ranipir'd but with mould. 
S. Clarke, Four Plantations in ATuerica (1670), p. 32 
•wilful 
wildness (wild'nes), n. [< ME. wyldenesse, wild- 
iiesse {(it G. wildniss, desert, wilderness); < wJWl 
+ -ness.;\ 1. The state or character of being 
wild, in any sense. 
The perelle of youth for to pace 
Withoute ony deth or distresse. 
It is so fulle of wyldenesse. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 4894. 
Wilder to him than tigers in their wildness. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 980. 
Take heed, sir; be not madder than you would makehinr 
Though he be rash and sudden (which is alibis unldness) 
rake heed you wrong him not. Fletcher, Pilgrim, v. 6. 
2t. A wild place or country; a wilderness. 
Thise tyraunts put hem gladly not in pres, 
No wUdnesse ne no busshes for to winne. 
TTT-iji. o, , CAaw«r, Former Age, L 34. 
Wild s case. See easel. 
Wild-'williams (wild-wil'yamz), n. An old 
name of the ragged-robin," Z^oA«is' Flos-cticuli. 
■Wlld-Windt (wild'wind), «. A hurricane. 
In the year of our Lord 1639, in November, here hap- 
pened an hirecano or wUd-wind. ftitter. Worthies, 1. 495. 
wild-wood (wild'wiid), n. and a. I. n. The 
wild, unfrequented woods ; a forest. 
The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wad-wood 
S. Woodworth, The Old Oaken Bucket. 
II. a. Belonging to wild, uncultivated, or un- 
frequented woods. [Poetical.] 
Aye the wild-wood echoes rang — 
Oh, dearly do I love thee, Annie ! 
Bttrm, By Allan Stream. 
wilel (wil), n. [< ME. wile, wi/le. < AS. wil, wile 
(also m comp. flyge-wil, 'a flying wile,' an ar- 
row); cf. Icel. vel, vail, an artifice, wile, craft 
device, fraud, trick ( > OF. guile, > E. guile : see 
ffHjfel).] A trick or stratagem ; anything prac- 
tised for msnaring or deception ; a sly, insidi- 
ous artifice. 
Bot hit is no ferly, thaj a fole madde. 
And thurg -wyles of wymmen be wonen to sor,-;e 
Atr Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2415. 
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to 
stand against the unles of the devil. Eph. vi. 11. 
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles, 
Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles, 
Such as llang on Hebe's cheek. 
MUton, L' Allegro, I. 27. 
= Syn. Manoeuver, Stratagem, etc. See artifice 
Wllei (wil), i\ t. ; pret. and pp. wiled, ppr. wil- 
ing. l<wdei, H.] It. To deceive ; beguile ; im- 
pose on. 
So perfect in that art was Paridell 
That he Malbeccoes halfen eye did wyle; 
His halfen eye he wiled wondrous well. ' 
Spenser, ¥. (j., III. x. .">. 
2. To lure; entice; inveigle; coax; ca.jole. 
Say, whence is yond warlow with his wand 
That thus wold wyle oure folk away? 
Toioneley Mysteries, p. 60. 
She wUed him into ae chamber, 
She uiled him into twa. 
Sir Hugh, or the Jew's Daughter (Child's Ballads, III. 332). 
But court na anither, tho' jokin' ye be. 
For fear that she wile your fancy frae me. 
Burns, Oh Whistle and I'll Come to you. 
3. To shorten or cause to pass easily or pleas- 
antly, as by some diverting wile : in this sense 
probably confused with while. 
Seated in two black horsehair porter's chairs, one on 
each side of the fireplace, the superannuated Mr. and Mrs 
hmallweed wde away the rosy hours. 
Dickens, Bleak House, xxi. 
■wile^t, II. A Middle English form of whilei. 
WlleSf, n. Same as iciUr^, IVeald (f). 
The earth is the Ix)rds, and all the corners thereof- he 
created the mountaines of Wales as well as the wiles of 
Kent. Howell, Forreine Travcll (ed. Arber), p. 29. 
wilful, Willful (wil'ful), a. [< ME. leilful, wil- 
.lull, wylfulle, willfulle; < wiin, v., -h -ful,-] If 
Willing; ready; eager; keen. 
With his ferefull foike to Phocus hee rides, 
And is n-afull in werk to wirchen hem care, 
Alisaunder of Macedoine (E. E. T. S.), 1. 412. 
As thai past on the payment the pepull beheld, 
Haden wonder of the weghes, * unlftdde desyre 
lo know of there comyng and the cause wete, 
Ihat were so rially arait * a rowte gay. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3,S3. 
When walls are so wUful to hear without warning 
Shak., M. N. D., v. 1. 211. 
2. Due to one's own will; spontaneous; vol- 
untary; deliberate; intentional: as, h'(7/«/ mur- 
der; teilful waste. 
Alle the sones of Israel halewiden wU.ful thingis [brought 
a willing oflermg, A. V. ] to the Lord. Wyclif Ex. xxxv. 29. 
■I'he bye God on whom that we bileeve 
In iciljul poverte chees to lyve his lyf. 
Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 323. 
3. Obstinate and unreasonable; not to be 
moved from one's notions, inclinations, pur- 
poses, or the like, by counsel, advice, com- 
