What is "like mad"

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.).

4. Extravagant; immoderate. ``Be mad and merry.''
   --Shak. ``Fetching mad bounds.''
   --Shak.

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.

7. Having impaired polarity; -- applied to a compass needle. Like mad, like a mad person; in a furious manner; as, to run like mad. --L'Estrange. To run mad.

   1. To become wild with excitement.

   2. 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.

adv. Like a mad person; in a furious or deranged manner.

adv. with great speed or effort or intensity; "drove like crazy"; "worked like hell to get the job done"; "ran like sin for the storm cellar"; "work like thunder"; "fought like the devil" [syn: like hell, like crazy, like sin, like thunder, like the devil]