go wild—
1. be very excited or enthusiastic about smth. (indicating it in one’s behavior by shouting, cheering, etc.):
- London went wild with delight when the great news came through yesterday.
2. be madly attracted by a person:
- She was just hitting puberty, and Solomon was going wild about her. Devorah was highly desirable by any male baboon’s standards.
Note: The expression is not equivalent in meaning to the phrase go wilding—(also: go out wilding ) go on a rampage (originally of youth gangs roaming the streets and harassing passers-by):
- I’ll also remember this next time college students go wilding when their team wins or loses a championship.
run wild—
1. become madly violent; go out of control:
- The CIA is not a sorcerer’s apprentice that has run wild, but … is under strict government control.
2. (of animals and plants) revert to a state of nature; no longer live under domestication or cultivation:
- These cattle, having run wild upon the plains of western Texas, are collected by a grand “round-up.”