I. rage 1 /reɪdʒ/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Latin rabies 'anger, wildness' , from rabere 'to be wild with anger' ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] a strong feeling of uncontrollable anger:
Sobbing with rage, Carol was taken to the hospital.
in a rage
Sam became quite frightening when he was in a rage.
cry/scream/roar etc of rage
Just then, she heard Mr Evan’s bellow of rage.
red/dark/purple with rage
His face was red with rage.
trembling/shaking with rage
Forester stared at his car, trembling with rage.
seething/incandescent with rage (=as angry as a person can possibly be)
Animal rights supporters were incandescent with rage.
Richens was 17 when he flew into a rage and stabbed another teenager.
2 . be all the rage informal to be very popular or fashionable:
DiCaprio became all the rage after starring in the film ‘Titanic’.
3 . rage for something a situation in which something is very popular or fashionable:
the rage for mobile phones
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ shake/tremble with rage
His wife was shaking with rage.
▪ seethe with rage
The injustice of it made Melissa seethe with rage.
▪ cry with rage
I was crying with rage and frustration.
▪ explode with rage ( also fly into a rage ) (=suddenly become very angry)
She knew her father would explode with rage if he found out.
■ phrases
▪ be in a rage
Moran was in a rage about some tools that had been left out in the rain.
▪ be speechless with rage
Speechless with rage, he hurled the letter in the fire before storming out.
▪ be beside yourself with rage (=be so angry that you cannot control yourself)
They had been publicly humiliated and were beside themselves with rage.
▪ be incandescent with rage formal (=be extremely angry)
The Queen was incandescent with rage.
▪ be white with rage
I could see she was white with rage.
▪ somebody's face is dark/red/purple with rage
His face went purple with rage.
▪ somebody's face is twisted/contorted with rage
Mike's usually calm face was contorted with rage.
▪ a fit of rage
In a fit of rage, he seized the poor man by the shoulders and shouted at him.
▪ a cry/howl/bellow etc of rage
She remembered his cries of rage as he was taken away.
▪ tears of rage
Her eyes were now full of tears of rage.
■ adjectives
▪ a jealous rage
He killed his wife in a jealous rage.
▪ a drunken rage
He smashed up his former girlfriend's car in a drunken rage.
▪ a blind/uncontrollable rage (=extreme uncontrolled anger that makes someone violent)
He lashed out in a blind rage.
▪ murderous rage (=anger that makes someone capable of murder)
Captain Black was in a murderous rage.
▪ a towering rage (=extremely angry)
He was in a towering rage.
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THESAURUS
■ extreme anger
▪ fury a very strong feeling of anger:
The judge sparked fury when he freed a man who had attacked three women.
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The decision caused fury among local people.
▪ rage a very strong feeling of anger that is difficult to control or is expressed very suddenly or violently:
When we accused him of lying, he flew into a rage (=became very angry very suddenly) .
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Brown killed his wife in a jealous rage.
▪ outrage extreme anger and shock because you think something is unfair or wrong:
The racist comments caused outrage in India and Britain.
▪ wrath formal extreme anger:
Pietersen was the next to incur the wrath of the referee (=make him angry) .
II. rage 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . [intransitive and transitive] written to feel very angry about something and show this in the way you behave or speak
rage at/against
He was sorry he had raged at her earlier.
‘How was I to know!’ Jenny raged.
2 . [intransitive] if something such as a battle, a disagreement, or a storm rages, it continues with great violence or strong emotions:
Civil war has been raging in the country for years.
A debate is raging about what form pensions should take.
Outside, a storm was raging.
rage on
The battle raged on (=continued) .
3 . [intransitive] if a fire or illness rages, it spreads fast and is hard to control:
The fire raged for twelve hours and fifteen people died.
A great cholera epidemic raged across Europe in 1831.
4 . [intransitive] informal to have fun with a group of people in a wild and uncontrolled way:
We couldn’t wait to go out and rage.