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Definition of "amuck" []

  • In a frenzy to do violence or kill: rioters running amuck in the streets. (adverb)
  • In or into a jumbled or confused state: The plans went amuck. (adverb)
  • In or into an uncontrolled state or a state of extreme activity: "This jam-packed area of Honolulu has come to stand for tourist development run amok” ( Ila Stanger). (adverb)
  • Crazed with murderous frenzy: amuck troops. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "amuck" in a sentence
  • "I think they are counting on the press and the distracted public to see "partisanship" running amuck, which is how the Republicans have already positioned themselves for the '06 elections."
  • "What "amuck" we've run since needs much more space than I have here."
  • "I fancied for awhile that one of their number must have run "amuck," and the rest meant to send him to slumber."