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• wilding
  wilding

  noun

  a wild apple tree.
• Wilding
  Wilding

  noun

  ( Frederick ) Anthony . 1883–1915, New Zealand tennis player; Wimbledon singles champion (1910–1913) and doubles champion (1907–08, 1910, 1913)

wilding

¹ American  

[wahyl-ding] / ˈwaɪl dɪŋ /

noun

1. a wild apple tree.

2. its fruit.

3. any plant that grows wild.

4. a plant, originally cultivated, that now grows wild; an escape.

5. a wild animal.

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adjective

1. not cultivated or domesticated; wild.

wilding ² American  

noun

1. the practice by a group of youths of going on a random spree of violent criminal activity.

2. an instance of this.

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adjective

1. of or relating to such criminal activity.

   wilding teens;

   a wilding attack.

wilding ¹ British  

/ ˈwaɪldɪŋ /

noun

1. an uncultivated plant, esp the crab apple, or a cultivated plant that has become wild

2. a wild animal

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Wilding ² British  

/ ˈwaɪldɪŋ /

noun

1. ( Frederick ) Anthony . 1883–1915, New Zealand tennis player; Wimbledon singles champion (1910–1913) and doubles champion (1907–08, 1910, 1913)

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Etymology

Origin of wilding¹

First recorded in 1520–30; wild + -ing ³

Origin of wilding²

First recorded in 1985–90; wild + -ing ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wilding Wilding

He’s also been wilding out on Truth Social, uncorking a series of posts that are unhinged, even for him.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2025

“Our young people are out here wilding sometimes, and whatever it takes for us to get them under control, we have to do it,” he said.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 8, 2022

For the Bene Gesserit, a religious order of women who influence history from the shadows, the color was a chorus of wilding female voices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2022

NP: Do you ever think about just wilding out on Twitter to compete with Elon directly?

From The Verge ● Jan. 25, 2022

I guess dorm parties got old, so they’re wilding out on the subway instead—and were joining them, dammit.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

Prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC said Tajzai had given his age as 14 when he arrived in the UK in August 2022 and claimed asylum the following year.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

The study was led by Professor John Wilding from the University of Liverpool in the UK along with fellow researchers.

From Science Daily ● May 19, 2026

Wilding, an economist, looked at the two main gauges the Federal Reserve uses to help set monetary policy, which have been flashing quite different signals.

From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026

Rav Wilding joins us with the latest crime headlines.

From BBC ● May 6, 2026

Alas, there are still plenty of people who think, with Nick Wilding, that ‘social constructivism does not go nearly far enough.’

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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