run rampant
verb1
Idiomatic To go unchecked or without control; to be wild or excessive.
- The weeds have long run rampant in the garden and it would be difficult to regain control.
- Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat.2012 March 23, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87:
- Related terms
- run amok