# wilding

Pronunciation: say "WYLD-ing" /ˈwaɪldɪŋ/

## Noun

1. A plant that grows wild on its own; a wildflower or similar uncultivated plant.
   - Simple: A plant that grows on its own in nature, without being planted by people.
   - _Among the garden flowers, a single wilding had taken root by the fence._
   - _The hillside was covered with wildings that no one had sown._
2. A wild apple, or the apple tree it grows on, springing up uncultivated.
   - Simple: A wild apple, or the apple tree that grows it without being planted.
   - _A gnarled wilding stood at the edge of the field, heavy with small fruit._
   - _They gathered wildings to press into a tart cider._

## Verb

3. Present participle and gerund of wild. *(slang)* — present participle and gerund of wild
   - Simple: Present participle and gerund of wild. Used in slang, as in "you're wilding," meaning you're acting crazy.
   - _He texted his boss at three in the morning asking for a raise. He's been wilding lately._
   - _Everyone at the reception was still talking about his wilding, from the karaoke solo to the cake incident._

## Adjective

4. Not cultivated or tamed. Growing or living wild. *(literary)*
   - Simple: Growing or living in nature, not planted or kept by people.
   - _The poet wrote of wilding meadows untouched by plow or fence._
   - _A wilding tangle of vines covered the forgotten garden._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2** — From Middle English wilding, wylding, or wyldyng, meaning "grass, straw, or the stems of wild plants," equivalent to wild + -ing.
**Meanings 3–4** — From wild + -ing.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wilding (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).