A search for nouns collocating with ‘wild‘ in the NOW corpus:
1 CARD 41920
This most common collocate is unlisted in the English Vocabulary Profile. A google definition of ‘wild card‘:
- a playing card that can have any value, suit, colour, or other property in a game at the discretion of the player holding it.
- COMPUTING a character that will match any character or sequence of characters in a search.
- an opportunity to enter a sports competition without having to take part in qualifying matches or be ranked at a particular level.
- a player or team allowed to enter a sports competition without having to qualify or be ranked.
- a person or thing whose influence is unpredictable or whose qualities are uncertain.
2 ANIMALS 33219
In the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP) at A2:
A wild animal or plant lives or grows in its natural environment and not where people live.
These are places where wild animals and plants are evolving under our eyes very rapidly to suit these new, urban conditions.
3 WEST 22142
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5 BREATH 17070
6 GAME 13139
7 MINNESOTA 10166
8 RIDE 9364 (EVP B2 very energetic and not controlled)
I was just on some wild ride where I thought that I was in love enough for both of us.
9 ANIMAL 8682
10 WAY 8411
11 ATLANTIC 7990
12 SPECIES 7942
13 LIFE 7647
14 BIRDS 7503
15 BOAR 6928
16 SALMON 6803
17 PITCH 6779
18 COAST 6659
19 HORSES 6161
20 WORLD 5323
21 DOGS 4723
22 BOARS 4671
23 ELEPHANTS 4631
24 NIGHT 4503
25 TYPE 4490
26 WEATHER 4478
27 THINGS 4409
28 YEAR 4201
29 PEOPLE 4077
30 BUFFALO 4059
31 POPULATIONS 3996
32 SWINGS 3854
33 POPULATION 3831
34 CARDS 3792
35 TIME 3762
36 GARDEN 3752
37 SERIES 3748
38 SIDE 3621
39 TEAM 3585
40 FISH 3519
41 SPOT 3436
42 WINGS 3430
43 SEASON 3376
44 HORSE 3364
45 HUNT 3278
46 OATS 3266
47 COUNTRY 3252
48 PLANTS 3219
49 ROUTE 3170
50 LEAGUE 3041
51 YEARS 3019
52 CROWD 2970
53 PLACES 2955
54 FANS 2952
55 WEEK 2930
56 FLOWERS 2884
57 WEEKEND 2875
58 RICE 2854
59 BIRD 2815
60 DEER 2740
61 MAN 2724
62 GOOSE 2621
63 DOG 2588
64 DAY 2561
65 CELEBRATIONS 2517
66 GAMES 2512
67 CHASE 2502
68 TURKEY 2490
69 AREA 2489
70 PLAYOFF 2483
71 CHILD 2449
72 FOOD 2447
73 IMAGINATION 2420
74 RIFT 2385
75 FAUNA 2361
76 WITCHER 2332
77 FLORA 2330
78 FIRE 2288
79 BEASTS 2282
80 TIGERS 2253
81 HEART 2223
82 DAYS 2215
83 NATURE 2196
84 PIGS 2179
85 PLACE 2175
86 MUSHROOMS 2153
87 CATS 2144
88 ALLEGATIONS 2134
89 ROSE 2094
90 PARK 2085
91 CALL 2044
92 STATE 2015
93 CAT 1996
94 SHOW 1985
95 ELEPHANT 1981
96 STORY 1930
97 PARTY 1894
98 BILL 1881
99 THING 1872
100 VIRUS 1831
_VV wild
1 WENT WILD 5147
2 RUN WILD 5016
There are two entries at C2 in the EVP for ‘run wild‘:
- If someone, especially a child, runs wild, they behave as they want to and no one controls them.
- If someone’s imagination runs wild, they are not able to control their thoughts.
It‘s heartbreaking the way your mother lets you run wild.
So, in order to do that, I have to let my imagination run wild.
3 GO WILD 4303
4 GONE WILD 2379
5 RUNNING WILD 2195
wildest + noun
1 DREAMS 9114
I‘ve never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be the object of so much genuine affection.
And the bad news is that the gun lobby is rich beyond our wildest dreams?
2 IMAGINATION 999
3 EXPECTATIONS 852
4 DREAM 473
5 THING 365
6 FANTASIES 344
7 WORLD 269
8 MOMENTS 249
9 IMAGINATIONS 248
10 YEAR 199