Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RAGE, n. [Fr. rage, whence enrager, to enrage; Corn. arraich; Arm. arragi, arragein, to enrage. This belongs to the family of Rg, to break or burst forth. See Rag. Perhaps Heb. Ch. and Syr. חרק, to grind or gnash the teeth; in Ar. to burn, to break, to muck, to grind the teeth, to be angry. The radical sense of burn is in many cases to rage or be violent. Class Rg, No. 34.]

1. Violent anger accompanied with furious words, gestures or agitation; anger excited to fury. Passion sometimes rises to rage. Torment and loud lament and furious rage. – Milton.
2. Vehemence or violent exacerbation of any thing painful; as, the rage of pain; the rage of a fever; the rage of hunger or thirst. – Pope.
3. Fury; extreme violence; as, the rage of a tempest.
4. Enthusiasm; rapture. Who brought green poesy to her perfect age, / And made that art which was a rage. – Cowley.
5. Extreme eagerness or passion directed to some object; as, the rage for money. You purchase pain with all that joy can give, / And die of nothing but a rage to live. – Pope.