Wednesday, May 20, 2015

wild, wiled

Wild or wild means not tame or domesticated, of an animal, or not cultivated, of a plant--
We saw a family of wild ducks in the pond.
There are some wild onions growing in the yard.

Wild may also mean in a rage; violent or unruly--
He went wild when he heard the good news; he ran around shouting and laughing.

Wiled or wiled ( rhymes with wild ) is the past tense ( yesterday, or some time ago ) of "wile", meaning to spend or pass time--
They wiled away the hours telling ghost stories.
The old people wiled away the evening playing cards, while the young people watched TV.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"He wiled away the afternoon picking wild flowers, until he had a nice bouquet."

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