go berserk

English

Verb

go berserk (third-person singular simple present goes berserk, present participle going berserk, simple past went berserk, past participle gone berserk)

1. (idiomatic, informal) To enter a wild and uncontrollable state.

   Synonyms: berserk; see also Thesaurus:go crazy

   If someone sneaks my lunch again, I'm actually going to go berserk.

   The fans immediately went berserk as the singer walked onstage.

   • 2006 January 13, Felix Gillette, “The Gloater”, in Slate‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The Slate Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-11-22:

     I watched the game in New York City's unofficial Redskins bar. When the game ended, we went berserk, performing a celebratory Fun Bunch and singing "Hail to the Redskins!"

   • 2020 October 18, Masha Gessen, “Alexey Navalny Has the Proof of His Poisoning”, in The New Yorker‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-02-28:

     Let's say I touch my own hand with my finger. My brain can perceive that signal and then cancel it out. But Novichok makes it not get cancelled out, so it feels like I'm touching my own hand a million times a second, and every cell in my body goes berserk, and the brain understands that this is the end.

   • 2021 August 3, Stephen Kurczy, “The Truth About the Quietest Town in America”, in Wired‎^[3], San Francisco, C.A.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-02:

     As we exited the observatory's parking lot, the truck's computer monitor started bleeping angrily. Before we reached the main road, we picked up 13 wireless signals. Within a half mile, we found 66 signals. Niday's gadgetry was going berserk.

References

• “go berserk”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “go berserk”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “go berserk”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “berserk, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.