Run amok means to behave wildly, violently, destructively, or without control. In poetry, the idiom can describe crowds, children, soldiers, rumours, machines, emotions, or natural forces breaking restraint. It carries strong associations of disorder and danger, so tone matters. A poet may use it for comic chaos in domestic scenes, or for serious social collapse. The phrase is useful when an energy once contained becomes excessive, exposing the fragility of rules, reason, and civilised surfaces.

Run amok means behave wildly, destructively, or without control. The word amok entered English from Malay, which makes the idiom historically cross-cultural and worth contextualising. In poetry, it can describe crowds, children, machines, emotions, weeds, rumours, or violence. Students should use it thoughtfully, avoiding exoticising its origin. The phrase is useful for representing energy that has escaped order and become dangerous.