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I read a headline in "The Hindu" which was:
Pant goes on the Rampage as Capitals crush Mumbai
We use article "the" before a noun which we've talked about or mentioned earlier or before a particular thing. But then on googling this phrase I saw a lot of dictionaries (Cambridge dictionary, Free dictionaries) using only "the" before "rampage". Why is it so?
You can say either "on the rampage" or "on a rampage". Both are grammatical and convey the same meaning.
The noun rampage is both a countable noun and an uncountable noun. In American English, it's chiefly treated as a countable noun, especially in a singular form. So we say "on a rampage", but "on the rampage" is also acceptable. In British English, it's chiefly used as an uncountable noun. So we say "on the rampage", but "on a rampage" is also acceptable.
According to Google Ngram, both the phrases are almost equally common, but the Ngrams also show on a rampage favored in American English, and on the rampage favored in British English.
In my experience "on a rampage" describes the actions of a person or entity, while "on the rampage" describes the state of a person or entity.
Example: "My boss went on a rampage and fired eight employees!" or "My boss is on the rampage, he just fired eight employees!".
I hope this helps.
Go on a/the rampage both the versions are correct and are used according to the context.
go on a/the rampage
The prisoners went on a rampage destroying everything in their way.
