1. A place or situation of noisy uproar and confusion.
2. often Bedlam Archaic. An insane asylum.

[Middle English Bedlem, Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem, an institution in London for the mentally ill.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.