Bedlam means a great deal of noise and disorder. People often say `It was bedlam' to mean `There was bedlam'. The crowd went absolutely mad. It was bedlam = chaos. a situation where there is a lot of noise and confusion = chaos (bedlam (17-18 centuries), from Bedlam (10-17 centuries); from the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem former London mental hospital)