Tom o' Bedlam

noun

A wandering mendicant discharged as incurable from Bethlehem Hospital, England.

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Meanings

nounTom o' Bedlam (plural Tom o' Bedlams or Toms o' Bedlam)

plural Tom o' Bedlams · plural Toms o' Bedlam

  1. historicalA wandering mendicant discharged as incurable from Bethlehem Hospital, England.
  2. archaicAny wandering mendicant, either mad or pretending to be so.
  3. archaicA madman; a bedlamite.
Cite this entry
APA

Tom o' Bedlam. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20o'%20Bedlam

MLA

“Tom o' Bedlam.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20o'%20Bedlam. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tom o' Bedlam,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20o'%20Bedlam.

Source: Tom o' Bedlam on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.