bear garden

noun

a place for keeping or exhibiting bears, especially (formerly) for bearbaiting.
a place or scene of tumult.

Origin of bear garden

First recorded in 1590–1600

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bear garden

Historical Examples of bear garden

How could you have anything done properly in such a bear-garden?
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
After dinner, he and I and my wife to the Bear-Garden, to see a prize fought there.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete
Samuel Pepys
This Pembroke, who loved a bear-garden, was the seventh earl of that title.
The Town
Leigh Hunt
Now then, he said severely, is this a club or a bear-garden?
The Exiles of Faloo
Barry Pain
Sir, said I, you indeed behave as if you were in a bear-garden.
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
Samuel Richardson

British Dictionary definitions for bear garden

bear garden

noun

(formerly) a place where bears were exhibited and where bear-baiting took place
a place or scene of tumult and disorder

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012