hurly-burly
Americannoun
plural
hurly-burliesadjective
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of hurly-burly
1520–30; alteration of hurling ( and ) burling, rhyming phrase based on hurling in its (now obsolete) sense of tumult, uproar
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And for Rylance, the hurly burly of theater — “a dance with the audience,” he calls it — has always most propelled him as an actor.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2022
I didn’t see the call when it came in, in the hurly burly of things I didn’t notice.
From The Guardian • Nov. 15, 2016
Speaking of that John Prescott punch, it is not just the voters who can stretch the spirit of campaign etiquette in the hurly burly of an election.
From BBC • Apr. 5, 2015
New justices must adjust to another sort of hurly burly, as Justice Kagan, who joined the court in 2010, learned at one point during Tuesday’s argument.
From New York Times • Apr. 2, 2012
This poore young Gentleman had no great reuenue, for that the patrimonie of his predecessors was wasted in charges for entertainement of Souldiers in the time of the hurly burly and debates aforesaid.
From The Palace of Pleasure Volume 3 by Painter, William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
