barmy

adj

1. (also, archaic, figuratively)Containing, covered with, or pertaining to barm (“foam rising upon beer or other malt liquors when fermenting, used as leaven in brewing and making bread”).

   “[T]each thy Incubus to Poëtize, / And throvve abroad thy ſpurious Snotteries, / Vpon that puft-vp Lumpe of Barmy froth, […]”

   “Their jovial Nights, in frollicks and in play / They paſs, to drive the tedious Hours avvay. / And their cold Stomachs vvith crovvn'd Goblets cheer, / Of vvindy Cider, and of barmy Beer.”

   “[H]e stood for a while on the quivering footbridge and watched the rush of dead wood and torn branches and wisps of straw all hurrying madly past him, to plunge into the heaped spume, the barmy froth that had gathered against a fallen tree.”

   “Here the yeast is added to convert the sugars to alcohol, also producing carbon dioxide. After about 24 hours the fermentation has created a thick head of barmy foam […]”

2. (archaic, figuratively)Bubbling with activity or excitement; active, excited.

   “Just now I've taen the fit o' rhyme, / My barmie noddle's working prime, […]”

3. (British, Ireland, archaic, informal)Crazy, mad; also, eccentric, odd, strange.

   “[T]he exercise yard of the "barmy fellows," as he called the madmen, (meaning, I suppose, that their brains were in an unnatural state of working,) was but a stone's throw from himself and his rational companions, […]”

   “"Bli'me if I know wot yer all talkin' abaht. You're all barmy on the crumpet," said Liza indignantly, and, turning her back on them, made for home.”

   “I thanked John [Bishop], said the "oracle award" sounds like a made-up prize you'd give a fat kid on sports day – I should know, I used to get them – then that it's barmy that Hugo Boss can trade under the same name they flogged uniforms to the Nazis under and the ludicrous necessity for an event such as this one to banish such a lurid piece of information from our collective consciousness.”

   “He opted for a quieter bar to “watch it and enjoy the atmosphere” and engage in “sensible drinking, not going barmy”.”

4. (British, Ireland, archaic, informal)Very foolish.

noun

1. (British, Ireland, archaic, form-of, informal, plural)plural of barma (“a regal Russian mantle or neckpiece made of gold, encrusted with diamonds and other gems”)