n. 25B6; noun (informal)
his father is shut up in a madhouse : MENTAL HOSPITAL, mental institution, psychiatric hospital, asylum; informal nuthouse, funny farm, loony bin; dated lunatic asylum.
the place was a total madhouse : BEDLAM, mayhem, chaos, pandemonium, uproar, turmoil, disorder, madness, all hell broken loose; N. Amer. three-ring circus.