/bed"leuh meuhr/ , n. Newfoundland.
a harp seal, beyond the beater stage but not yet mature.
[ 1760-70; orig. uncert.; alleged to be a folk-etymological alter. of F bête de la mer beast of the sea, but cf. Brit. dial. bedlam wild, ill-behaved, a troublesome person or animal (developments of BEDLAM) ]