/herr"lee berr"lee, -berr'-/ , n. , pl. hurly-burlies , adj.
n.
1. noisy disorder and confusion; commotion; uproar; tumult.
adj.
2. full of commotion; tumultuous.
[ 1520-30; alter. of hurling ( and ) burling, rhyming phrase based on HURLING in its (now obs.) sense of tumult, uproar ]