English Explanatory Dictionary

doolally tap

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Camp fever; by extension, madness, eccentricity.
adj
  1. Mad, insane, eccentric.

Word forms

doolally tap doolally-tap more doolally tap most doolally tap

Etymology

From Deolali (the name of a former British army camp 100 miles north-east of Bombay, used as a transit station for soldiers awaiting transport back to Britain) + tap (from Persian or Urdu تب (tab, “malarial fever”), ultimately from Sanskrit ताप (tāpa, “heat; fever”)). According to one suggestion, to go doolally tap was to go crazy while waiting.

Derived words

doolally
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