See have bats in one's belfry in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "1899, from tendency of bats to fly around erratically, with “belfry” indicating “head, mind”.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "has bats in one's belfry",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "having bats in one's belfry",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "had bats in one's belfry",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "had bats in one's belfry",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "have bats in the belfry",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "have<has,,had> bats in one's belfry"
},
"expansion": "have bats in one's belfry (third-person singular simple present has bats in one's belfry, present participle having bats in one's belfry, simple past and past participle had bats in one's belfry)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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"source": "w"
},
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{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Danish translations",
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{
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},
{
"kind": "other",
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{
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{
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}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "batshit"
},
{
"word": "batty"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
59,
81
]
],
"text": "Anyone declaring himself Emperor of San Francisco probably had bats in his belfry.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
39,
57
]
],
"ref": "1900, Mary Etta Stickney, Brown of Lost River, page 254:",
"text": "You would certainly take the prize for bats in the belfry!--flying off on a wild-goose chase across a country where even the geese need a compass to keep to the course.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
75,
94
]
],
"ref": "1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page xv. 136:",
"text": "\"That's sane,\" he replied mechanically. \"I figured all along there were no bats in your belfry.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To be crazy or eccentric."
],
"id": "en-have_bats_in_one's_belfry-en-verb-Jjdh1~1R",
"links": [
[
"crazy",
"crazy"
],
[
"eccentric",
"eccentric"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, intransitive) To be crazy or eccentric."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"intransitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "have rotter på loftet"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "havi muŝon en la cerbo"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "olla sekaisin"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "olla latvasta laho"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "olla häkää yliskamarissa"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "avoir une araignée au plafond"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "nicht alle Tassen im Schrank haben"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "nincs ki a négy kereke"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "mancare di qualche rotella"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "essere svitato"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "mieć nie po kolei w głowie"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "vintika v golove ne xvatajet",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "винтика в голове не хватает"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "krýša pojéxala",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "кры́ша пое́хала"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ne vse doma",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "не все дома"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "sorvalo bášnju",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "сорвало ба́шню"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "šariki za róliki zajexali",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "шарики за ро́лики заехали"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "tener pájaros en la cabeza"
}
]
}
],
"word": "have bats in one's belfry"
}
{
"derived": [
{
"word": "batshit"
},
{
"word": "batty"
}
],
"etymology_text": "1899, from tendency of bats to fly around erratically, with “belfry” indicating “head, mind”.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "has bats in one's belfry",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "having bats in one's belfry",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "had bats in one's belfry",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "had bats in one's belfry",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "have bats in the belfry",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "have<has,,had> bats in one's belfry"
},
"expansion": "have bats in one's belfry (third-person singular simple present has bats in one's belfry, present participle having bats in one's belfry, simple past and past participle had bats in one's belfry)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English intransitive verbs",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned",
"Terms with Danish translations",
"Terms with Esperanto translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Hungarian translations",
"Terms with Italian translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
59,
81
]
],
"text": "Anyone declaring himself Emperor of San Francisco probably had bats in his belfry.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
39,
57
]
],
"ref": "1900, Mary Etta Stickney, Brown of Lost River, page 254:",
"text": "You would certainly take the prize for bats in the belfry!--flying off on a wild-goose chase across a country where even the geese need a compass to keep to the course.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
75,
94
]
],
"ref": "1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page xv. 136:",
"text": "\"That's sane,\" he replied mechanically. \"I figured all along there were no bats in your belfry.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To be crazy or eccentric."
],
"links": [
[
"crazy",
"crazy"
],
[
"eccentric",
"eccentric"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, intransitive) To be crazy or eccentric."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"intransitive"
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "have rotter på loftet"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "havi muŝon en la cerbo"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "olla sekaisin"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "olla latvasta laho"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "olla häkää yliskamarissa"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "avoir une araignée au plafond"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "nicht alle Tassen im Schrank haben"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "nincs ki a négy kereke"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "mancare di qualche rotella"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "essere svitato"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "mieć nie po kolei w głowie"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "vintika v golove ne xvatajet",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "винтика в голове не хватает"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "krýša pojéxala",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "кры́ша пое́хала"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ne vse doma",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "не все дома"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "sorvalo bášnju",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "сорвало ба́шню"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "šariki za róliki zajexali",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "шарики за ро́лики заехали"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to be crazy or eccentric",
"word": "tener pájaros en la cabeza"
}
],
"word": "have bats in one's belfry"
}
Download raw JSONL data for have bats in one's belfry meaning in English (4.6kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-20 using wiktextract (3dadd05 and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.