shambles
Use Shambles in a sentence
bəl noun
1.
shambles, ( used with a singular or plural verb )
a.
a slaughterhouse.
b.
any place of carnage.
c.
any scene of destruction: to turn cities into shambles.
d.
any scene, place, or thing in disorder: Her desk is a shambles.
2.
British Dialect. a butcher's shop or stall.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English shamel, Old English sc(e)amel stool, table < Late Latin scamellum, Latin scamillum, diminutive of Latin scamnum bench; compare German Schemel
before 900; Middle English shamel, Old English sc(e)amel stool, table < Late Latin scamellum, Latin scamillum, diminutive of Latin scamnum bench; compare German Schemel
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used without object)
1.
to walk or go awkwardly; shuffle.
noun
2.
a shambling gait.
Origin:
1675–85; perhaps short for shamble-legs one that walks wide (i.e., as if straddling), reminiscent of the legs of a shamble1 (in earlier sense “butcher's table”)
1675–85; perhaps short for shamble-legs one that walks wide (i.e., as if straddling), reminiscent of the legs of a shamble1 (in earlier sense “butcher's table”)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To shambles
00:10
Shambles
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
shamble (ˈʃæmbəl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (intr) to walk or move along in an awkward or unsteady way |
| —n | |
| 2. | an awkward or unsteady walk |
| [C17: from shamble (adj) ungainly, perhaps from the phrase shamble legs legs resembling those of a meat vendor's table; see | |
| 'shambling | |
| —adj, —n | |
| shambles (ˈʃæmbəlz) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a place of great disorder: the room was a shambles after the party |
| 2. | a place where animals are brought to be slaughtered |
| 3. | any place of slaughter or carnage |
| 4. | dialect (Brit) a row of covered stalls or shops where goods, originally meat, are sold |
| [C14 shamble table used by meat vendors, from Old English sceamel stool, from Late Latin scamellum a small bench, from Latin scamnum stool] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
shamble
"to walk with a shuffling gait," 1681, from an adj. meaning "ungainly, awkward" (1607), from shamble (n.) "table, bench" (see shambles) perhaps on the notion of the splayed legs of bench, or the way a worker sits astride it. Cf. Fr. bancal "bow-legged, wobbly" (of furniture),
prop. "bench-legged," from banc "bench."
shambles
late 15c., "meat or fish market," from schamil "table, stall for vending" (c.1300), from O.E. scomul, sceamel "stool, footstool, table for vending," an early W.Gmc. borrowing (cf. O.S. skamel, M.Du. schamel, O.H.G. scamel, Ger. schemel) from L. scamillus "low stool," ultimately a dim. of scamnum "stool,
bench," from PIE base *skabh- "to prop up, support." In English, sense evolved to "slaughterhouse" (1540s), "place of butchery" (1590s), and "confusion, mess" (1901).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The logistical details of dispersal have also been a bit of a shambles.
Forgot to mention, however, the economy is in shambles.
He added that the higher-education system was in a shambles because of frequent monetary reductions.
Once the subsidies ended this year, the economy is in shambles and people have started protesting.
Related Searches
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
