shamble

¹

[ sham-buhl ]

noun

1. shambles, (used with a singular or plural verb)
   1. a slaughterhouse.
   2. any place of carnage.
   3. any scene of destruction:

      to turn cities into shambles.

   4. any scene, place, or thing in disorder:

      Her desk is a shambles.

2. British Dialect. a butcher's shop or stall.

shamble

²

[ sham-buhl ]

verb (used without object)

, sham·bled, sham·bling.

1. to walk or go awkwardly; shuffle.

noun

1. a shambling gait.

shamble

/ ˈʃæmbəl /

verb

1. intr to walk or move along in an awkward or unsteady way

noun

1. an awkward or unsteady walk

Derived Forms

• ˈshambling, adjectivenoun

Word History and Origins

Origin of shamble¹

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

Origin of shamble²

1675–85; perhaps short for shamble-legs one that walks wide (i.e., as if straddling), reminiscent of the legs of a shamble ¹ (in earlier sense “butcher's table”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of shamble¹

C17: from shamble (adj) ungainly, perhaps from the phrase shamble legs legs resembling those of a meat vendor's table; see shambles

Example Sentences

When Hurricane Gustav struck the Gulf Coast in 2008, leaving more than 100,000 Louisiana customers without power for over a week, Entergy’s grid was in shambles.

From ProPublica

At least 21 people are dead, hundreds of homes are in shambles and the wreckage of people’s lives is strewn across the landscape.

From Washington Post

My supposition is that North Korea does not want to be 90% dependent upon China for its economy, which is currently in a shambles under those circumstances, and is seeking a different kind of independence.

From Time

With his emotional life in shambles, Pauli took up drinking and smoking heavily.

From Nautilus

The resulting chaos has left nearly 200,000 Americans dead and the economy in shambles.

From Washington Blade

The deck of the Frenchman was truly a shamble; not a spot appeared free from some dead or wounded occupant.

From Project Gutenberg

The men were past revolt now, they could only shamble dizzily about.

From Project Gutenberg

They could not walk, they could only shamble; they could not laugh, they could only leer.

From Project Gutenberg

His knees still knocked together in a loathsome paralysis, but he made effort to shamble forward.

From Project Gutenberg

It is called Shamble Oak because a butcher once used its hollow trunk to conceal stolen sheep.

From Project Gutenberg