shamble

¹ American  

[sham-buhl] / ˈʃæm bəl /

noun

1. (used with a singular or plural verb) shambles,

   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.

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shamble ² American  

[sham-buhl] / ˈʃæm bəl /

verb (used without object)

shambled, shambling

1. to walk or go awkwardly; shuffle.

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noun

1. a shambling gait.

shamble British  

/ ˈʃæmbəl /

verb

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

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noun

1. an awkward or unsteady walk

Other Word Forms

• shambling
  adjective

Etymology

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”)

Explanation

When you shamble down the street, you move slowly and shuffle your feet. People who shamble along are usually tired, elderly, or sad. An exhausted hiker might shamble along the final mile of trail after weeks of walking, and your grandfather might be the speediest one in his nursing home, passing up the residents who shamble along with their walkers. A kindergarten teacher might call to her class, "Don't shamble! Pick up your feet and let's go to the library!" Shamble probably comes from the outdated adjective that means "ungainly or awkward."

Example Sentences

In my review, I praised the conviction of Gunn’s soupy sci-fi spectacle, writing: “Whatever this sweet, surreal sci-fi shamble is that Gunn has created, everyone here seems to believe ardently in it.”

From Seattle Times • Jul. 30, 2023

“It’s crazy, because retail was in such a shamble of reality at that point,” says S.P.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2022

Even as its various subplots shamble on, the novel keeps reminding us about the rising conflation of reality and fiction.

From Washington Post • Sep. 3, 2019

That's sad in some respects but, in another sense, allows the shows’ creators to bring the series to a worthy end as opposed to forcing it to shamble onward long past relevance.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2019

A big station clock rattles off a relentless advance of seconds, and Marie-Laure sits beside her great-uncle and listens to the wasted and wretched shamble off the trains.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr