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shamble

1
[ sham-buhl ]
/ ˈʃæm bəl /
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See synonyms for: shamble / shambles / shambling on Thesaurus.com

noun
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.
British Dialect. a butcher's shop or stall.
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Origin of shamble

1
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

Other definitions for shamble (2 of 2)

shamble2
[ sham-buhl ]
/ ˈʃæm bəl /

verb (used without object), sham·bled, sham·bling.
to walk or go awkwardly; shuffle.
noun
a shambling gait.

Origin of shamble

2
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 Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use shamble in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shamble

shamble
/ (ˈʃæmbəl) /

verb
(intr) to walk or move along in an awkward or unsteady way
noun
an awkward or unsteady walk

Derived forms of shamble

shambling, adjective, noun

Word Origin for shamble

C17: from shamble (adj) ungainly, perhaps from the phrase shamble legs legs resembling those of a meat vendor's table; see shambles
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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