shamble

¹

[sham-buhl]

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.

shamble

²

[sham-buhl]

verb (used without object)

shambled, shambling 

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

Other Word Forms

• shambling adjective

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

The Office for Budget Responsibility prematurely published key budget details, causing a “serious error” and “complete shambles” in Parliament.

Read more on Barron's

Firefighters arrived to find a home in shambles, with walls collapsed, windows blown out and parts still aflame.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Describing the situation as a "shambles", Badenoch accused the government of floating the idea of increasing income tax rates only to "U-turn".

Read more on BBC

Alas, once the room was a shambles, the curtains ripped, and the pillows emptied of feathers, their meaning became all too clear.

Read more on Literature

One became two and two became three - and it was a shambles.

Read more on BBC