shamble

¹ American  

[sham-buhl] / ˈʃæm bəl /

verb (used without object)

shambled, shambling

1. to walk or go awkwardly; shuffle.

---

noun

1. a shambling gait.

shamble ² 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.

---

shamble British  

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of shamble¹

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”)

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

Example Sentences

In between the white-ball tours of New Zealand and Sri Lanka came the horrific Ashes series - an all-timer of a shambles.

From BBC

And Iran’s economy is in shambles in the midst of an ongoing water crisis with no relief in sight.

From Salon

But it has been a shambles of a tour.

From BBC

At the same time, Venezuela’s five refinery complexes are “in shambles,” she said.

From MarketWatch

That job would be short-lived after he reported Indonesia’s economy was in shambles and the country’s enraged leadership threw him out.

From Los Angeles Times