shambles
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L327581 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈʃæmbəlz/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English schamels, plural of schamel, from Old English sċeamol, sċamul (“bench, stool”), from Proto-West Germanic *skamul, *skamil (“stool, bench”), from Vulgar Latin scamellum, from Latin scamillum (“little bench, ridge”), from Latin scamnum (“bench, ridge, breadth of a field”).
- A scene of great disorder or ruin.
“Considering my life's in shambles right now, couldn't you at least take the blame?”
- A great mess or clutter.
“This bedroom is a shambles.”
- A scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation.
- A slaughterhouse.
- A butcher's shop.
“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake.”
“As to our City of Dublin, Shambles may be appointed for this purpoſe, in the moſt convenient parts of it, and Butchers vve may be aſſured vvill not be vvanting, […]”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English schamels, plural of schamel, from Old English sċeamol, sċamul (“bench, stool”), from Proto-West Germanic *skamul, *skamil (“stool, bench”), from Vulgar Latin scamellum, from Latin scamillum (“little bench, ridge”), from Latin scamnum (“bench, ridge, breadth of a field”).
- third-person singular simple present indicative of shamble