shambles
English
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”).
Pronunciation
Noun
shambles (countable and uncountable, plural shambles)
- (countable, uncountable) A scene of great disorder or ruin.
- 1989 March 15, Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes:
- Considering my life's in shambles right now, couldn't you at least take the blame?
- (countable) A great mess or clutter.
- This bedroom is a shambles.
- (countable) A scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation.
- (countable) A slaughterhouse.
- (countable, archaic) A butcher's shop.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 10:25:
- Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
- Template:RQ:Swift A Modest Proposal
Derived terms
Translations
a scene of great disorder or ruin
|
a great mess or clutter
|
a scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation
a slaughterhouse
|
(archaic) a butcher's shop
|
Verb
shambles
- third-person singular simple present indicative of shamble
References
- “shambles”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “shambles”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
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- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/æmbl̩z
- Rhymes:English/æmbl̩z/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
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- English countable nouns
- English indeclinable nouns
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