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 === IPA(key): /ˈʃæmbəlz/ Rhymes: -æmbəlz === Noun === shambles (countable and uncountable, plural shambles) (countable, uncountable) A scene of great disorder or ruin. (countable) A great mess or clutter. (countable) A scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation. (countable) A slaughterhouse. (countable, archaic) A butcher's shop. ==== Derived terms ==== fish shambles omnishambles shambolic shambolism shambly ==== Translations ==== === Verb === shambles third-person singular simple present indicative of shamble === References === “shambles”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “shambles”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.