SHAMBLES

abattoir, butchery, shambles, slaughterhouse

(noun) a building where animals are butchered

shambles

(noun) a condition of great disorder

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

shambles (plural shambles)

work done in a poor fashion

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 form of shamble

Source: Wiktionary


SHAMBLE

Sham"ble, n. Etym: [OE. schamel a bench, stool, AS. scamel, sceamol, a bench, form, stool, fr. L. scamellum, dim. of scamnum a bench, stool.]

1. (Mining)

Definition: One of a succession of niches or platforms, one above another, to hold ore which is thrown successively from platform to platform, and thus raised to a higher level.

2. pl.

Definition: A place where butcher's meat is sold. As summer flies are in the shambles. Shak.

3. pl.

Definition: A place for slaughtering animals for meat. To make a shambles of the parliament house. Shak.

Sham"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Shambled; p. pr. & vb. n. Shambling.] Etym: [Cf. OD. schampelen to slip, schampen to slip away, escape. Cf. Scamble, Scamper.]

Definition: To walk awkwardly and unsteadily, as if the knees were weak; to shuffle along.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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