shambles en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈʃæmbəlz/
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”).
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) A scene of great disorder or ruin.
Considering my life's in shambles right now, couldn't you at least take the blame?
1989 March 15, Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes:
-
(countable) A great mess or clutter.
This bedroom is a shambles.
- (countable) A scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation.
- (countable) A slaughterhouse.
-
(archaic, countable) A butcher's shop.
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, […]
1729, [Jonathan Swift], A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to Their Parents, or the Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, Dublin: […] S[arah] Harding, […], →OCLC, page 8:Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 10:25:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| shambles | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
fish shambles · shambly · shambolic · omnishambles · shambolism
Translations (65)
hu összevisszaság (great mess or clutter) · gd margadh na feòla (butcher’s shop) · fr bordel (great mess or clutter) · ru руи́ны (scene of great disorder or ruin) · es carnicería (butcher’s shop) · ru скотобо́йня (slaughterhouse) · cs jatka (slaughterhouse) · hu mészárszék (butcher’s shop) · de Saustall (great mess or clutter) · th เละเทะ (great mess or clutter) · da slagtehus (slaughterhouse) · de Schlachtfeld (scene of great disorder or ruin) · cs nepořádek (scene of great disorder or ruin) · mi kūnakunaku (great mess or clutter) · es matadero (slaughterhouse) · ru разру́ха (scene of great disorder or ruin) · gl matadoiro (slaughterhouse) · cs binec (great mess or clutter) · ja 落花狼藉 (scene of great disorder or ruin) · cs nepořádek (great mess or clutter) · th เละตุ้มเป๊ะ (great mess or clutter) · de Fleischerei (butcher’s shop) · pt matadouro (slaughterhouse) · ja 畜殺場 (slaughterhouse) · ga cosair chró (scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation) · fr chienlit (great mess or clutter) · de Fleischhauer (butcher’s shop) · mi kūnakunaku (scene of great disorder or ruin) · ko 도축장 (slaughterhouse) · hu vágóhíd (slaughterhouse) · es ruinas (scene of great disorder or ruin) · ru бо́йня (slaughterhouse) · de Durcheinander (great mess or clutter) · ru разва́лины (scene of great disorder or ruin) · de Schlachtfeld (scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation) · de Schlachthaus (slaughterhouse) · hu rendetlenség (great mess or clutter) · ru каварда́к (great mess or clutter) · fr fouillis (scene of great disorder or ruin) · da rodebutik (great mess or clutter) · sv röra (great mess or clutter) · ru пу́таница (great mess or clutter) · es destartalado (scene of great disorder or ruin) · de Durcheinander (scene of great disorder or ruin) · ja 大混乱 (great mess or clutter) · mi kaumingomingo (scene of great disorder or ruin) · ru бедла́м (great mess or clutter) · fr capharnaüm (great mess or clutter) · de Tohuwabohu (scene of great disorder or ruin) · de Metzgerei (butcher’s shop) · hu zűrzavar (scene of great disorder or ruin) · de Scherbenhaufen (great mess or clutter) · de Chaos (great mess or clutter) · ja 修羅の巷 (scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation) · cs chaos (scene of great disorder or ruin) · hu romhalmaz (scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation) · ru бо́йня (scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation) · hu pusztulás (scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation) · da slagtehus (scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation) · ru беспоря́док (great mess or clutter) · ja 屠所 (slaughterhouse) · de Trümmerhaufen (scene of great disorder or ruin) · ru барда́к (great mess or clutter) · ru неразбери́ха (great mess or clutter) · pt bagunça total (great mess or clutter)