shambles

From Old English sċamul. A borrowing from Vulgar Latin *scamellum (“little bench, ridge”), from Latin scamnum (“bench, ridge, breadth of a field”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃæmbl̩z/

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shambles (plural shambles)

1. work done in a poor fashion
2. a scene of great disorder or ruin
3. a great mess or clutter

   This website is a shambles.

4. a scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation
5. a slaughterhouse
6. (archaic) a butcher's shop
   • 1 Corinthians 10:25, King James Version:

     Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake.

   • Jonathan Swift

     As to our city of Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose in the most convenient parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting […]

• omnishambles
• shambolic
• shambolism
• shambly

shambles

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of shamble