shamble

¹

[ sham-buhl ]

noun

1. shambles, (used with a singular or plural verb)
   1. a slaughterhouse.
   2. any place of carnage.
   3. any scene of destruction:

      to turn cities into shambles.

   4. any scene, place, or thing in disorder:

      Her desk is a shambles.

2. British Dialect. a butcher's shop or stall.

shamble

²

[ sham-buhl ]

verb (used without object)

, sham·bled, sham·bling.

1. to walk or go awkwardly; shuffle.

noun

1. a shambling gait.

shamble

/ ˈʃæmbəl /

verb

1. intr to walk or move along in an awkward or unsteady way

noun

1. an awkward or unsteady walk

Derived Forms

• ˈshambling, adjectivenoun

Word History and Origins

Origin of shamble¹

before 900; Middle English shamel, Old English sc ( e ) amel stool, table < Late Latin scamellum, Latin scamillum, diminutive of Latin scamnum bench; compare German Schemel

Origin of shamble²

1675–85; perhaps short for shamble-legs one that walks wide (i.e., as if straddling), reminiscent of the legs of a shamble ¹ (in earlier sense “butcher's table”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of shamble¹

C17: from shamble (adj) ungainly, perhaps from the phrase shamble legs legs resembling those of a meat vendor's table; see shambles

Example Sentences

We approached the lonely inn as ragged ghouls shamble up to a gravekeeper’s door.

From Literature

When most bands would just sort of shamble onstage in their street clothes, you guys really put on a proper show, a presentation with choreography.

From Los Angeles Times

In my review, I praised the conviction of Gunn’s soupy sci-fi spectacle, writing: “Whatever this sweet, surreal sci-fi shamble is that Gunn has created, everyone here seems to believe ardently in it.”

From Seattle Times

In that perfect world where Fox News ceased to exist, its viewers and the larger neofascist and antidemocracy movement would shamble on like one of the undead.

From Salon

Drawing from Korean folktale and Chung’s expertise as a Slavic literature professor, the narratives here shamble and ooze across a porous divide between highbrow absurdism and lowbrow jump scare.

From Los Angeles Times