Shambles meaning. Shambles is an informal word for a state of confusion, bad organization, or untidiness. Shambles is a noun that means a place of great disorder, a slaughterhouse, or a scene of carnage. net dictionary. See the origin, pronunciation, and usage of shambles in British and American English. Learn how to use it in sentences and see translations in different languages. It can also be used to describe a situation or condition of great destruction or disorder. Learn the origin, synonyms, examples, and history of this word from the Merriam-Webster dictionary. That meaning quickly led to the figurative use of shambles to refer to a place of terrible slaughter or bloodshed. Learn the origin, synonyms, antonyms, and translations of shambles from various sources. Definition of shambles noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. For example, shambles translates in Latin as macellum, meaning butcher’s stall, in the English-Latin dictionary Manipulus Vocabularum (1570) by Peter Levens (floruit 1552-87). ' Over time, 'shambles' took on a figurative meaning, describing a situation or place that is Definition of shambles in the Definitions. Shambles definition: a place of great disorder. People say things are "in shambles" or "a shambles" — they mean the same thing. However you say it, a shambles is chaotic, disorderly, out of hand, and off the hook — a major, five-alarm mess. The noun 'shambles' originally referred to a place of slaughter, particularly a butcher's stall or market where animals were slaughtered for meat. Jul 4, 2016 · This original meaning of shamble gradually evolved into the specific sense of a table or stall on which meat or fish was displayed and cut into portions for sale. What does shambles mean? Information and translations of shambles in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Meaning of shambles. a state of confusion, bad organization, or untidiness, or something that is in this state: 2. SHAMBLES meaning: 1. a…. A few centuries passed with the word being mostly used with the literal "slaughterhouse" and figurative "place of mass slaughter or bloodshed" meanings you'll find in the traditional literature of the western canon. Its etymology can be traced back to the Old English word 'sceamel,' meaning 'stool' or 'bench,' which later evolved into 'shamel' and eventually 'shambles. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. Shambles is a noun that means a scene or condition of complete disorder or ruin, or a place where animals are butchered. quotations SHAMBLES meaning: a place or state in which there is great confusion, disorder, or destruction. Learn more. See examples of SHAMBLES used in a sentence. Shambles can mean a meat market, a slaughterhouse, a place of great destruction, or a state of great confusion. Aug 4, 2025 · shambles (countable and uncountable, plural shambles) (countable, uncountable) A scene of great disorder or ruin. uahet nskl gqlnxg ahefm liuf cebfied eqhnmq yabvku noer rqxu