shambles
/ˈʃæmbəlz/ noun
Also a form of shamble
- noun (countable, uncountable) A scene of great disorder or ruin.
- noun (countable) A great mess or clutter. “This bedroom is a shambles.”
- noun (countable) A scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation.
- noun (countable) A slaughterhouse.
- noun (countable, archaic) A butcher's shop.
Synonyms
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”).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “shambles”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details