shambles

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sham·bles

(shăm′bəlz)

pl.n. (used with a sing. verb)

a. A scene or condition of complete disorder or ruin: "The economy was in a shambles" (W. Bruce Lincoln).

b. Great clutter or jumble; a total mess: made dinner and left the kitchen a shambles.

a. A place or scene of bloodshed or carnage.

b. A scene or condition of great devastation.

3. A slaughterhouse.

4. Archaic A meat market or butcher shop.

[From Middle English shamel, shambil, place where meat is butchered and sold, from Old English sceamol, table, counter (as one on which items for sale are placed), from Latin scabillum, scamillum, diminutive of scamnum, bench, stool.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

shambles

(ˈʃæmbəlz)

n (functioning as singular or plural)

1. a place of great disorder: the room was a shambles after the party.

2. (Agriculture) a place where animals are brought to be slaughtered

3. any place of slaughter or carnage

4. (Commerce) dialect Brit a row of covered stalls or shops where goods, originally meat, are sold

[C14 shamble table used by meat vendors, from Old English sceamel stool, from Late Latin scamellum a small bench, from Latin scamnum stool]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sham•bles

(ˈʃæm bəlz)
n. (used with a sing. or pl. v.)

1. a slaughterhouse.

2. any place of carnage.

3. any scene of destruction.

4. a place or condition of great disorder.

[before 900; Old English sc(e)amel stool, table < Late Latin scamellum, Latin scamillum, diminutive of Latin scamnum bench]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	shambles - a condition of great disorder disorderliness, disorder - a condition in which things are not in their expected places; "the files are in complete disorder"
	2.	shambles - a building where animals are butchered abattoir, butchery, slaughterhouse building, edifice - a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place; "there was a three-story building on the corner"; "it was an imposing edifice"

shambles

noun

1. chaos, mess, disorder, confusion, muddle, havoc, anarchy, disarray, madhouse, disorganization The economy is a shambles.

2. mess, state, jumble, tip, disaster area, untidiness The boat's interior was an utter shambles.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

shambles

noun

A ruinous state of disorder:

botch, foul-up, mess, muddle.

Informal: hash.

Slang: screwup, snafu.

Translations

مَجْزَرمكان كلُّه فَوْضى

bordelnepořádekzmatek

virvar

Durcheinander wüstes Durcheinander

αχούρι

desquicio

kaaos

fouillis pagaille

zbrka

mészárszékösszevisszaságpusztulásrendetlenségromhalmaz

óreiîa

caos gran disordine

乱雑な状態

난장판

jovalas

haossjuceklis

soppa

dağınıklık karışıklık talan olmuş

cảnh hỗn độn

屠宰场杂乱混乱

shambles

[ˈʃæmblz] NSING (= scene of confusion) → desorden m, confusión f
this room is a shambles! → ¡esta habitación está hecha un desastre!
the place was a shambles → el lugar quedó hecho pedazos
the game was a shambles → el partido fue desastroso

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

shambles

[ˈʃæmb^əlz] n

(= messy place) → fouillis m
It's a complete shambles
BUT C'est la pagaille complète.

(= fiasco)
The rehearsal was a shambles → La répétition a été un vrai désastre.
in a shambles
The economy is in a complete shambles → L'économie part dans tous les sens.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

shambles

n sing → heilloses Durcheinander; (esp of room etc) → Tohuwabohu nt; the room was a shambles → im Zimmer herrschte das reinste Tohuwabohu or ein heilloses Durcheinander; the economy/country is in a shambles → die Wirtschaft/das Land befindet sich in einem Chaos; they left the house in a shambles → sie hinterließen das Haus wie ein Schlachtfeld; the game was a shambles → das Spiel war das reinste Kuddelmuddel (inf); he made a shambles of that job → da hat er vielleicht einen Mist gebaut! (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

shambles

[ˈʃæmblz] nsg (scene of confusion) → macello, baraonda
the area was (in) a shambles after the earthquake → dopo il terremoto la zona era nella distruzione più totale
the economy is (in) a complete shambles → l'economia è nel caos più totale
the place was (in) a shambles → c'era un macello
the game was a shambles → la partita è stata un disastro

shambles

(ˈʃӕmblz) noun singular

a confused mess; (something in) a state of disorder. His room was a shambles; We're in a bit of a shambles at the moment.

shambles

→ مَجْزَر bordel virvar Durcheinander αχούρι desquicio kaaos pagaille zbrka caos 乱雑な状態 난장판 janboel kaos pobojowisko confusão беспорядок soppa ความยุ่งเหยิง ความโกลาหล สถานการณ์สับสนวุ่นวาย talan olmuş cảnh hỗn độn 屠宰场

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Smellest thou not already the shambles and cookshops of the spirit?

View in context

Sab Than lay dead beside his father, and the corpses of the flower of Zodangan nobility and chivalry covered the floor of the bloody shambles.

View in context

Kobe was a shambles; the slaughter of the cotton operatives by machine-guns became classic as the most terrific execution ever achieved by modern war machines.

View in context

He never knew, each time he entered the festering shambles, whether or not he would be able to complete the round.

View in context

The round-house was like a shambles; three were dead inside, another lay in his death agony across the threshold; and there were Alan and I victorious and unhurt.

View in context

When about to be sent to the same market, an older sister went to the shambles, to plead with the wretch who owned them, for the love of God, to spare his victims.

View in context

When it cleared again the place was a shambles. Wilson and eight others were wriggling on the top of each other on the floor, and the blood and the brown sherry on that table turn me sick now when I think of it.

View in context

Wait, please; you betray too much vigor, too much decision; you want more of a shamble. Look at me, please -- this is what I mean......Now you are get- ting it; that is the idea -- at least, it sort of approaches it......Yes, that is pretty fair.

View in context

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