SHAMBLES

n.pl. (usu. treated as sing.) 1 colloq. a mess or muddle (the room was a shambles). 2 a butcher's slaughterhouse. 3 a scene of carnage.

[ pl. of shamble stool, stall f. OE sc(e)amul f. WG f. L scamellum dimin. of scamnum bench ]