SHAMBLES


Meaning of SHAMBLES in English

/ ˈʃæmblz; NAmE / noun [ sing. ] ( informal )

1.

a situation in which there is a lot of confusion

SYN mess :

The press conference was a complete shambles.

What a shambles!

The government is in a shambles over Europe.

2.

a place which is dirty or untidy

SYN mess :

The house was a shambles.

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WORD ORIGIN

late Middle English (in the sense meat market ): plural of earlier shamble stool, stall , of West Germanic origin, from Latin scamellum , diminutive of scamnum bench.

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.