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.

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