shambles Hear it!

shambles Definition

sham·bles (-bəlz)

noun

  1. Brit. a place where meat is sold; butcher's stall or shop: now only a local usage, esp. in street names
  2. a slaughterhouse
  3. a scene of great slaughter, bloodshed, or carnage
  4. any scene or condition of great destruction or disorder rooms left a shambles by conventioneers

Etymology: ME schamel, bench, as for displaying meat for sale < OE scamol, bench or stool, akin to Ger schemel < early WGmc borrowing < L scamellum, dim. < scamnum, bench < IE base *skabh-, *skambh-, to prop up > Sans skámbhana-, a support

shambles Synonyms

shambles

n.

mess, hodge-podge, confusion; see disorder 2.

shambles Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • become: The Tax Credit system has become a complete shambles.
  • look: Even with plenty of ball, England had looked a shambles.
  • make: The ' Connecting Derby ' scheme is continuing to make a shambles of Victoria Street.
  • compare: When they are a pathetic shambles compared to what they could be, I suffer.
  • see: Thank goodness he did not live to see the shambles that turned into the Tories ' privatization of the railways.
  • explain: Question: How do you explain the shambles surrounding the introduction of the new tax credit system?

Preposition: at

back: Goodness me what a shambles at the back during the Cheltenham draw at the KC Stadium.

Adjective modifier

  • utter: With that we left the utter shambles of the fall of Singapore.
  • bloody: The handling of FMD must have been a cockup, or more precisely a total bloody shambles.
  • absolute: The Immigration Policy of the Government is an absolute shambles.
  • complete: The result of the events of 1996 was a complete shambles in the asylum system.
  • total: The ensemble dancing is in fact all over the place and ends in a total shambles.
  • current: The current shambles illustrates the folly of allowing Mr Clarke to stay on to sort out the mess.

Noun used with modifier

  • planning: Well done, Surrey, for using the ' planning shambles ' to resist this invasion.
  • flesh: Flesh shambles were flesh benches or stalls where meat was once sold in medieval times.
  • law: A TERRIBLE SHAMBLES 29 June 2006 MINISTERS must take responsibility for the latest terror law shambles.
  • deportation: Labor government's deportation shambles - Chilean who escaped Pinochet to be sent to Jamaica Submitted by tony on 30 May 2006 - 10:00am.

Possessives

butcher: The livestock market and butchers ' shambles used to take place in the market place and the yards of the inns along Sun Street.

Preposition: in

system: The result of the events of 1996 was a complete shambles in the asylum system.

Preposition: of

government: On Tuesday Michael Howard captured the mood of a nation longing for something better than this shambles of a government.

Browse dictionary entries near shambles

  1. shamble
  2. Shamash
  3. shamas
  4. shamanism
  5. shaman
  6. sham transaction
  7. sham pleading
  8. sham
  9. shaly
  10. shalt
  1. shambolic
  2. shame
  3. shamed
  4. shamefaced
  5. shameful
  6. shamefully
  7. shameless
  8. shamelessly
  9. shammer
  10. shammes