shambles

sham·bles  (shmblz)

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

1.

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.

2.

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, from Latin scabillum, scamillum, diminutive of scamnum, bench, stool.]

Word History: A place or situation referred to as a shambles is usually a mess, but it is no longer always the bloody mess it once was. The history of the word begins innocently enough with the Latin word scamnum, "a stool or bench serving as a seat, step, or support for the feet, for example." The diminutive scamillum, "low stool," was borrowed by speakers of Old English as sceamol, "stool, bench, table." Old English sceamol became Middle English shamel, which developed the specific sense in the singular and plural of "a place where meat is butchered and sold." The Middle English compound shamelhouse meant "slaughterhouse," a sense that the plural shambles developed (first recorded in 1548) along with the figurative sense "a place or scene of bloodshed" (first recorded in 1593). Our current, more generalized meaning, "a scene or condition of disorder," is first recorded in 1926.

---

shambles [ˈʃæmb^əlz]

n (functioning as singular or plural)

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

2. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Agriculture) a place where animals are brought to be slaughtered

3. any place of slaughter or carnage

4. (Business / Commerce) Brit dialect 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]

Thesaurus

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.

Translations

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

---

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.

---

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)

---

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 [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

n sg shambles [ˈʃӕmblz]

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. deurmekaar, varkhok مكان كلُّه فَوْضى касапница zmatek, nepořádek virvar wüstes Durcheinander χάος, αναστάτωση desorden, confusión segadus, kaos جاي ريخته و پاشيده sekamelska fouillis בָּלָגָן गड़बड़-घोटाला zbrka, nered zűrzavar keadaan kacau óreiða confusione 混乱 난장판 jovalas, suirutė juceklis; haoss tunggang-langgang; kucar-kacir janboel rot, kaos rozgardiasz confusão harababură беспорядок, хаос zmätok, neporiadok zmešnjava rusvaj röra, soppa ความยุ่งเหยิง dağınıklık, karışıklık 一團亂，雜亂無章 безладдя, хаос بے ترتیبی ، خرابی cảnh hỗn loạn, trình trạng rối ren 混乱的地方

---

shambles → مجزر fiasko virvar Durcheinander μαντάρα 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