Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun plural A scene or condition of complete disorder or ruin.
- noun plural Great clutter or jumble; a total mess.
- noun plural A place or scene of bloodshed or carnage.
- noun plural A scene or condition of great devastation.
- noun plural A slaughterhouse.
- noun plural Archaic A meat market or butcher shop.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a
scene of greatdisorder orruin - noun a great
mess orclutter - noun a
scene ofbloodshed ,carnage ordevastation - noun a
slaughterhouse - noun archaic a
butcher 'sshop - verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of
shamble .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a condition of great disorder
- noun a building where animals are butchered
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In the defense of droopy faced Christine, her life is in shambles from the start.
Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2009
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Obama, as did Reagan, inherited an economy in shambles, and it will take a few years to get the rate down.
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An educational system based on survival of the fittest competition now in shambles:
Think Progress » Bill’s Late Father Irving Kristol: ‘My Poor Son Has Got It Wrong Again’ 2010
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The State budgets are in shambles and taxes and fees are going though the roof, the federal debt is at a record of near 13 trillion dollars.
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I don't see an argument here that the economy was in shambles until Dole and Gingrich took power in the Congress.
Did the Bush Tax Cut Fail?, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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BRIEF SYNOPSIS: With his life, and mind, in shambles after an industrial accident, Edgar Freemantle retreats to an island in Florida, where both the island, and Edgar, are deeper and darker than he had imagined.
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If I take up space here writing all the other theories that were once, supposedly, absolute and the foundation of all knowledge and which are now tottering if not in shambles, I'll say nothing else.
[GUEST POST] Sarah A. Hoyt on The Death of Science Fiction: It Ain't Over Till The Fat Droid Sings 2010
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The GOP is in shambles, I LOVE IT! annie against biased news
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With the private sector in shambles, the Federal government is the only one with enough juice left to fix anything.
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I mean, hell, if I was accused of molesting children, had a face falling apart, a career in shambles, and had become a mockery of my former self, I'd be on drugs too.
Archive: Oct 08 - Mar 09 Cath@VWXYNot? 2009
maesepedro commented on the word shambles
I liked this word anyway but a colleague has just told me that it is also the name for a drink consisting of champagne mixed with Red Bull, which I've never had but which sounds like a deadly combination, and which would be entirely deserving of this name.
July 18, 2008
joanwinnek commented on the word shambles
"A stone post rose in the midst, to which the oxen had formerly been tied for baiting with dogs to make them tender before they were killed in the adjoining shambles. --Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
February 22, 2012