Tweak that a little and you arrive at the 15th-century term shambles, meaning "meat market." A century or so takes shambles from "meat market" to "slaughterhouse," then to figurative application as a term referring to a place of terrible slaughter or bloodshed (say, a battlefield). SHAMBLES definition: 1. a state of confusion, bad organization, or untidiness, or something that is in this state: 2.

Understanding the Context

a…. Learn more. This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Shambles. If an internal link incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Key Insights

Running between Newgate in the north and Pavement in the south, the street is narrow, with many timber-framed buildings with jettied floors which overhang the street by several feet. It was once known as the "Great Flesh Shambles", a name reflecting its historical use as a butchers' street. SHAMBLES meaning: 1. a state of confusion, bad organization, or untidiness, or something that is in this state: 2. a….

Final Thoughts

Learn more. If a place, event, or situation is a shambles or is in a shambles, everything is in disorder. The ship's interior was an utter shambles. The economy is in a shambles. People say things are "in shambles" or "a shambles" — they mean the same thing. However you say it, a shambles is chaotic, disorderly, out of hand, and off the hook — a major, five-alarm mess.

1. a place of great disorder: the room was a shambles after the party. 2. (Agriculture) a place where animals are brought to be slaughtered.