shamble Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun walking with a slow dragging motion without lifting your feet
    shambling; shuffle; shuffling.
    • from his shambling I assumed he was very old
  2. verb walk by dragging one's feet
    shuffle; scuffle.
    • he shuffled out of the room
    • We heard his feet shuffling down the hall

WordNet

Sham"ble noun
Etymology
OE. schamel a bench, stool, AS. scamel, sceamol, a bench, form, stool, fr. L. scamellum, dim. of scamnum a bench, stool.
Definitions
  1. (Mining) One of a succession of niches or platforms, one above another, to hold ore which is thrown successively from platform to platform, and thus raised to a higher level.
  2. pl. A place where butcher's meat is sold.
    As summer flies are in the shambles. Shak.
  3. pl. A place for slaughtering animals for meat.
    To make a shambles of the parliament house. Shak.
Sham"ble intransitive verb
Etymology
Cf. OD. schampelen to slip, schampen to slip away, escape. Cf. Scamble, Scamper.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Shambled ; present participle & verbal noun Shambling
Definitions
  1. To walk awkwardly and unsteadily, as if the knees were weak; to shuffle along.

Webster 1913