Definition of: shambles

(sham′bəlz) noun plural (generally construed as singular)
1. A place where butchers kill animals; slaughterhouse.
2. Any place of carnage or execution: The trench was a shambles.
3. A place marked by great destruction or disorder.
4. Brit. Dial. A meat market; in the singular, a table or stall in such a market. [OE scamel a bench, stool <L scamellum, dim. of scamnum bench, stool]