Shamble

//ˈʃæmbl̩// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    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. 2
    walking with a slow dragging motion without lifting your feet wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To walk while shuffling or dragging the feet.

    "I wasn't too impressed with the fellow, when he shambled in unenthusiastically and an hour late."

  2. 2
    walk by dragging one's feet wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
shuffleshuffleambleandantebargebowl along

Example

More examples

"I wasn't too impressed with the fellow, when he shambled in unenthusiastically and an hour late."

Etymology

From Middle English schambyll, shamyll, schamel, from Old English sċeamol, scamol (“bench, stool”), from Proto-West Germanic *skamul, *skamil, from Proto-Germanic *skamulaz, *skamilaz, from Latin scamellum, a variant of scabellum (“footstool”). Cognate with Dutch schemel (“footstool, bench”), German Schemel (“stool”), Danish skammel (“stool”). Icelandic skemill (“footstool”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.