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Definition of shamble verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

shamble

verb
 
/ˈʃæmbl/
 
/ˈʃæmbl/
[intransitive]
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they shamble
 
/ˈʃæmbl/
 
/ˈʃæmbl/
he / she / it shambles
 
/ˈʃæmblz/
 
/ˈʃæmblz/
past simple shambled
 
/ˈʃæmbld/
 
/ˈʃæmbld/
past participle shambled
 
/ˈʃæmbld/
 
/ˈʃæmbld/
-ing form shambling
 
/ˈʃæmblɪŋ/
 
/ˈʃæmblɪŋ/
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  1. (+ adv./prep.) to walk in a slow and lazy way or with difficulty, dragging your feet along the ground
    • The old porter shambled along behind her.
    • He shambled off into the house.
    • a shambling gait
    • She shambled off towards the stairs.
    Topics Personal qualitiesc2
    Word Originlate 16th cent.: probably from dialect shamble ‘ungainly’, perhaps from the phrase shamble legs, with reference to the legs of trestle tables (such as would be used in a meat market: see shambles).
See shamble in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
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B1
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