shamble

Pronunciation: /ˈʃeə̯mbəl/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun walking with a slow dragging motion without lifting your feet
  2. verb walk by dragging one's feet

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”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

shambling, shuffle, shuffling

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
walk

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