† ˈscammel, a. Obs. rare—1.
[Perh. connected with scamble v.: cf. Sc. skemmel ‘a tall, thin, ungainly person’ (Jam.); also dial. scrammel ‘a lean, gaunt, ill-favoured person or animal’ (E.D.D.).]
Lean, scraggy.
| 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magic ii. ix. 39 That [mule] which is begotten of the wilde Asse, cometh nothing behind the other, but only that it is unruly and stubborn, and somewhat scammel, like the Sire [L. nisi, quod..strigosum patris proferet habitum]. |