ramshackle, a. and n.
(ˈræmʃæk(ə)l)
Also -shacle.
[Later var. of ramshackled.]
A. adj.
1. Loose and shaky, as if ready to fall to pieces; rickety, crazy, tumble-down. (Said chiefly of carriages and houses.)
| 1830 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. (1863) 215, I could shake the old chaise to pieces with one jerk, it's so ramshackle. 1847 Thackeray Cane-bottom'd Chair, The rickety, ramshackle, wheezy spinet. 1865 Athenæum No. 1978. 400/3 A huddle of ramshackle lath-and-plaster houses. 1889 D. C. Murray Danger. Catspaw 78 There was J. P.'s ramshackle figure on the pathway. |
2. Of persons, actions, etc.: Unsteady, irregular, disorderly, rude. (Chiefly dial.)
| 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 121 What ramshackle wark ha' ye been after? 1880 ‘Vernon Lee’ Italy ii. ii. 26 Fine talent..ruined..by a disorderly character, a ramshackle career. |
B. n.
1. dial. A thoughtless or reckless fellow.
| 1824 Lockhart Reg. Dalton I. 199 This will learn ye, again, ye young ramshackle. Ibid. III. 267 An ignorant ramshackle, no question. 1877 in N.W. Linc. Gloss. |
2. nonce-use. A ramshackle object.
| 1865 Even. Standard 28 Mar., Our own..purchased hulks and general congregation of naval ramshackles. |
Hence ˈramshackle v. trans., to ‘rattle up’.
| 1865 Daily Tel. 27 Oct. 5/6 If their dwellings were not ‘ramshackled’ or ‘run up’ by some..speculative builder. |