Definition of ramshackle

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< Ramses II

ram's horn >

ram·shack·le    (rmshkl) KEY  

ADJECTIVE:

So poorly constructed or kept up that disintegration is likely; rickety: a ramshackle cabin in the woods.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Back-formation from obsolete ranshackled, ramshackle, alteration of ransackled, past participle of ransackle, to ransack, frequentative of Middle English ransaken, to pillage ; see ransack

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