hobble

hobble
hobbler, n.
/hob"euhl/, v., hobbled, hobbling, n.
v.i.
1. to walk lamely; limp.
2. to proceed irregularly and haltingly: His verses hobble with their faulty meters.
v.t.
3. to cause to limp: His tight shoes hobbled him.
4. to fasten together the legs of (a horse, mule, etc.) by short lengths of rope to prevent free motion.
5. to impede; hamper the progress of.
n.
6. an act of hobbling; an uneven, halting gait; a limp.
7. a rope, strap, etc., used to hobble an animal.
8. hobbles, a leg harness for controlling the gait of a pacer.
9. Archaic. an awkward or difficult situation.
[1300-50; ME hobelen, appar. akin to hob protuberance, uneven ground, and to D hobbelen, G hoppeln to jolt]
Syn. 5. hinder, restrict, frustrate, cramp.
Ant. 5. aid, assist, benefit.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Hobble — Hob ble, n. 1. An unequal gait; a limp; a halt; as, he has a hobble in his gait. Swift. [1913 Webster] 2. Same as {Hopple}. [1913 Webster] 3. Difficulty; perplexity; embarrassment. Waterton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hobble — [v1] limp clump, dodder, falter, halt, hitch, scuff, shuffle, stagger, stumble, totter; concept 151 Ant. go, move, run, walk hobble [v2] cripple, restrict clog, cramp, cramp one’s style, crimp, curb, entrammel, fasten, fetter, gimp, hamper,… …   New thesaurus

  • hobble — [häb′əl] vi. hobbled, hobbling [ME hobelen (akin to Du hobbelen, Ger dial. hobbeln) < base of hoppen (see HOP1) + freq. suffix] 1. to go unsteadily, haltingly, etc. 2. to walk lamely or awkwardly; limp vt. 1. to cause to go haltingly or …   English World dictionary

  • Hobble — Hob ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Hobbled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Hobbling}.] [OE. hobelen, hoblen, freq. of hoppen to hop; akin to D. hobbelen, hoblen, hoppeln. See {Hop} to jump, and cf. {Hopple} ] 1. To walk lame, bearing chiefly on one leg; to walk… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Hobble — Hob ble, v. t. 1. To fetter by tying the legs; to hopple; to clog. They hobbled their horses. Dickens [1913 Webster] 2. To perplex; to embarrass. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hobble — index block, maim, repress, restrict, trammel Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • hobble — (v.) c.1300, hoblen to rock back and forth, toss up and down, probably related to its Dutch cognate hobbelen (which, however, is not recorded before late 15c.). Meaning to walk lamely is from c.1400. Transitive sense of tie the legs (of an… …   Etymology dictionary

  • hobble — ► VERB 1) walk awkwardly, typically because of pain. 2) strap together the legs of (a horse) to prevent it straying. 3) be or cause a problem for. ► NOUN 1) an awkward way of walking. 2) a rope or strap for hobbling a horse. DER …   English terms dictionary

  • hobble — [c]/ˈhɒbəl / (say hobuhl) verb (hobbled, hobbling) –verb (i) 1. to walk lamely; limp. 2. to proceed irregularly and haltingly: hobbling verse. –verb (t) 3. to cause to limp. 4. to fasten together the legs of (a horse, etc.) so as to prevent free… …  

  • Hobble — To hobble means to walk unevenly, in an impeded manner or to cause this condition in some other entity.Hobble may also refer to: * Hobble skirt, a skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer s stride * Hobble (device), a… …   Wikipedia

  • hobble — [[t]hɒ̱b(ə)l[/t]] hobbles, hobbling, hobbled 1) VERB If you hobble, you walk in an awkward way with small steps, for example because your foot is injured. [V adv/prep] He got up slowly and hobbled over to the coffee table... The swelling had… …   English dictionary

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