hobble
Americanverb (used without object)
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hobbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hobbled,
past participle, past
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hobbling
present participle
-
to walk lamely; limp.
-
to proceed irregularly and haltingly.
His verses hobble with their faulty meters.
verb (used with object)
-
hobbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hobbled,
past participle, past
-
hobbling
present participle
noun
-
an act of hobbling; an uneven, halting gait; a limp.
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a rope, strap, etc., used to hobble an animal.
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hobbles, a leg harness for controlling the gait of a pacer.
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Archaic. an awkward or difficult situation.
verb
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(intr) to walk with a lame awkward movement
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(tr) to fetter the legs of (a horse) in order to restrict movement
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to progress unevenly or with difficulty
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(tr) to hamper or restrict (the actions or scope of a person, organization, etc)
noun
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a strap, rope, etc, used to hobble a horse
-
a limping gait
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dialect a difficult or embarrassing situation
-
a castrated ferret
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hobblesimple
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hobblessimple
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have hobbledperfect
-
has hobbledperfect
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am hobblingprogressive
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are hobblingprogressive
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is hobblingprogressive
-
have been hobblingperfect progressive
-
has been hobblingperfect progressive
Past
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hobbledsimple
-
had hobbledperfect
-
was hobblingprogressive
-
were hobblingprogressive
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had been hobblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hobble
1300–50; Middle English hobelen, apparently akin to hob protuberance, uneven ground, and to Dutch hobbelen, German hoppeln to jolt
Explanation
When you hobble, you walk awkwardly or unsteadily because you're in pain. You might wipe out on your bike and then hobble back home, pushing it in front of you. People who hobble, walking with a limp or a shuffle, have most often been injured in some way, though a disabled or elderly person might hobble too. You can call the walk itself a hobble as well: "I knew that football tackle hurt when I saw your hobble as you left the field." The root of hobble is Old English — it's related to the Dutch hobbelen, "rock from side to side."
Vocabulary lists containing hobble
Seedfolks
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Number the Stars
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But businesses say they can also hobble a firm’s ability to get financing or compete for federal contracts, and other critics say that tends to hurt shareholders and employees more than executives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
England explained his exile on grounds of conditioning, on a tendency to lose pace or hobble out of matches altogether.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Even if the war ends soon, his “excursion” will hobble the economy for months.
From Salon ● May 31, 2026
Even more concerning than the Lakers’ 139-96 blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday was watching superstar guard Luka Doncic hobble off the court with a left hamstring injury in the third quarter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2026
Jack helps me hobble a few steps back up the trail.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
Still, anyone who has followed wrestling for years can see the way it hobbles its heels and heroes alike.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
If the hit from U.S. tariffs hobbles growth significantly, that could prompt the RBI to act again, analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
One of those points is that Apple intentionally hobbles third-party messaging apps to make them less attractive than the phone’s default Messages app.
From Slate ● Mar. 21, 2024
Matthieu Jalibert hobbles off the field and that is a blow for France, who are already without Romain Ntamack at fly-half.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2024
But you can’t get to London without money and that’s why he hobbles up to us that Friday, the day before Confirmation.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
If the Braves don’t trade instead for Matt Olson, the Dodgers don’t have a hobbled Freeman hitting his walk-off, 10th-inning grand slam against the New York Yankees in the World Series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Since June the tiny west African nation has been hobbled by prolonged blackouts, which have reached a fever pitch in recent weeks, right at the peak of the hot season.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
Production at GKN's Garden Grove facility currently remains hobbled, at roughly 50% of normal, according to public statements, external by its UK parent company Melrose Industries.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Saudi Arabia’s production already had been severely hobbled before the pipeline’s shutdown.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
It was there that a bent, white-haired old woman, glaucous-blind in one eye, hobbled over to the star, and bade her to stop a while and talk.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
She and others also feared hobbling the movement they’d spent their lives building up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Texas Tech is hobbling into the tournament without star forward J.T.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
Many Goma residents previously relied on relief supplies delivered through the city’s international airport, but the rebels have shut the airport down, hobbling aid groups’ efforts to replenish depleted stocks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
As Australia began the day on 518-7, Stokes took the ball and would manage only 10 deliveries before hobbling off holding his groin.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026
The madwoman in the Tower saw the Witch hobbling through the trees.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
