hobble

American  

[hob-uhl] / ˈhɒb əl /

verb (used without object)

• hobbles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hobbled,
  past participle,  past
• hobbling
  present participle

1. to walk lamely; limp.

2. to proceed irregularly and haltingly.

   His verses hobble with their faulty meters.

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verb (used with object)

• hobbles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hobbled,
  past participle,  past
• hobbling
  present participle

1. to cause to limp.

   His tight shoes hobbled him.

2. to fasten together the legs of (a horse, mule, etc.) by short lengths of rope to prevent free motion.

3. to impede; hamper the progress of.

   Synonyms:

   cramp, frustrate, restrict, hinder

   Antonyms:

   benefit, assist, aid

noun

1. an act of hobbling; an uneven, halting gait; a limp.

2. a rope, strap, etc., used to hobble an animal.

3. hobbles, a leg harness for controlling the gait of a pacer.

4. Archaic. an awkward or difficult situation.

hobble British  

/ ˈhɒbəl /

verb

1. (intr) to walk with a lame awkward movement

2. (tr) to fetter the legs of (a horse) in order to restrict movement

3. to progress unevenly or with difficulty

4. (tr) to hamper or restrict (the actions or scope of a person, organization, etc)

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noun

1. a strap, rope, etc, used to hobble a horse

2. a limping gait

3. dialect a difficult or embarrassing situation

4. a castrated ferret

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hobbler
  noun
• unhobbled
  adjective
• unhobbling
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• hobbling
  present
• hobbled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• hobble
  simple
• hobbles
  simple
• have hobbled
  perfect
• has hobbled
  perfect
• am hobbling
  progressive
• are hobbling
  progressive
• is hobbling
  progressive
• have been hobbling
  perfect progressive
• has been hobbling
  perfect progressive

Past

• hobbled
  simple
• had hobbled
  perfect
• was hobbling
  progressive
• were hobbling
  progressive
• had been hobbling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will hobble
  simple
• will have hobbled
  perfect
• will be hobbling
  progressive
• will have been hobbling
  perfect progressive

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hobble hobbles hobbled hobbling

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

"I vowed to myself I would never hobble after my hip replacement," she said.

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

As implied here all along, Netflix’s real triumph was driving up the price Paramount had to pay and saddling the newcomer with enough debt to hobble any challenge to Netflix’s streaming dominance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

The bacterial infection in his leg was now so severe, he could barely hobble.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

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

Tom hobbles through a world he fails to see.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2023

And dependence on ticket sales also hobbles programming innovation.

From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 2022

Without waiting for a response, he hobbles out of the cafeteria.

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass

Once a near-mythical figure, seen only in a handful of long-outdated photos, Zambada, 76, hobbled into a packed courtroom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

The first-generation Doubao phone had been hobbled when major apps blocked unauthorised access.

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

That particular quagmire, however, hobbled and ultimately ended the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson and damaged US global standing for at least a decade.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Ulysses Grant was serving his second term as president, and his administration had been hobbled by corruption scandals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

She rose and with the sack over her shoulder hobbled up the hill.

From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya

After hobbling back for another go, she scored a 9.712, clinching the team’s historic win.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Critics are concerned that the spending cuts are already hobbling the agency’s ability to ensure more complex returns are filed correctly.

From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026

Texas Tech is hobbling into the tournament without star forward J.T.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 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

He escorted Lee through the house, hobbling awkwardly on the wooden leg, talking about the bullet that had hit him there that afternoon while he was mounted on his horse.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

Related Words

• falter
• halt
• shuffle
• stagger
• stumble