hobble

[ hob-uhl ]
See synonyms for: hobblehobbledhobbling on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),hob·bled, hob·bling.
  1. to walk lamely; limp.

  2. to proceed irregularly and haltingly: His verses hobble with their faulty meters.

verb (used with object),hob·bled, hob·bling.
  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.

  1. to impede; hamper the progress of.

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

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

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

  2. Archaic. an awkward or difficult situation.

Origin of hobble

1
1300–50; Middle English hobelen, apparently akin to hob protuberance, uneven ground, and to Dutch hobbelen,German hoppeln to jolt

Other words for hobble

Opposites for hobble

Other words from hobble

  • hobbler, noun
  • un·hob·bled, adjective
  • un·hob·bling, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hobble in a sentence

  • I say, very nearly knocking down the old sweeper who was hobbling away as fast as posibil.

    Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • There was not a soul to be seen, except an old beggar woman who was hobbling along, supporting herself with two sticks.

    Boyhood in Norway | Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen
  • Hobbling to the stove, she examined the battered tin can, letting the moonlight shine into its rusty depths.

  • A man hobbling on a stick came in from the doctors room, and, seeing Kentucky, picked his way over the outstretched forms to him.

    Grapes of wrath | Boyd Cable
  • When he returned, hobbling up with his tiny bundle, the backwoods world was rioting in the scarlet and gold of young October.

    The Backwoodsmen | Charles G. D. Roberts

British Dictionary definitions for hobble

hobble

/ (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

  1. to progress unevenly or with difficulty

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

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

  2. a limping gait

  1. British dialect a difficult or embarrassing situation

  2. a castrated ferret

Origin of hobble

1
C14: probably from Low German; compare Flemish hoppelen, Middle Dutch hobbelen to stammer
  • Also (for senses 2, 5): hopple

Derived forms of hobble

  • hobbler, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012