Crossword clues for hobble
hobble
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International 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 ]
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To walk lame, bearing chiefly on one leg; to walk with a hitch or hop, or with crutches.
The friar was hobbling the same way too.
--Dryden. -
To move roughly or irregularly; -- said of style in writing.
--Prior.The hobbling versification, the mean diction.
--Jeffreys.
Hobble \Hob"ble\, v. t.
To fetter by tying the legs; to hopple; to clog. `` They hobbled their horses.''
--DickensTo perplex; to embarrass.
Hobble \Hob"ble\, n.
An unequal gait; a limp; a halt; as, he has a hobble in his gait.
--Swift.Same as Hopple.
Difficulty; perplexity; embarrassment.
--Waterton.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
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.).\n
\nMeaning "to walk lamely" is from c.1400. Transitive sense of "tie the legs (of an animal)" first recorded 1831, probably an alteration of 16c. hopple, cognate with Flemish hoppelen "to rock, jump," which also is related to Dutch hobbelen. Sense of "hamper, hinder" is c.1870. Related: Hobbled; hobbling. The noun is 1727, from the verb.
Wiktionary
n. 1 Short straps tied between the legs of unfenced horses, allowing them to wander short distances but preventing them from running off. 2 An unsteady, off-balance step. vb. 1 To fetter by tying the legs; to restrict (a horse) with hobbles. 2 To walk lame, or unevenly. 3 (context figurative English) To move roughly or irregularly. 4 To perplex; to embarrass.
WordNet
v. walk impeded by some physical limitation or injury; "The old woman hobbles down to the store every day" [syn: limp, hitch]
hamper the action or progress of; "The chairman was hobbled by the all-powerful dean"
strap the foreleg and hind leg together on each side (of a horse) in order to keep the like-sided legs moving in unison; "hobble race horses" [syn: hopple]
Wikipedia
A hobble is a device that prevents or limits the locomotion of a human or an animal, by tethering one or more legs. Although hobbles are most commonly used on horses, they are sometimes used also on other animals. On dogs, they are used especially during force-fetch training to limit the movement of a dog's front paws when training it to stay still. They are made from leather, rope, or synthetic materials such as nylon or Neoprene. There are various designs for breeding, casting, and mounting horses.
To hobble means to walk in an impeded manner, as if with a physical disability or injury, or to cause an animal or person to do likewise.
Hobble may also refer to:
- Hobble (device), a device used for restricting the ability to run or to walk
- Hobble skirt, a skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer's stride
Usage examples of "hobble".
Without a word of acquiescence or acknowledgment, he turned to hobble in the direction of the tarn.
Alice hobbled towards Mary, and when she came face to face with her, she was standing almost in the same place in which Alee had stood some days earlier.
The chaplain hailed him, and the turncoat to whom he had not yet been introduced arose expectantly, but the Nomad went straight to their hobbled horses.
He heaves his booty, tugs askew his peaked cap and hobbles off mutely.
The final climb left Batman breathless, and it was so steep that Malibu had to get off his stretcher and hobble along supported by two of the camo-clad natives.
There hobbles Goody Foster, a sour and bitter old beldam, looking as if she went to curse, and not to pray, and whom many of her neighbors suspect of taking an occasional airing on a broomstick.
Which had been a pointless order, when a score of undressed bibb is were hobbling down the highway with silver bells tied to their wrists and even the officers were staring at them like starving men seeing a plate of roast beef.
After a while they gave me a set of crutches I was hobbling around on them when this bogman in a dressing gown says to me: What happened to you?
Several animals, those called bosk, ten or more, hobbled, browsed among the trees on the other side of the camp.
Farder Coram and Lyra exchanged a look of alarm and wonderment, but only for a second, and then Farder Coram was hobbling out on his sticks as fast as he could manage, with his daemon padding ahead of him.
And when morning came dull and drizzly, like an old gray widow hobbling out from the dark, her cold tears freckling the sidewalks, in all my drunkenness and disarray, I went down to Emerald Street to seek my satisfaction.
Only the Eldern was silent, hobbling slowly toward the orbital view of Min-Tutopa.
By the time the horses were relieved of their saddles and hobbled, Baltis had a fire going, and Enam and Shamil were skinning and spitting hares.
He hobbled out into the hallway with Espe supporting him under one arm.
He turned from the wall and hobbled back to where Espe sat cross-legged on the floor.