Hypertext Webster Gateway: "hobble"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hobble \Hob"ble\, n. 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 with a
hitch or hop, or with crutches.
The friar was hobbling the same way too. --Dryden.
2. To move roughly or irregularly; -- said of style in
writing. --Prior.
The hobbling versification, the mean diction.
--Jeffreys.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hobble \Hob"ble\, v. t.
1. To fetter by tying the legs; to hopple; to clog. `` They
hobbled their horses.'' --Dickens
2. To perplex; to embarrass.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hobble \Hob"ble\, n.
1. An unequal gait; a limp; a halt; as, he has a hobble in
his gait. --Swift.
2. Same as {Hopple}.
3. Difficulty; perplexity; embarrassment. --Waterton.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
hobble
n 1: a shackle for the ankles or feet [syn: {fetter}]
2: the uneven manner of walking that results from an injured
leg [syn: {hitch}, {limp}]
v 1: walk impeded by some physical limitation or injury; "The old
woman hobbles down to the store every day." [syn: {limp},
{hitch}]
2: hamper the action or progress of;"The chairman was hobbled
by the all-powerful dean"
3: strap the foreleg and hind leg together on each side (of a
horse) in order to keep the like-sided legs moving in
unison; of race horses [syn: {hopple}]
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