hobble
Americanverb (used without object)
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to walk lamely; limp.
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to proceed irregularly and haltingly.
His verses hobble with their faulty meters.
verb (used with object)
noun
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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
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a limping gait
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dialect a difficult or embarrassing situation
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a castrated ferret
Other Word Forms
- hobbler noun
- unhobbled adjective
- unhobbling adjective
Etymology
Origin of hobble
1300–50; Middle English hobelen, apparently akin to hob protuberance, uneven ground, and to Dutch hobbelen, German hoppeln to jolt
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.
I hobbled as fast as I could, fighting the flopping backpack with each step.
Meanwhile, long-term sanctions have hobbled Iran’s economy and left most Iranians desperately poor.
From Los Angeles Times
The tussle could hobble Anthropic’s business with the government.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
I shook hands with her and watched as she hobbled into the house, as happy as a lark.
From Literature
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.
