limp1
/lɪmp
/verb [no object, usually with adverbial of direction]
1Walk with difficulty, typically because of a damaged or stiff leg or foot: he limped heavily as he moved [with adverbial of direction]: he limped off during Saturday’s game...
- He staggered to his feet, limping towards the entrance of the cave, his body searing with pain each time he moved.
- Angela quickly recovered from her stumble, and began to limp while walking ahead of him, hoping he wouldn't notice.
- Ideally, these steaks should arrive as hard and dense as diamonds; drop them on your foot and you'll limp for a week.
Synonyms
hobble, walk with a limp, walk with difficulty, walk lamely, walk haltingly, walk unevenly, falter;
shuffle, shamble, totter, dodder, stagger, stumble;
Scottish hirple
1.1 [with adverbial of direction] (Of a damaged ship, aircraft, or vehicle) proceed with difficulty: the badly damaged aircraft limped back to Sicily...
- After 37 days at sea his ship limped into Sydney after being torpedoed by a German U-boat.
- Soldiers silhouetted by a pink sunset watched their battle-worn vehicles limp back into camp.
- I soon found out how difficult it would be to limp the aircraft home.
noun
A tendency to limp; a gait impeded by injury or stiffness: the accident left him with a pronounced limp...
- He watched her, wordlessly, using a carefully organized gait to hide the limp.
- He got up from his sitting position and, with a slight limp in his gait, he ran towards the battlefield.
- They have a pitcher whose right leg is an inch shorter than his left leg, giving him a limp in his gait.
Synonyms
lameness, hobble, uneven gait, shuffle
rare claudication
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'fall short of'): related to obsolete limphalt 'lame', and probably of Germanic origin.
Limp meaning ‘walk unevenly or with difficulty’ was originally used with the sense ‘fall short of’: it is related to obsolete limphalt ‘lame’, and is probably of Germanic origin. Use of the word in nautical, aviation, and other transport contexts such as limp into port, limped over the airfield is found from the 1920s. Limp in the sense ‘lacking firmness’ dates from the early 18th century. It may be related to the other limp, but its origin is uncertain.
Rhymes
limp2
/lɪmp/adjective
1Lacking internal strength or structure; not stiff or firm: she let her whole body go limp the flags hung limp and still...
- I was pretty damn sure I had turned completely white; I felt stiff, limp, and heavy all at once.
- In a fashion shoot called Doll Drums, the model lies limp and stiff, draped over chairs as if she'd been thrown there by a petulant child.
- Pramoto, a man with a soft face and a limp cigarette, lay sprawled on a rickshaw seat.
1.1Having or denoting a book cover that is not stiffened with board.
1.2Without energy or vigour: a limp handshake...
- This production could have used more aggressive direction from Barbara Larose to spark the limp energy of the cast.
- Still feeling sick, he was completely limp without any energy.
- Like a limp handshake, this beer lacked substance and character; however our pack on the next table seemed to be drinking it easily enough!
Synonyms
tired, fatigued, weary, exhausted, worn out;
lethargic, listless, spiritless, without energy, spent, weak, enervated, flagging
Derivatives
limply
/ adverb ...- Above the store's signboard, drying shirts hang limply from the window grill.
- The way she hung limply in her fathers arms made him believe she was already dead.
- There are few visual images more saddening than a flag, limply draped at half-mast.
limpness
/ noun ...- The senator's action even obliquely rebuked Democrats for the limpness of their opposition.
- The new persona has to stand out - and here Michael Howard's problem is the limpness of his statement.
- He describes contemporary literature as being characterised by limpness, as having lost its potency.
Origin
Early 18th century: of unknown origin; perhaps related to limp1, having the basic sense 'hanging loose'.