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Definition of hobble verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

hobble

verb
 
/ˈhɒbl/
 
/ˈhɑːbl/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they hobble
 
/ˈhɒbl/
 
/ˈhɑːbl/
he / she / it hobbles
 
/ˈhɒblz/
 
/ˈhɑːblz/
past simple hobbled
 
/ˈhɒbld/
 
/ˈhɑːbld/
past participle hobbled
 
/ˈhɒbld/
 
/ˈhɑːbld/
-ing form hobbling
 
/ˈhɒblɪŋ/
 
/ˈhɑːblɪŋ/
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  1. [intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to walk with difficulty, especially because your feet or legs hurt synonym limp
    • He hobbled painfully across the road.
    • She was hobbling around on crutches.
    Extra Examples
    • He was still hobbling around with a stick.
    • She hobbled painfully home.
    • I saw a woman hobbling towards me.
    • He used to hobble around the yard on crutches.
    • I hobbled off to find my missing shoe.
    • She hobbled painfully back to the hut.
    Topics Health problemsc2
  2. [transitive] hobble something to tie together two legs of a horse or other animal in order to stop it from running away
    • The horse’s hind legs had been hobbled.
  3. [transitive] hobble something to make it more difficult for somebody to do something or for something to happen
    • Our work is hobbled by the amount of bureaucracy involved.
  4. Word OriginMiddle English: probably of Dutch or Low German origin and related to Dutch hobbelen ‘rock from side to side’.
See hobble in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
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