5 April 2017
hobble
[hob-uh l]
verb (used without object), hobbled, hobbling.
1. to walk lamely; limp.
2. to proceed irregularly and haltingly:
His verses hobble with their faulty meters.
verb (used with object), hobbled, hobbling.
3. to cause to limp:
His tight shoes hobbled him.
4. to fasten together the legs of (a horse, mule, etc.) by short lengths of rope to prevent free motion.
5. to impede; hamper the progress of.
noun
6. an act of hobbling; an uneven, halting gait; a limp.
7. a rope, strap, etc., used to hobble an animal.
8. hobbles, a leg harness for controlling the gait of a pacer.
9. Archaic. an awkward or difficult situation.
Origin of hobble
Middle English
1300-1350; Middle English hobelen, apparently akin to hob protuberance, uneven ground, and to Dutch hobbelen, German hoppeln to jolt
Related forms
hobbler, noun
unhobbled, adjective
unhobbling, adjective
Synonyms
5. hinder, restrict, frustrate, cramp.
Antonyms
5. aid, assist, benefit.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for hobble
Contemporary Examples
Hardly able to hobble into the room on his bruised and engorged feet, he sported black eyes.
Despite Pledge, Syrian Rebels Continue to Torture
Jamie Dettmer
August 14, 2012
Just the distraction that this kind of case creates can hobble even the most successful, well-run company.
Antitrust Suit Could Bring Down Google
Dan Lyons
April 26, 2012
This, more than any one scandal, is likely to hobble the party for the next few election cycles.
Paging Rose Mary Woods: Obama’s Unbelievable Missing IRS Emails
James Poulos
June 17, 2014
A few days before, she had managed to stand and hobble around the ward.
Surviving Syria’s Incendiary Bomb Attacks
Paul Adrian Raymond
December 10, 2013
Historical Examples
Since he had begun to hobble about, he had gradually come to be accepted by the town in general.
Slippy McGee, Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man
Marie Conway Oemler
Johnny started to hobble down the porch steps when Barney stopped him.
Make Mine Homogenized
Rick Raphael
The poor vagabond must hobble through life on one leg, henceforward.
Stories by American Authors, Volume 7
Various
With two sticks, I can hobble about the house and garden; without them, behold me a fixture.
Rita
Laura E. Richards
She objects to modern dancing, especially the hobble skirts.
Ways of War and Peace
Delia Austrian
Is it the first time that I have thrust myself into a hobble?
The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 3, February, 1851
Various
Anagram
he blob
Today’s quote
The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction.
– Allen Ginsberg
On this day
5 April 1839 – birth of Robert Smalls, African American who was born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina. When he was a teenager, his master sent him to Charleston to work. Smalls ended up working on boats and became adept at all manner of work around wharves and boats, including stevedore, rigger, sail maker and wheelman (essentially a pilot, although slaves were not granted that title). During the Civil War, he was asked to steer a lightly armed Confederate vessel, the CSS Planter. One evening, after the white crew members disembarked, Smalls dressed in the captain’s uniform and commandeered the vessel with the help of seven other slaves, sailing towards Union ships. On the way, he picked up his wife and child, as well as the families of the other slave crewman. As they neared the Union ships, Smalls flew a white bed-sheet from the mast as a symbol of surrender. Smalls was treated as a hero by the Union. He later successfully petitioned President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, to allow black men to fight for the Union. Stanton signed an order allowing 5,000 black men to enlist with Union forces. Smalls was made pilot of the USS Keokuk. After the Civil War, Smalls returned to Beaufort and bought his former master’s house. Smalls became a businessman, operating a store for freed men. He also became politically active, joining the Republican Party. In 1868 Smalls was elected to the State House of Representatives. He worked on passing the Civil Rights Bill and in 1868, the Republican government enacted the Civil Rights Act, which gave citizenship to all Americans, regardless of race. Smalls was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1874, and served two terms.In 1912, Smalls famously described the Republican Party as, ‘the party of Lincoln … which unshackled the necks of four million human beings‘. In 1913, Smalls stopped a lynch mob from lynching two black men, after he warned their mayor that blacks he’d sent through the city would burn the town down if the mob wasn’t stopped. The mayor and sheriff stopped the mob. Smalls inspirational life went from slave, to hijacker, to defector, to politician and civil rights campaigner. Died 23 February 1915.
5 April 1994 – death of Kurt Cobain. Lead singer, guitarist and lyricist for Nirvana. He was 27. Born 20 February 1967. The exact date of his death is unknown as his body wasn’t discovered until 8 April 1994.
5 April 1997 – death of Allen Ginsberg, leading American beat-generation writer and poet. Born 3 June 1926.