Word.ws English Dictionary

hobbel

hobbel is the alternative form of hobble.

Meaning of hobble

Verb

hobble (third-person singular simple present hobbles, present participle hobbling, simple past and past participle hobbled)

  1. To fetter by tying the legs; to restrict (a horse) with hobbles.
    • Near-synonyms: shackle, enshackle
    Synonyms:
    shackle, enshackle
  2. To walk lame, or unevenly.
    • The friar was hobbling the same way too.1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number)
    Synonyms:
    hirple
  3. (figuratively) To move or proceed roughly or irregularly.
    • The hobbling versification, the mean diction.1815, William Wordsworth, The White Doe of Rylstone
  4. To disable; to impede.
    • Near-synonyms: nobble, hamper, hinder, embarrass
  5. (UK, obsolete, slang, transitive) To commit (a person) for trial.
    • […] hobbled straightaway!"
      "Hobbled, Gibbon?" inquired Lady Bligh.
      "Taken up and committed for trial, my lady."1978, Gail Clark, Dulcie Bligh, page 99

See all 9 meanings of hobble

Forms of hobbel

Verb
third-person singular presenthobbels
present participle UShobbeling
present participle UKhobbelling
past participle UShobbeled
past UShobbeled
past participle UKhobbelled
past UKhobbelled
Noun
pluralhobbels

Questions about hobbel

What is hobbel the alternative form of?
Hobbel is the alternative form of hobble.

Words near hobbel in the dictionary

  1. hobbardehoy
  2. hobbardehoys
  3. hobbed
  4. hobbedehoy
  5. hobbedehoys
  6. hobbel
  7. hobbels
  8. hobber
  9. hobber-nob
  10. hobbers
  11. Hobbes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hobbel (page history and authors); hobble (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “hobbel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hobbel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.