Word.ws English Dictionary

hobble

Syllables: hob·ble/ˈhɒbəl/

hobble noun: one of the short straps tied between the legs of unfenced horses, allowing them to wander short distances but preventing them from running off.

hobble: one of the short straps tied between the legs of unfenced horses, allowing them to wander short...
Image: Lucyin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

hobble (plural hobbles)

  1. (in plural) One of the short straps tied between the legs of unfenced horses, allowing them to wander short distances but preventing them from running off.
  2. An unsteady, off-balance step.
    • We made it and we hobbled up the stairs. Or I hobbled. My sons didn't hobble, I hobbled.2017, Sam Shepard, chapter 37, in Spy of the First Person, →ISBN, page 82
  3. (archaic, informal) A difficult situation; a scrape.
    • "Saddle a horse—any horse—only let him be sure and fleet," cried Ashwoode, "and I'll pay you his price thrice over!"
      "Well, it's a bargain," replied the groom, promptly; "I don't like to see a gentleman caught in a hobble, if I can help him out of it. […]1845, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, The Cock and Anchor
  4. (Newfoundland, UK, dialectal) An odd job; a piece of casual work.

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
    • you hobble your old horse and turn him grazing1865, Charles Dickens, Doctor Marigold
    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)
    • Pepa runs all over Madrid in high heels and tube skirts that make her hobble and give the impression of restraining a naturally energetic woman.1988 December 25, Michael Bronski, “Passion Statement”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 24, page 11
    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

hobble meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

hobble in Hindi

to hobble, limp
लँगड़ाना laṅgṛānā

hobble in Tamil

குதிரைக்கால் கட்டும் தோல், குதிரைக்கால் பிணப் பான்

hobble in Urdu

hobble
اچک اچک کر چلنا učak učak kar čalnā

hobble in Bengali

লেংচানো, খুঁড়িয়ে হাঁটা, বাধা সৃষ্টি করা
More languagesFewer languages
hobble in Malayalam
മുടന്ത്, ഞൊണ്ടൽ, ഏന്തിനടപ്പ്
hobble in Kannada
ಕುಂಟಿಸು, ಕುಂಟುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡು, ಕುಂಟಿಕೊಂಡು ನಡೆ, ನಿರ್ಬಂಧಿಸು
hobble in Arabic
شِكَال šikāl, عِقَال ʕiqāl, شَكَلَ šakala
hobble in Persian
اشکیل eškil

Examples of hobble in a sentence

  • But I am up, hobbling around, taking hefty doses of ibuprofen, good ol' vitamin I.
  • The hobble rope was a heavy, soft cotton to minimize rope burns.
  • Aspects of the gross or gross-reflecting state itself become compromised, misnegotiated, misnavigated, and misdigested, hobbling the state in various ways.

All 24 example sentences with hobble

Synonyms of hobble

All synonyms of hobble

Forms of hobble

Noun
pluralhobbles
Verb
third-person singular presenthobbles
present participlehobbling
past participlehobbled
pasthobbled

Origin of hobble

From Middle English hobblen, hobelen, akin to Middle Dutch hoblen, hobbelen (Modern Dutch hobbelen), Middle High German hoppeln (“to hop, limp, hobble”).

Words formed from hobble

Phrases with hobble

Words that rhyme with hobble

Questions about hobble

What does hobble mean?
Hobble means one of the short straps tied between the legs of unfenced horses, allowing them to wander short distances but preventing them from running off.
What is hobble in Hindi?
Hobble in Hindi is लँगड़ाना (laṅgṛānā). See Hobble meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is hobble?
Hobble can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce hobble?
Hobble is pronounced /ˈhɒbəl/.
What is the plural of hobble?
The plural of hobble is hobbles.

Words near hobble in the dictionary

  1. hobbitness
  2. hobbitry
  3. hobbits
  4. hobbitses
  5. hobbity
  6. hobble
  7. hobble chain
  8. hobble chains
  9. hobble knot
  10. hobble rope
  11. hobble ropes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hobble (page history and authors); लँगड़ाना (Hindi) (page history and authors); hobble (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اچک اچک کر چلنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); Hobble (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hobble (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hobble (Kannada Wiktionary) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hobble.wav.

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