limp

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɪmp/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪmp

Etymology 1

From Middle English limpen (“to fall short”), from Old English *limpan, from Proto-Germanic *limpaną (“to hang down”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lemb-, *(s)lembʰ- (“to hang loosely, hang limply”). Cognate with Low German lumpen (“to limp”), Middle High German limpfen (“to hobble, limp”), dialectal German lampen (“to hang down loosely”), Icelandic limpa (“limpness, weakness”).

Verb

limp (third-person singular simple present limps, present participle limping, simple past and past participle limped)

  1. (intransitive) To walk lamely, as if favouring one leg.
    • 2011 April 11, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 3 - 0 Man City”, in BBC Sport‎:
      Dirk Kuyt sandwiched a goal in between Carroll's double as City endured a night of total misery, with captain Carlos Tevez limping off early on with a hamstring strain that puts a serious question mark over his participation in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Wembley.
  2. (intransitive, figuratively, of a vehicle) To travel with a malfunctioning system of propulsion.
    The bomber limped home on one engine.
  3. (intransitive, figuratively) To move or proceed irregularly.
    limping verses
  4. (poker slang, intransitive) To call.
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

limp (plural limps)

  1. An irregular, jerky or awkward gait
    She walks with a limp.
  2. A scraper for removing poor ore or refuse from the sieve
  3. A code-word among Jacobites, standing for Louis XIV, James II, Queen Mary of Modena and the Prince of Wales.[1]
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English *limp, *lemp, from Old English *lemp (recorded only in compound lemphealt (“limping”), from Proto-Germanic *limpaną (“to hang down”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lemb-, *(s)lembʰ- (“to hang loosely, hang limply”). Cognate with German lampecht (“flaccid, limp”), Icelandic lempinn, lempiligur (“pliable, gentle”). See above.

Adjective

limp (comparative limper, superlative limpest)

  1. flaccid; flabby, like flesh.
  2. lacking stiffness; flimsy
    a limp rope
  3. (of a penis) not erect
  4. (of a man) not having an erect penis
  5. physically weak
    • 2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France
      Another line-out was stolen, and when the ball was sent left Clerc stepped and spun through limp challenges from Wilkinson, Chris Ashton and Foden to dive over and make it 11-0.
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

limp (third-person singular simple present limps, present participle limping, simple past and past participle limped)

  1. (intransitive) To be inadequate or unsatisfactory.

Noun

limp (plural limps)

  1. A scraper of board or sheet-iron shaped like half the head of a small cask, used for scraping the ore off the sieve in the operation of hand-jigging.

Etymology 3

From Middle English limpen, from Old English limpan (“to happen, occur, exist, belong to, suit, befit, concern”), from Proto-Germanic *limpaną (“to glide, go, suit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lemb-, *(s)lembʰ- (“to hang loosely, hang limply”). Cognate with Scots limp (“to chance to be, come”), Middle Dutch limpen (“to happen”), Middle Low German gelimpen (“to moderate, treat mildly”), Middle High German limfen (“to suit, become”).

Verb

limp (third-person singular simple present limps, present participle limping, simple past lamp or limped, past participle lump or limped)

  1. (obsolete, intransitive) To happen; befall; chance.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To come upon; meet.
Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Millennium Edition, art. "Limp"

Anagrams

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

  • linp

Etymology

From a derivative of Latin lampas. Compare Italian lampo.

Noun

limp m

  1. lightning
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