Wiktionary

limp

English

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Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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From Middle English limpen (“to fall short”), from Old English limpan, from Proto-West Germanic *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

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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[1]:
      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, figurative, of a vehicle) To travel with a malfunctioning system of propulsion.
    The bomber limped home on one engine.
  3. (intransitive, figurative) To move or proceed irregularly.
    • 1976 August 28, John C. Lawrence, “H.C.H.S Support”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 9, page 5:
      I think, too, of other organizations that are doing much good work for us, and maybe with words are cheered on, but when it comes to the dollars and cents, few are willing to make any sort of sacrifice to put their money where their mouth is. The National Gay Task Force is an excellent example... drawing on the support of gay people in fifty states, yet having to limp along on $65,000 a year budgets. Organizations like Christian Cause, that would wipe us out if they could, draw ten times that amount with little effort.
    • 2012, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge, page 121:
      And so we limped along for another month or two, pretending we still had a reason to be together.
    limping verses
    The business limped through the recession
  4. (poker slang, intransitive) To call, particularly in an unraised pot pre-flop.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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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.
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English *limp, *lemp, from Old English *lemp (recorded only in compound lemphealt (“limping”), from Proto-West Germanic *limpan, 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

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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[2]:
      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.
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Verb

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

  1. (intransitive, stative) To be inadequate or unsatisfactory.

Noun

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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

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From Middle English limpen, from Old English limpan (“to happen, occur, exist, belong to, suit, befit, concern”).

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

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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.
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Etymology 4

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Alternative forms

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Phrase

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limp

  1. (historical) Acronym of Louis XIV, James II, Queen Mary of Modena and the Prince of Wales. (a code-word among Jacobites) [1]
    • 1770, A Lee, The Political Detection: Or, the Treachery and Tyranny of Administration, Both at Home and Abroad;, page 4:
      To intimidate the people, you drew up Resolves, and an Address to his Majesty, founded on evidence from Governor Barnard, the Commissioners of Revenue, Custom-house Officers, and a few poor, expectant and dependent creatures, whom your Limp corresponds with in Boston; and thereby, having imposed upon, and deceived the legislature, sanctified your despotism, at the expence of their last Liberties;
    • 1915, Thomas Babington Macaulay Baron Macaulay, Charles Harding Firth, The History of England: From the Accession of James the Second:
      Even if he were set at liberty, what could he do but haunt Jacobite coffeehouses, squeeze oranges, and drink the health of Limp?

References

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

Anagrams

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Dalmatian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From a derivative of Latin lampas. Compare Italian lampo.

Noun

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limp m

  1. lightning
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