Hob"ble (?), v. i. [imp. & p.
p. Hobbled (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Hobbling (?).] [OE. hobelen, hoblen, freq. of
hoppen to hop; akin to D. hobbelen, hoblen,
hoppeln. See Hop to jump, and cf. Hopple ]
1. To walk lame, bearing chiefly on one leg; to
walk with a hitch or hop, or with crutches.
The friar was hobbling the same way
too.
Dryden.
2. To move roughly or irregularly; -- said of
style in writing. Prior.
The hobbling versification, the mean
diction.
Jeffreys.
Hob"ble, v. t. 1.
To fetter by tying the legs; to hopple; to clog. " They
hobbled their horses." Dickens
2. To perplex; to embarrass.
Hob"ble, n. 1. An
unequal gait; a limp; a halt; as, he has a hobble in his
gait. Swift.
2. Same as Hopple.
3. Difficulty; perplexity;
embarrassment. Waterton.
