Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To walk lamely, especially with irregularity, as if favoring one leg.
  • intransitive verb To move or proceed haltingly or unsteadily.
  • noun An irregular, jerky, or awkward gait.
  • adjective Lacking or having lost rigidity, as of structure or substance.
  • adjective Lacking strength, vigor, or effectiveness; weak.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To be inadequate or unsatisfactory.
  • Lacking stiffness or firmness; weak in fiber or texture; flexible; limber; flaccid: applied to things or persons.
  • Lacking stability or firmness of character; inefficient; incapable.
  • To happen; befall; chance.
  • To come upon; meet.
  • noun 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.
  • To move with a halting or jerky step; walk lame: often used figuratively: as, a limping argument; limping verses.
  • noun A halting step; the act of limping.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A halt; the act of limping.
  • intransitive verb To halt; to walk lamely. Also used figuratively.
  • noun (Ore Washing) A scraper for removing poor ore or refuse from the sieve.
  • adjective Flaccid; flabby, as flesh.
  • adjective Lacking stiffness; flimsy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To happen; befall; chance.
  • verb transitive To come upon; meet.
  • verb intransitive To walk lamely, as if favouring one leg.
  • verb intransitive, figuratively, of a vehicle To travel with a malfunctioning system of propulsion
  • verb poker slang, intransitive To call.
  • noun An irregular, jerky or awkward gait
  • noun A scraper for removing poor ore or refuse from the sieve
  • adjective flaccid; flabby, as flesh.
  • adjective lacking stiffness; flimsy; as, a limp cravat.
  • adjective not erect
  • adjective of a man not having an erect penis
  • adjective physically weak
  • verb intransitive To be inadequate or unsatisfactory.
  • noun 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.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not firm
  • verb proceed slowly or with difficulty
  • noun the uneven manner of walking that results from an injured leg
  • adjective lacking in strength or firmness or resilience
  • verb walk impeded by some physical limitation or injury

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably from obsolete lymphault, lame, from Old English lemphealt : lemp-, hanging loosely + -healt, lame, limping.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English limpen, from Old English limpan ("to happen, occur, exist, belong to, suit, befit, concern"), from Proto-Germanic *lempanan (“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 Low German gelimpen ("to moderate, treat mildly"), Middle High German limfen ("to suit, become").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English *limp, *lemp, from Old English *lemp (found only in compound lemphealt ("limping"), from Proto-Germanic *lempanan (“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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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Examples

  • Ronal Toussaint, who sometimes takes me around in his taptap -- pick-up converted to public transport vehicle -- on especially meeting-packed days, and who walks with a permanent limp from a building having fallen on him during the earthquake, evinced the spirit of resistance so common here.

    Beverly Bell: Surviving in Haiti Beverly Bell 2010

  • Ronal Toussaint, who sometimes takes me around in his taptap -- pick-up converted to public transport vehicle -- on especially meeting-packed days, and who walks with a permanent limp from a building having fallen on him during the earthquake, evinced the spirit of resistance so common here.

    Beverly Bell: Surviving in Haiti Beverly Bell 2010

  • Ronal Toussaint, who sometimes takes me around in his taptap -- pick-up converted to public transport vehicle -- on especially meeting-packed days, and who walks with a permanent limp from a building having fallen on him during the earthquake, evinced the spirit of resistance so common here.

    Beverly Bell: Surviving in Haiti Beverly Bell 2010

  • Her lower-topsails hung in limp emptiness from the yards, heavy with rain and flapping soggily when she rolled.

    CHAPTER XXVIII 2010

  • Ronal Toussaint, who sometimes takes me around in his taptap -- pick-up converted to public transport vehicle -- on especially meeting-packed days, and who walks with a permanent limp from a building having fallen on him during the earthquake, evinced the spirit of resistance so common here.

    Beverly Bell: Surviving in Haiti Beverly Bell 2010

  • Ronal Toussaint, who sometimes takes me around in his taptap -- pick-up converted to public transport vehicle -- on especially meeting-packed days, and who walks with a permanent limp from a building having fallen on him during the earthquake, evinced the spirit of resistance so common here.

    Beverly Bell: Surviving in Haiti Beverly Bell 2010

  • Ronal Toussaint, who sometimes takes me around in his taptap -- pick-up converted to public transport vehicle -- on especially meeting-packed days, and who walks with a permanent limp from a building having fallen on him during the earthquake, evinced the spirit of resistance so common here.

    Beverly Bell: Surviving in Haiti Beverly Bell 2010

  • Ronal Toussaint, who sometimes takes me around in his taptap -- pick-up converted to public transport vehicle -- on especially meeting-packed days, and who walks with a permanent limp from a building having fallen on him during the earthquake, evinced the spirit of resistance so common here.

    Beverly Bell: Surviving in Haiti Beverly Bell 2010

  • A lifelong limp is adequate reward for their blasphemy.

    Horoscope for the week of March 2, 2008 2008

  • I am a difference engine sheathed in limp meat, my only joy to theorize, calculate, and process.

    365 tomorrows » 2007 » April : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2007

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