limber
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlɪmbə(ɹ)/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -ɪmbə(ɹ)
Etymology 1
Unknown; possibly related to limb or limp.
Adjective
limber (comparative limberer, superlative limberest)
- Flexible, pliant, bendable.
- He's so limber that he can kiss his knee without bending it.
- 1567, George Turberville, “A Myrrour of the fall of Pride”, in Epitaphs, Epigrams, Songs and Sonnets, page 155:
- Not yet the bargeman that doth rowe / with long and limber oare
- 1998, Joel and Ethan Coen, The Big Lebowski (motion picture), spoken by The Dude (Jeff Bridges):
- This is a very complicated case, Maude. A lot of ins, a lot of outs. Fortunately, I'm adhering to a pretty strict drug regimen to keep my mind limber.
Derived terms
Translations
flexible — see flexible
Verb
limber (third-person singular simple present limbers, present participle limbering, simple past and past participle limbered)
- To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant.
- 1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC:
- Her stiff hams, that have not been bent to a civility for ten years past, are now limbered into courtesies three deep at every word
- 1990, LOOM hint book, p. 12
- Go back to the Island and limber up with a few drafts.
Translations
to cause to become limber
|
Etymology 2
For the obsolete limmer, from Old Norse limar (“branches”), plural of lim.[1]
Noun
limber (plural limbers)
- (military) A two-wheeled vehicle to which a wheeled artillery piece or caisson may be attached for transport.
- 1892, Rudyard Kipling, “Snarleyow”, in Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses, 3rd edition, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 37:
- An' when the smoke 'ad cleared away, before the limber wheels, / There lay the Driver's Brother with 'is 'ead between 'is 'eels.
- 1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “At the Window”, in The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, published 1898, →OCLC, book I (The Coming of the Martians), page 83:
- As the limber gunners went to the rear, his horse trod in a rabbit-hole and came down, throwing him into a depression of the ground.
- 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 29:
- we covered the rutted, rattling, dusty pot-holed roads of coastal Victoria, six big Walers in front, the cannon at the rear, and that unsprung cart they called a ‘limber’ in the middle.
- (in the plural) The shafts or thills of a wagon or carriage.
- (nautical, in the plural) Gutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to allow water to pass to the pump well.
Usage notes
- Sometimes the plural limbers was used to refer to a single such vehicle.
Translations
Verb
limber (third-person singular simple present limbers, present participle limbering, simple past and past participle limbered)
- (obsolete) To prepare an artillery piece for transportation (i.e., to attach it to its limber.)
Antonyms
Translations
prepare an artillery piece for transportation
|
See also
Further reading
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
limber on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - limbers and caissons on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Category:Limbers on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons - “limber”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “limber”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
References
- “limber”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
