limply









limply


adjective, limp·er, limp·est.

  1. lacking stiffness or firmness, as of substance, fiber, structure, or bodily frame: a limp body.
  2. lacking vitality; weary; tired; fatigued: Limp with exhaustion, she dropped into the nearest chair.
  3. without firmness, force, energy, etc., as of character: limp, spiritless prose.
  4. flexible; not stiff or rigid: a Bible in a limp leather binding.

verb (intr)

  1. to walk with an uneven step, esp with a weak or injured leg
  2. to advance in a labouring or faltering manner

noun

  1. an uneven walk or progress

adjective

  1. not firm or stiff
  2. not energetic or vital
  3. (of the binding of a book) not stiffened with boards

v.1560s, of unknown origin, perhaps related to Middle English lympen “to fall short” (c.1400), which is probably from Old English lemphealt “halting, lame, limping,” which has a lone cognate in the rare Middle High German limphin, and perhaps is from a PIE root meaning “slack, loose, to hang down” (cf. Sanskrit lambate “hangs down,” Middle High German lampen “to hang down”). Related: Limped; limping. As a noun, 1818, from the verb. adj.1706, “flaccid, drooping,” of obscure origin, perhaps related to limp (v.). n.

  1. An irregular, jerky, or awkward gait; a claudication.

v.

  1. To walk lamely, especially with irregularity, as if favoring one leg.
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