limber
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlɪmbə(ɹ)/
Audio (RP) (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, 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
- limber as a dishrag
- limberly
- limberneck
- limberness
- limbersome
- limber up
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 13631815:
- 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
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Translations
to cause to become limber
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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.
- 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, 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 2003, p. 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
two-wheeled vehicle
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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
- unlimber
Translations
prepare an artillery piece for transportation
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See also
- caisson
Further reading
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
- limber on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- limbers and caissons on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Limbers on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
- limber at OneLook Dictionary Search
- limber in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
References
- limber in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913