limp1

[limp] /lɪmp/
verb (used without object)
1.
to walk with a labored, jerky movement, as when lame.
2.
to proceed in a lame, faltering, or labored manner:
His writing limps from one cliché to another. The old car limped along.
3.
to progress slowly and with great difficulty; make little or no advance:
an economy that limps along at a level just above total bankruptcy.
noun
4.
a lame movement or gait:
The accident left him with a slight limp.
Origin
1560-70; back formation from obsolete limphault lame; Old English lemphealt limping (see halt2); akin to Middle High German limpfen to limp
Related forms
limper, noun
limpingly, adverb

limp2

[limp] /lɪmp/
adjective, limper, limpest.
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.
Origin
1700-10; perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Icelandic limpa slackness, limpilegur soft, flabby
Related forms
limply, adverb
limpness, noun
Synonyms
1. flabby, flaccid, soft. 2, 3. feeble, weak.
Examples from the web for limp
  • Thirteen surgeries later, he could walk again, with a limp and a cane.
  • Or he could limp on for a while, as head of a minority government.
  • They compare its effects to yanking repeatedly on a tightly coiled spring until it goes limp.
  • And, of course, that stops you dead until you jump over the dead battery and limp home.
  • His distraught family pricked the limp body of their firstborn with needles to try to stimulate a response.
  • They fill the void and are easy to eat, but they always seem pretty limp.
  • After a few minutes of recovery, he was able to limp away, helped by friends and brothers.
  • Every time he walked off the mound, the limp seemed to get worse.
  • Simply put, many small towns are mere years away from extinction, while others limp along in a weakened and disabled state.
  • So the government could limp on for months, with two years of its five-year term still to go.
British Dictionary definitions for limp

limp1

/lɪmp/
verb (intransitive)
1.
to walk with an uneven step, esp with a weak or injured leg
2.
to advance in a labouring or faltering manner
noun
3.
an uneven walk or progress
Derived Forms
limper, noun
limping, adjective, noun
limpingly, adverb
Word Origin
C16: probably a back formation from obsolete limphalt lame, from Old English lemphealt; related to Middle High German limpfen to limp

limp2

/lɪmp/
adjective
1.
not firm or stiff
2.
not energetic or vital
3.
(of the binding of a book) not stiffened with boards
Derived Forms
limply, adverb
limpness, noun
Word Origin
C18: probably of Scandinavian origin; related to Icelandic limpa looseness
Word Origin and History for limp
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.).

limp in Medicine

limp (lĭmp)
n.
An irregular, jerky, or awkward gait; a claudication. v. limped, limp·ing, limps
To walk lamely, especially with irregularity, as if favoring one leg.

limp in Technology


["Messages in Typed Languages", J. Hunt et al, SIGPLAN Notices 14(1):27-45 (Jan 1979)].