▪ I. amble, v.
(ˈæmb(ə)l)
[a. Fr. amble-r:—L. ambulā-re to walk.]
1. intr. Of a horse, mule, etc.: To move by lifting the two feet on one side together, alternately with the two feet on the other; hence, to move at a smooth or easy pace.
| c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 332 An hors snow-whit and wel amblyng. c 1400 Beryn 940 As hors that evir trottid, trewlich I yew tell, It were hard to make hym after to ambill well. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 66 Trotte sire and trotte damme, how should the fole amble? that is, when bothe father and mother were noughte, it is not like that the childe wil prove good. 1587 Holinshed Chron. II. 20/1 They amble not, but gallop and run. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 328, I will tell you who time ambles withal; who time trots withal; who time gallops withal; and who he stands withal. 1650 B. Discollim. 5 She ambles with one leg, trots with another. 1690 Lond. Gaz. mmdxc/4 [The Mare] hath all her Goings, but ambles most. 1703 Steele Tender Husb. ii. i, A chariot drawn by one horse ambling, and t'other trotting. 1812 Combe (Dr. Syntax) Picturesque viii. 27 Grizzle, all alive and gay, Ambled along the ready way. |
2. Of a person: To ride an ambling horse, to ride at an easy pace.
| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 838 What? amble, or trotte, or pees, or go sit doun. 1568 Jacob & Esau iv. iv. in Hazl. Dodsl. II. 235, I will amble so fast, that I will soon be there. 1676 Wycherley Plain-Dealer iv. i. 55 Are all my hopes frustrated? shall I never..see thee amble the Circuit with the Judges? 1742 Fielding Jos. Andr. Wks. 1784 V. ii. ii. 109 A grave serjeant at law condescended to amble to Westminster on an easy pad. 1856 T. Trollope Cath. de Medici 246 [The] little ladies, as they ambled on side by side, at the head of their gay cavalcade. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. V. 306 William was ambling on a favourite horse..through the park of Hampton Court. |
3. Hence, To move in a way suggesting the motion or pace of an ambling horse. Said of dancing, of the gait of an elderly person, or fig. of any easy motion.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 60 The skipping King, hee ambled vp and downe. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. i. 7 The Tawe..easely ambling downe through the Deuonian dales. 1713 Rowe Jane Shore (J.) Make him amble on a gossip's message. 1714 Spect. No. 623 ¶16 A pretty young creature who closed the Procession came ambling in. 1715 Addison Drummer i. i, She has..play'd at an Assembly, and ambled in a Ball or two. 1765 H. Walpole Otranto ii. (1798) 31 How fast your thoughts amble. 1812 Combe (Dr. Syntax) Picturesque xvii. 67 You shall soon Be ambling to some pretty tune. 1850 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xi. 92 A good-natured but extremely fidgetty and cautious old gentleman, ambled up and down the room. |
▪ II. amble, n.
(ˈæmb(ə)l)
Also 4–5 aumble, 5 ambil, ambel.
[a. Fr. amble, f. vb. ambler: see prec.]
1. The pace described in prec. (sense 1) and loosely, an easy pace.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 174 His steede was al dappul gray, It goth an ambel [v.r. ambil, aumble] in the way. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. (J.) Out of the old hackney-pace to a fine easy amble. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v., An Amble is usually the first natural pace of young colts.. There is [now] no such thing as an Amble in the manage; the riding-masters allowing of no other paces, beside walk, trot, and gallop. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge (1866) I. xiv. 65 The grey mare..breaking from her sober amble into a gentle trot. 1859 Jephson Brittany viii. 111 The usual pace of these animals [mules] is an amble, which consists in lifting both legs on the same side at once. |
2. Of persons: A movement in dancing or walking suggesting an amble; an artificial or acquired pace.
| 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. iii. v. 84 Put a Reueller Out of his Antick amble. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. i. ii, To teach him his true amble and his postures When he walks before a lady. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe I. xii. 177 There is many one of them upon the amble in such a night as this. |