▪ I. † limp, n.1 Obs. rare—1.
[f. limp v.1 Cf. OE. ᵹelimp, f. ᵹelimpan.]
An occurrence.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 197 On alle þose limpes ne untrowede neure Iob to-genes ure drihten. |
▪ II. limp, n.2
(lɪmp)
[f. limp v.2]
The action of limping; a limping gait or walk.
| 1818 Todd s.v., He has a limp in his walking. 1870 Dickens E. Drood iii, The sun-browned tramps..quicken their limp a little. 1876 Chamb. Jrnl. 15 Jan. 35/1 The Grecian bend and the Alexandra limp—both positive and practical imitations of physical affliction. |
▪ III. limp, n.3 Mining.
(lɪmp)
An instrument used for throwing off the refuse from the ore in the operation of jigging (see quots.).
| 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict., Limp [is] a very small and thin Piece of Board, shaped almost half round, and it is Shod on the circular edge with Iron. 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 323 The uppermost light stony waste may be easily separated and skimmed off by a piece of semicircular board, called a Limp. 1875 in J. H. Collins Metal Mining Gloss. 1881 in Raymond Mining Gloss. |
▪ IV. limp, a.
(lɪmp)
[Of obscure origin; G. lampen, ‘to hang limp’, has been compared.]
1. a. Wanting in firmness or stiffness, flaccid; flexible, pliant. Of a textile fabric: Unstiffened.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Limp, limber, supple. 1750 M. Browne Walton's Angler iii. 42 The Chub..eats waterish, and..the Flesh of him is not firm, but limp [earlier edd. short] and tasteless. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Limp, limpsy, flaccid. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xvi, His [Punch's] body was dangling in a most uncomfortable position, all loose and limp, and shapeless. 1866 Cornh. Mag. Mar. 348 A female with a heap of limp veil thrown up over an obsolete bonnet. 1884 Bazaar 19 Dec. 658/1 Scarf arrangements..are made in almost any limp material. 1897 Bookman Jan. 116/1 Strangling in our starch we can rally him [Byron] familiarly on his limp collars. |
b. Bookbinding. Used to designate a kind of binding in which no mill-board is used.
| 1863 Parker's Catal. Bks. printed for Univ. Oxf. 2 Sophoclis Tragœdiæ.. each Play separately, limp cloth. 2s. 6d. 1882 Clar. Press List New Bks. 40 The Oxford Bible for Teachers..Turkey Morocco, limp, 22s. 6d. |
c. limp wrist (see quot. 1960); also transf. and (usu. with hyphen) as attrib. phr.
| 1960 Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 319/2 Limp wrist adj., homosexual; said of male homosexuals; effeminate... A homosexual or effeminate man. 1963 Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 171 An effeminate young man, a sissy..limp wrist. 1969 Guardian 18 Mar. 1/3 Washington..has concluded that if Britain continues to follow a ‘limp wrist’ policy after the open affront of the shooting affair, the gambling interests would draw obvious conclusions. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 77 Limp wrist, having latent homosexual tendencies. |
2. transf. and fig. Wanting in firmness, strictness, nervous energy, or the like.
| 1853 G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas I. 196 We told them that our nation had no taste or genius for dancing,..preferring to imitate in a limp and spiritless manner, the dances of foreign countries. 1872 Bagehot Physics & Pol. (1876) 76 Creeds or systems that conduce to a soft limp mind tend to perish. 1880 V. Lee Stud. Italy ii. ii. 24 His contemporaries composed in loose, limp rhymes. 1885 Dobson At Sign of Lyre 141 Whether..the limp Matron on the Hill Woke from her novel-reading trance. |
▪ V. † limp, v.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 limpan, pa. tense lomp, pa. pple. lumpen, 2–5 limpe(n, 4–5 lympe(n; pa. tense 5 lympede, -ide, pa. pple. 4 lumpen.
[OE. limpan str. = OHG. limphan, limpfan, limfan, limfen; also limpan (MHG. limpfen); cf. OHG. gilimpf suitableness, fitness, mod.G. glimpf moderation, lenity.]
1. intr. To befall, happen. Const. dat. Chiefly impers. or quasi-impers.
| Beowulf 1987 Hu lomp eow on lade leofa Biowulf. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §2 (Sedgefield) Þa yflan habbað ᵹesælða, & him limpð oft æfter hiora aᵹnum willan. a 1225 Ancr. R. 412 Ȝif out limpeð misliche þet [etc.]. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 424 Nyf oure lorde hade ben her lodez⁓mon hem had lumpen harde. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 907 Hit was Wawen hym-self þat in þat won syttez, Comen to þat krystmasse, as case hym þen lymped. a 1400–50 Alexander 3095 It lympys nott allway þe last be lykkynd to þe first. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 615 Bot him lympede þe werse, and þat me wele lykis. |
2. To belong, pertain, relate to.
| 858 Charter in O.E. Texts 438 Butan ðem wioda ðe to ðem sealtern limpð. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 41 We eow wulleð suteliche seggen of þa fredome þe limpeð to þan deie. a 1225 Ancr. R. 50 Þet hwite creoiz limpeð to ou. |
3. trans. To incur, meet with.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 174 And who-so lympes þe losse, lay hym þer-oute. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 875, I hadde lefte my lyfe are cho hade harme lymppyde. |
▪ VI. limp, v.2
(lɪmp)
[cogn. w. MHG. limphin (rare) of the same meaning. Cf. also limphalt a.]
1. a. intr. To walk lamely, to halt. Also with about, along, away. Occas. with cognate object.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 132/11 To Limp, claudicare. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 254 Why does the world report that Kate doth limpe? 1601 Holland Pliny I. 274 Of Hawks..the Circos..is lame and limpeth of one leg. 1648 Bp. Hall Breathings Devout Soul xxii. 34 That holy servant of thine..went limping away. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 80 ¶7, I must therefore humbly beg Leave to limp along the Streets after my own Way. 1787 Burns Tam Samson's Elegy x, Owre mony a weary hag he limpit. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) ii. i, Limp along like a pig in a string. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 259 His trail was followed for a long distance, which he must have limped alone. 1867 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 275 He limps about and does his work. |
b. fig.; in quot. c 1400, to fall short of.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 36 Sum lokyt ouer litle and lympit of the sothe. 1586 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. i. 11/2 in Holinshed, And if anie of these three [sc. marks of the subjection of a country] lacke, doubtlesse the conquest limpeth. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. 105/1 (ibid.) Sir John Alen..was found to limpe in this controuersie. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 130 So farre this shadow Doth limpe behinde the substance. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 566 The whole chain will become a rope of sand, and the consequence limp lame behind. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. My Relations, I must limp often in my poor antithetical manner. 1887 Freeman Exeter iv. 90 The pentameter might perhaps have limped less if [etc.]. |
c. spec. Of a damaged ship, aircraft, etc.: to proceed slowly or with difficulty.
| 1920 Conquest Apr. 291/3 The ‘standard patch’ has rendered invaluable assistance in helping stricken ships to limp into port. 1935 C. Day Lewis Time to Dance 37 But he tinkered and coaxed, and they limped Over the Adriatic on into warmer regions. 1971 E. Afr. Standard (Nairobi) 10 Apr. 1/1 Mr. Sprinzel, driving car No. 16, a Range Rover, with his co-driver David Benson, limped back to Nairobi yesterday afternoon. 1973 Daily Tel. 1 Jan. 1/4 The Fleetwood trawler Wyre Captain, 490 tons, limped into port at Thorshavn, Faroe Islands, yesterday, with a damaged bridge and no navigation instruments. |
2. Comb., as limp-verse; limp-legged adj.
| 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 625 With that I herd gunnis russhe out at ones,..It made sum lympe legged, and broisid there bones. c 1648–50 R. Brathwait Barnabees Jrnl., Vpon the Errata's, What tho my limpe-verse be maimed? |