Hobble | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Hŏb'ble, v. i.

verbintransitive

(hŏb'bl), v. i. [imp. & p. p. HOBBLED; p. pr. & vb. n. HOBBLING.] [Dim. of hop, q. v.; D. hobbeien, Prov. Ger. hoppeln.]

Sense 1. To walk lamely, bearing chiefly on one leg; to limp; to walk with a hitch or hop, or with crutches.

The friar was hobbling the same way too. Dryden.

Sense 2. To move roughly or irregularly. “The hobbling versification, the mean diction.” Jeffreys.

While you Pindaric truths rehearse, She hobbles in alternate verse. Prior.

Hŏb'ble, v. t.

verbtransitive

To fasten loosely together the legs of; to hopple; to clog. “They hobbled their horses.” Dickens.
To perplex; to embarrass. [Obs.]

Hŏb'ble, n.

noun

n. 1. An unequal, halting gait; an incumbered, awkward step. He has a hobble in his gait. Swift. 2. Difficulty; perplexity. If thou hast got into a hobble to-day, thou shalt not suffer for it. Waterton.