limber
pronunciation
How to pronounce limber in British English:
UK [ˈlɪmbə(r)]
How to pronounce limber in American English:
US [ˈlɪmbɚ]
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- Noun:
- a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle used to pull a field gun or caisson
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- Verb:
- attach the limber
- cause to become limber
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- Adjective:
- (used of e.g. personality traits) readily adaptable
- (used of persons' bodies) capable of moving or bending freely
Word Origin
- limber (adj.)
- "pliant, flexible," 1560s, of uncertain origin, possibly from limb (n.1) on notion of supple boughs of a tree [Barnhart], or from limp "flaccid" [Skeat], or somehow from Middle English lymer "shaft of a cart" (see limber (n.)), but the late appearance of the -b- in that word argues against it. Related: Limberness. Dryden used limber-ham (see ham (n.1) in the "joint" sense) as a name for a character "perswaded by what is last said to him, and changing next word."
- limber (n.)
- "detachable forepart of a gun carriage," 1620s, from Middle English lymer (early 15c.), earlier lymon (c. 1400), probably from Old French limon "shaft," a word perhaps of Celtic origin, or possibly from Germanic and related to limb (n.1). Hence, limber (v.) "to attach a limber to a gun" (1783). Compare related Spanish limon "shaft," leman "helmsman."
- limber (v.)
- 1748, from limber (adj.). Related: Limbered; limbering.
Example
- 1. Having the ability to move with ease ; limber .
- 2. Baseball players do exercises at the beginning of the season in order to limber themselves up .
- 3. You have to be more than limber to do this as it requires flexibility , strength and the balance of a gymnast .
- 4. You ever see a lion limber up before it takes down a gazelle ?
- 5. A new version of the song is played as arsenal limber up before matches at highbury .