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| Date: | 1200-1300 |
| Origin: | Probably from Dutch or Low German |
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hob‧ble
1 [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to walk with difficulty, especially because your legs or feet hurt [↪ limp]: 
He hobbled into the room on crutches.
He hobbled into the room on crutches.2 [transitive usually passive] to deliberately make sure that a plan, system etc cannot work successfully : Many start-ups are hobbled by a lack of sufficient capital.
Many start-ups are hobbled by a lack of sufficient capital.3 [transitive] to loosely fasten two of an animal's legs together, to stop it from running away
