hamble
See also: Hamble
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English hamelen, from Old English hamelian (“to hamstring, mutilate”), from Proto-Germanic *hamalōną, *hamlōną (“to mutilate”), from Proto-Indo-European *kem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Cognate with German hammeln, hämmeln (“to geld”), Icelandic hamla (“to mutilate, maim”), Dutch hamel (“wether”).
Verb
hamble (third-person singular simple present hambles, present participle hambling, simple past and past participle hambled)
- (obsolete, transitive) To mutilate; hamstring; cut away.[1]
- (transitive) To cut out the balls of the feet of (dogs) so as to render them unfit for hunting.
- (intransitive) To walk lame; limp.
References
- ^ “hamble”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.