hob ‧ ble /ˈhɒb ə l $ ˈhɑː-/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Probably from Dutch or Low German ]
1 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to walk with difficulty, especially because your legs or feet hurt ⇨ limp :
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.
3 . [transitive] to loosely fasten two of an animal’s legs together, to stop it from running away
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THESAURUS
■ to walk with difficulty
▪ limp to walk with difficulty because one leg hurts, so that you put most of your weight on the other leg:
Jake was limping because of the injury to his knee.
▪ stagger to walk or move unsteadily, almost falling over, especially because you are drunk or have been injured:
They finally staggered back to the hotel at 4 o'clock in the morning.
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He hit her and she staggered and fell.
▪ hobble to walk with difficulty in a slow and unsteady way because your legs or feet hurt or have been injured:
My new shoes were so painful I could only hobble along.
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She hobbled out to the car on crutches.