I. limp 1 /lɪmp/ BrE AmE adjective
not firm or strong:
a limp handshake
His body suddenly went limp and he fell down on the floor.
—limply adverb :
His arms were hanging limply.
—limpness noun [uncountable]
II. limp 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
1 . to walk slowly and with difficulty because one leg is hurt or injured:
Moreno limped off the field with a foot injury.
2 . [always + adverb/preposition] if a ship or aircraft limps somewhere, it goes there slowly, because it has been damaged
limp into
The damaged liner limped into New York.
limp along phrasal verb
if a company, project etc limps along, it is not successful:
The team is limping along in fifth place.
• • •
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.
|
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.
|
She hobbled out to the car on crutches.
III. limp 3 BrE AmE noun [countable]
the way someone walks when they are limping:
Young walked with a slight limp.