limber

English

Etymology 1

This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

Adjective

limber (comparative more limber, superlative most limber)

1. Flexible, pliant, bendable.

   He's so limber that he can kiss his knee without bending it.

   • Turberville

     The bargeman that doth row with long and limber oar.

Derived terms

• limber up

Translations

flexible — see flexible

Etymology 2

For the obsolete limmer, from Old Norse limar (“branches”), plural of lim.

Noun

limber (plural limbers)

1. (obsolete) A two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle used to pull an artillery piece into battle.

Translations

two-wheeled vehicle

• French: avant-train (fr) m

• German: Protze (de) f

Usage notes

• Sometimes the plural limbers was used to refer to a single such vehicle.

Verb

limber (third-person singular simple present limbers, present participle limbering, simple past and past participle limbered)

1. (obsolete) To prepare an artillery piece for transportation (i.e., to attach it to its limber.)
2. To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant.
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Richardson to this entry?)

Translations

prepare an artillery piece for transportation

• German: aufprotzen (de)

Antonyms

• unlimber

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Notes: