Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Hobble

Hobble , intransitive verb

[Old English hobelen, hoblen, freq. of hoppen to hop; akin to Dutch hobbelen, hoblen, hoppeln. See Hop to jump, and compare Hopple ]

1.
To walk lame, bearing chiefly on one leg; to walk with a hitch or hop, or with crutches.
The friar was hobbling the same way too. — Dryden
2.
To move roughly or irregularly; -- said of style in writing. — Prior
The hobbling versification, the mean diction. — Jeffreys

Hobble , transitive verb

1.
To fetter by tying the legs; to hopple; to clog.
They hobbled their horses. — Dickens
2.
To perplex; to embarrass.

Hobble , noun

1.
An unequal gait; a limp; a halt; as, he has a hobble in his gait. — Swift
2.
Same as Hopple.
3.
Difficulty; perplexity; embarrassment. — Waterton