hirple
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
A word of unknown origin, first recorded in Scots sources from the late fifteenth century; but probably from Old Norse herpast (“to suffer from cramp”) the middle voice verb. Compare the Icelandic herpa (“to contract, to draw together”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
hirple (third-person singular simple present hirples, present participle hirpling, simple past and past participle hirpled)
- (intransitive, Scotland, northern UK) To walk with a limp, to drag a limb, to walk lamely; to move with a gait somewhere between walking and crawling.
- 1922, John Buchan, Huntingtower:
- Get you on that bicycle and hurry on, and I'll hirple after you the best I can.
- 2015, Kate Atkinson, A God in Ruins, →ISBN, page 136:
- A woman hirpled along the corridor towards them with the aid of a walking frame.
- 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 513:
- Around lunchtime he hirpled down the corridor to the Gents.
Synonyms[edit]
Scots[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Probably from Old Norse.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
hirple (third-person singular simple present hirples, present participle hirplin, simple past hirpelt, past participle hirpelt)
Noun[edit]
hirple (plural hirples)
- a limp
Derived terms[edit]
Categories:
- English terms with unknown etymologies
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)pəl
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)pəl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- Scottish English
- British English
- English terms with quotations
- en:Gaits
- Scots terms derived from Old Norse
- Scots terms with IPA pronunciation
- Scots lemmas
- Scots verbs
- Scots nouns