adj
Meaning 1
Flexible, pliant, bendable.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- He's so limber that he can kiss his knee without bending it.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
limber
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈlɪmbə(ɹ)/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɪmbə(ɹ)
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CMU ARPABET: L IH1 M B ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A two-wheeled vehicle to which a wheeled artillery piece may be attached for transport. (Some versions have built-in storage bins for ammunition. Either the limber itself or the ammunition box may also be called a caisson.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: government, military, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
The shafts or thills of a wagon or carriage.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: in-plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
Gutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to allow water to pass to the pump well.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: in-plural
Topics: nautical, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To prepare an artillery piece for transportation (i.e., to attach it to its limber.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
(used of persons' bodies) capable of moving or bending freely
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: supple
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 8
(used of artifacts) easily bent
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 9
(used of e.g. personality traits) readily adaptable
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a supple mind
- a limber imagination
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: supple
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle used to pull a field gun or caisson
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: horse-drawn vehicle
verb
Meaning 11
cause to become limber
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The violist limbered her wrists before the concert
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: warm up
verb
Meaning 12
attach the limber
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- limber a cannon
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: limber up
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: attach
History
Etymology
Unknown; possibly related to limb or limp + -er, as seen in clever, slipper (“slippery”), waker (“alert”), etc.
For the obsolete limmer, from Old Norse limar (“branches”), plural of lim.
Across languages
Translations
15 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- French: avant-train — two-wheeled vehicle
- German: Protze — two-wheeled vehicle
- Russian: передо́к (peredók) — two-wheeled vehicle
- Serbo-Croatian: dvokolica — two-wheeled vehicle
- Serbo-Croatian: prikolica na dva kotača — two-wheeled vehicle
- Spanish: armón — two-wheeled vehicle
- Finnish: joustavoittaa — to cause to become limber
- French: flexibiliser — to cause to become limber
- Galician: flexibilizar — to cause to become limber
- Irish: aclaigh — to cause to become limber
- Italian: flessibilizzare — to cause to become limber
- Portuguese: flexibilizar — to cause to become limber
- Romanian: flexibiliza — to cause to become limber
- Spanish: flexibilizar — to cause to become limber
- German: aufprotzen — prepare an artillery piece for transportation
Real reading context