Limber

Full definition of limber

Adjective

1. Flexible, pliant, bendable.He's so limber that he can kiss his knee without bending it.
• TurbervilleThe bargeman that doth row with long and limber oar.

Derived terms

• limber up

Verb

1. To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant.

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

Webster 1913|limber

Noun

1. (obsolete) A two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle used to pull an artillery piece into battle.
2. (in the plural) The shafts or thills of a wagon or carriage.
3. (military) The detachable fore part of a gun carriage, consisting of two wheels, an axle, and a shaft to which the horses are attached. On top is an ammunition box upon which the cannoneers sit.
• 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber 2003, p. 29:we covered the rutted, rattling, dusty pot-holed roads of coastal Victoria, six big Walers in front, the cannon at the rear, and that unsprung cart they called a ‘limber’ in the middle.
4. (nautical, in the plural) Gutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to allow water to pass to the pump well.

Usage notes

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

Verb

1. (obsolete) To prepare an artillery piece for transportation (i.e., to attach it to its limber.)

Antonyms

• unlimber