Hirple

//ˈhɜː.pəl// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To walk with a limp, to drag a limb, to walk lamely; to move with a gait somewhere between walking and crawling. Northern, Scotland, UK, intransitive

    "Get you on that bicycle and hurry on, and I'll hirple after you the best I can."

Synonyms

All synonyms
hobblehurple

Example

More examples

"Get you on that bicycle and hurry on, and I'll hirple after you the best I can."

Etymology

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”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.