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limber - 11 dictionary results

lim⋅ber

1  [lim-ber]
Use limber in a Sentence
–adjective
1. characterized by ease in bending the body; supple; lithe.
2. bending readily; flexible; pliant.
–verb (used without object)
3. to make oneself limber (usually fol. by up): to limber up before the game.
–verb (used with object)
4. to make (something) limber (usually fol. by up): She tried to limber up her wits before the exam.
Origin:
1555–65; perh. akin to limb 1

Related forms:
lim⋅ber⋅ly, adverb
lim⋅ber⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. pliable. See flexible.

Antonyms:
1, 2. stiff. 2. rigid, unbending.

lim⋅ber

2  [lim-ber] Military
–noun
1. a two-wheeled vehicle, originally pulled by four or six horses, behind which is towed a field gun or caisson.
–verb (used with object)
2. to attach the limber to (a gun) in preparation for moving away (sometimes fol. by up).
–verb (used without object)
3. to attach a limber to a gun (usually fol. by up).
Origin:
1400–50; late ME lymo(u)r pole of a vehicle. See limb 1 , -er 1

lim⋅ber

3  [lim-ber]
–noun
Usually, limbers. Nautical. a passage or gutter in which seepage collects to be pumped away, located on each side of a central keelson; bilge.
Origin:
1620–30; perh. < F lumière hole, light < LL lūmināria; see luminaria
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To limber
lim·ber 1   (lĭm'bər)   
adj.  
  1. Bending or flexing readily; pliable.
  2. Capable of moving, bending, or contorting easily; supple.
v.   lim·bered, lim·ber·ing, lim·bers

v.   tr.
To make limber: limbered up his legs.
v.   intr.
To make oneself limber: players limbering up before the game.

[Origin unknown.]
lim'ber·ly adv., lim'ber·ness n.
lim·ber 2   (lĭm'bər)   
n.  A two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle used to tow a field gun or a caisson.

[Alteration of Middle English limour, shaft of a cart, perhaps from limon, from Old French.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Limber

Lim"ber\ (l[i^]m"b[~e]r), n. [For limmer, Icel. limar branches, boughs, pl. of lim; akin to E. limb. See Limb a branch.]

1. pl. The shafts or thills of a wagon or carriage. [Prov. Eng.]

2. (Mil.) 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.

3. pl. (Naut.) Gutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to afford a passage for water to the pump well.

Limber boards (Naut.), short pieces of plank forming part of the lining of a ship's floor immediately above the timbers, so as to prevent the limbers from becoming clogged.

Limber box or chest (Mil.), a box on the limber for carrying ammunition.

Limber rope, Limber chain, or Limber clearer (Naut.), a rope or chain passing through the limbers of a ship, by which they may be cleared of dirt that chokes them. --Totten.

Limber strake (Shipbuilding), the first course of inside planking next the keelson.

Limber

Lim"ber\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Limbered (-b[~e]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Limbering.] (Mil.) To attach to the limber; as, to limber a gun.

To limber up, to change a gun carriage into a four-wheeled vehicle by attaching the limber.

Limber

Lim"ber\, a. [Akin to limp, a. [root]125. See Limp, a.] Easily bent; flexible; pliant; yielding. --Milton.

The bargeman that doth row with long and limber oar. --Turbervile.

Limber

Lim"ber\, v. t. To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant. --Richardson.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : limber
Spanish: calentar,
German: sich lockern,
Japanese: しなやかにする
More Translations »

limber  (adj.)
1565, of uncertain origin, possibly from limb on notion of supple boughs of a tree, or from limp "flaccid," or somehow from M.E. lymer "shaft of a cart" (see limber (n.)).

limber  (n.)
"detachable forepart of a gun carriage," 1480, probably related to Fr. limonière "wagon with two shafts," from limon "shaft," probably of Celtic origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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