hirple

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”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhəːpəl/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)pəl

hirple (third-person singular simple present hirples, present participle hirpling, simple past and past participle hirpled)

1. (intransitive, Scotland, northern Britain) 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.

Probably from Old Norse.

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɪrpl/

hirple (third-person singular present hirples, present participle hirplin, past hirpelt, past participle hirpelt)

1. to limp, hobble
2. to cripple or hamper some venture or project

hirple (plural hirples)

1. a limp

• hirplock
• hirpler