hirple
English edit
Etymology edit
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”).
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
hirple (third-person singular simple present hirples, present participle hirpling, simple past and past participle hirpled)
- (intransitive, Scotland, northern UK) 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.
- 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 513:
- Around lunchtime he hirpled down the corridor to the Gents.
Synonyms edit
Scots edit
Etymology edit
Probably from Old Norse.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
hirple (third-person singular simple present hirples, present participle hirplin, simple past hirpelt, past participle hirpelt)
Noun edit
hirple (plural hirples)
- a limp