Hob″ble (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p.Hobbled (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Hobbling (?).] [OE. hobelen, hoblen, freq. of hoppen to hop; akin to D. hobbelen, hoblen, hoppeln. See Hop to jump, and cf. Hopple] 1. To walk lame, bearing chiefly on one leg; to walk with a hitch or hop, or with crutches.
The friar was hobbling the same way too. Dryden.
2. To move roughly or irregularly; — said of style in writing. Prior.
The hobbling versification, the mean diction. Jeffreys.