LIMBER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does limber mean? 

• LIMBER (noun)
  The noun LIMBER has 1 sense:

1. a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle used to pull a field gun or caisson

  Familiarity information: LIMBER used as a noun is very rare.

• LIMBER (adjective)
  The adjective LIMBER has 3 senses:

1. (used of e.g. personality traits) readily adaptable

2. (used of artifacts) easily bent

3. (used of persons' bodies) capable of moving or bending freely

  Familiarity information: LIMBER used as an adjective is uncommon.

• LIMBER (verb)
  The verb LIMBER has 2 senses:

1. attach the limber

2. cause to become limber

  Familiarity information: LIMBER used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LIMBER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle used to pull a field gun or caisson

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("limber" is a kind of...):

horse-drawn vehicle (a wheeled vehicle drawn by one or more horses)

• LIMBER (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(used of e.g. personality traits) readily adaptable

Synonyms:

limber; supple

Context example:

a limber imagination

Similar:

flexible (capable of being changed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(used of artifacts) easily bent

Similar:

flexible; flexile (able to flex; able to bend easily)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(used of persons' bodies) capable of moving or bending freely

Synonyms:

limber; supple

Similar:

flexible; flexile (able to flex; able to bend easily)

• LIMBER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they limber    ... he / she / it limbers   
Past simple: limbered   
Past participle: limbered   
-ing form: limbering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attach the limber

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

limber; limber up

Context example:

limber a cannon

Hypernyms (to "limber" is one way to...):

attach (cause to be attached)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to become limber

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

The violist limbered her wrists before the concert

Hypernyms (to "limber" is one way to...):

warm up (cause to do preliminary exercises so as to stretch the muscles)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

Flexibility exercises stretch your muscles and can help your body stay limber.

(Exercise for Seniors, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

One morning when I went into the parlour with my books, I found my mother looking anxious, Miss Murdstone looking firm, and Mr. Murdstone binding something round the bottom of a cane—a lithe and limber cane, which he left off binding when I came in, and poised and switched in the air.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)