limber

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈlɪmbə(ɹ)/ Rhymes: -ɪmbə(ɹ) === Etymology 1 === Unknown; possibly related to limb or limp +‎ -er, as seen in clever, slipper (“slippery”), waker (“alert”), etc. ==== Adjective ==== limber (comparative limberer, superlative limberest) Flexible, pliant, bendable. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== limber (third-person singular simple present limbers, present participle limbering, simple past and past participle limbered) (transitive) To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant. 1990, LOOM hint book, p. 12 Go back to the Island and limber up with a few drafts. ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === For the obsolete limmer, from Old Norse limar (“branches”), plural of lim. ==== Noun ==== limber (plural limbers) (military) A two-wheeled vehicle to which a wheeled artillery piece may be attached for transport. (Some versions have built-in storage bins for ammunition. Either the limber itself or the ammunition box may also be called a caisson.) Coordinate terms: carriage, gun carriage (in the plural) The shafts or thills of a wagon or carriage. (nautical, in the plural) Gutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to allow water to pass to the pump well. ===== Usage notes ===== Sometimes the plural limbers was used to refer to a single such vehicle. ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== limber (third-person singular simple present limbers, present participle limbering, simple past and past participle limbered) (obsolete) To prepare an artillery piece for transportation (i.e., to attach it to its limber.) ===== Antonyms ===== unlimber ===== Translations ===== ==== See also ==== caisson === Further reading === Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989. limber on Wikipedia.Wikipedia limbers and caissons on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Category:Limbers on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons “limber”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “limber”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. === References === === Anagrams === Imbler