Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hobble \Hob"ble\, n. 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.