limber

comparative limberer · superlative limberest

1. Flexible, pliant, bendable.

   He's so limber that he can kiss his knee without bending it.

   2 more examples

   Not yet the bargeman that doth rowe / with long and limber oare

   1567, George Turberville, “A Myrrour of the fall of Pride”, in Epitaphs, Epigrams, Songs and Sonnets, page 155

   This is a very complicated case, Maude. A lot of ins, a lot of outs. Fortunately, I'm adhering to a pretty strict drug regimen to keep my mind limber.

   1998, Joel and Ethan Coen, The Big Lebowski (motion picture), spoken by The Dude (Jeff Bridges)

present singular third person limbers · participle present limbering · participle past limbered · past limbered

1. transitiveTo cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant.

   Go back to the Island and limber up with a few drafts.

   1990, LOOM hint book, p. 12

   1 more example

   Her stiff hams, that have not been bent to a civility for ten years past, are now limbered into courtesies three deep at every word

   1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC

plural limbers

1. governmentA 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.)

   An' when the smoke 'ad cleared away, before the limber wheels, / There lay the Driver's Brother with 'is 'ead between 'is 'eels.

   1892, Rudyard Kipling, “Snarleyow”, in Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses, 3rd edition, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 37

   2 more examples

   As the limber gunners went to the rear, his horse trod in a rabbit-hole and came down, throwing him into a depression of the ground.

   1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “At the Window”, in The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, published 1898, →OCLC, book I (The Coming of the Martians), page 83

   we covered the rutted, rattling, dusty pot-holed roads of coastal Victoria, six big Walers in front, the cannon at the rear, and that unsprung cart they called a ‘limber’ in the middle.

   1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 29

2. in pluralThe shafts or thills of a wagon or carriage.
3. in pluralnauticalGutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to allow water to pass to the pump well.

present singular third person limbers · participle present limbering · participle past limbered · past limbered

1. obsoleteTo prepare an artillery piece for transportation (i.e., to attach it to its limber.)