different between blimp vs limp

English

Etymology

Origin not entirely certain. However, most historians believe that it is onomatopoeia for the sound a blimp makes when thumped. Although there is some disagreement among historians, credit for coining the term is usually given to Lt. A.D. Conningham of the British Royal Navy in 1915.

There is an often repeated, but false, alternative explanation for the term. The erroneous story is that at some time in the early 20th century, the United States military had two classes for airships: Type A-rigid and Type B-limp, hence “blimp”. In fact, A. D. Topping reports on the “Etymology of ‘Blimp’”, in the AAHS Journal, Winter 1963, that:

“there was no American ‘A-class’ of airships as such—all military aircraft, heavier or lighter-than-air were designated with ‘A’ until the appearance of B-class airships in May 1917. There was an American B airship—but there seems to be no record of any official designation of non-rigids as ‘limp’. Further, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the first appearance of the word in print was in 1916, in England, a year before the first B-class airship.”

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) enPR: bl?mp IPA^(key): /bl?mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Noun

blimp (plural blimps)

1. (aviation) An airship constructed with a non-rigid lifting agent container.
   • 2004 February 16&23, The New Yorker:

     The Goodyear blimp over Giants Stadium

2. (by extension) Any large airborne inflatable.
   • 2018 July 14, Trump baby balloon: giant blimp takes to the sky above Edinburgh after being transported from London, Evening Standard:

     a 6 meter high blimp made by a professional inflatables company, to be flown in the skies

3. (slang) An obese person.
4. A person similar to the cartoon character Colonel Blimp; a pompous, reactionary British man.
5. A soundproof cover for a video camera.

Synonyms

• barrage balloon
• Gossage
• nonrigid

Hypernyms

• airship
• dirigible

Derived terms

• Blimp
• blimpish

Translations

Verb

blimp (third-person singular simple present blimps, present participle blimping, simple past and past participle blimped)

1. (slang, intransitive) To expand like a blimp or balloon; to become fat.

   After college, she started blimping and could no longer wear her favorite little black dress.

   Over a few years the software had blimped into typical bloatware.

2. (transitive) To fit (a video camera) with a soundproof cover.

Derived terms

• self-blimped

Synonyms

• blimp out
• blimp up

Translations

See also

• airship
• balloon
• dirigible
• zeppelin, Zeppelin

Further reading

• blimp at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “blimp”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Etymology 1

From Middle English limpen (“to fall short”), from Old English limpan, from Proto-Germanic *limpan? (“to hang down”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lemb-, *(s)lemb?- (“to hang loosely, hang limply”). Cognate with Low German lumpen (“to limp”), Middle High German limpfen (“to hobble, limp”), dialectal German lampen (“to hang down loosely”), Icelandic limpa (“limpness, weakness”).

Verb

limp (third-person singular simple present limps, present participle limping, simple past and past participle limped)

1. (intransitive) To walk lamely, as if favouring one leg.
2. (intransitive, figuratively, of a vehicle) To travel with a malfunctioning system of propulsion.

   The bomber limped home on one engine.

3. (intransitive, figuratively) To move or proceed irregularly.

   limping verses

   The business limped through the recession

4. (poker slang, intransitive) To call, particularly in an unraised pot pre-flop.

Derived terms

• limpard
• limper

Translations

Noun

limp (plural limps)

1. An irregular, jerky or awkward gait.

   She walks with a limp.

2. A scraper for removing poor ore or refuse from the sieve.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English *limp, *lemp, from Old English *lemp (recorded only in compound lemphealt (“limping”), from Proto-Germanic *limpan? (“to hang down”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lemb-, *(s)lemb?- (“to hang loosely, hang limply”). Cognate with German lampecht (“flaccid, limp”), Icelandic lempinn, lempiligur (“pliable, gentle”). See above.

Adjective

limp (comparative limper, superlative limpest)

1. flaccid; flabby, like flesh.
2. lacking stiffness; flimsy

   a limp rope

3. (of a penis) not erect
4. (of a man) not having an erect penis
5. physically weak
   • 2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France [2]

     Another line-out was stolen, and when the ball was sent left Clerc stepped and spun through limp challenges from Wilkinson, Chris Ashton and Foden to dive over and make it 11-0.

Derived terms

• limp-dick
• limp of the wrist
• limp-wrist
• limp-wristed

Translations

Verb

limp (third-person singular simple present limps, present participle limping, simple past and past participle limped)

1. (intransitive) To be inadequate or unsatisfactory.

Noun

limp (plural limps)

1. A scraper of board or sheet-iron shaped like half the head of a small cask, used for scraping the ore off the sieve in the operation of hand-jigging.

Etymology 3

From Middle English limpen, from Old English limpan (“to happen, occur, exist, belong to, suit, befit, concern”), from Proto-Germanic *limpan? (“to glide, go, suit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lemb-, *(s)lemb?- (“to hang loosely, hang limply”). Cognate with Scots limp (“to chance to be, come”), Middle Dutch limpen (“to happen”), Middle Low German gelimpen (“to moderate, treat mildly”), Middle High German limfen (“to suit, become”).

Verb

limp (third-person singular simple present limps, present participle limping, simple past lamp or limped, past participle lump or limped)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To happen; befall; chance.
2. (obsolete, transitive) To come upon; meet.

Derived terms

• belimp

Etymology 4

Alternative forms

• Limp

Phrase

limp

1. (historical) Acronym of Louis XIV, James II, Queen Mary of Modena and the Prince of Wales. (a code-word among Jacobites)

References

Anagrams

• IPML, impl, pilm, plim

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• linp

Etymology

From a derivative of Latin lampas. Compare Italian lampo.

Noun

limp m

1. lightning