different between hobble vs bobble

English

Etymology

From Middle English hobblen, hobelen, akin to Middle Dutch hoblen, hobbelen (Modern Dutch hobbelen).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h?b?l/
• Rhymes: -?b?l

Noun

hobble (plural hobbles)

1. (chiefly in the plural) One of the short straps tied between the legs of unfenced horses, allowing them to wander short distances but preventing them from running off.
2. An unsteady, off-balance step.
3. A difficult situation; a scrape.
4. (dialect, Britain and Newfoundland) An odd job; a piece of casual work.

Synonyms

• tether (rope)

Translations

Verb

hobble (third-person singular simple present hobbles, present participle hobbling, simple past and past participle hobbled)

1. To fetter by tying the legs; to restrict (a horse) with hobbles.
   • 1865, Charles Dickens, Doctor Marigold

     you hobble your old horse and turn him grazing

2. To walk lame, or unevenly.

   • The friar was hobbling the same way too.

3. (figuratively) To move roughly or irregularly.
   • 1815, William Wordsworth, The White Doe of Rylstone

     The hobbling versification, the mean diction.

4. To perplex; to embarrass.

Synonyms

• (walk unevenly): hirple

Derived terms

• hobble skirt
• hobbly
• unhobble

Translations

Anagrams

• hobbel

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?b?l/
• Rhymes: -?b?l
• Homophone: bauble (in accents with the cot-caught merger)

Noun

bobble (plural bobbles)

1. A furry ball attached on top of a hat.
2. (Britain) Elasticated band used for securing hair (for instance in a ponytail), a hair tie
3. (informal) A pill (a ball formed on the surface of the fabric, as on laundered clothes).
4. (knitting) A localized set of stitches forming a raised bump.
   • 2008, Claire Compton, Sue Whiting, The Knitting and Crochet Bible (page 45)

     From the top the sample shows four stitch popcorns, five stitch bobbles, two rows of bells and a central leaf with leaves sloping to the left and right each side.

5. A wobbling motion.

Derived terms

• bobble hat
• bobblehead
• bobbly
• head bobble

Translations

Verb

bobble (third-person singular simple present bobbles, present participle bobbling, simple past and past participle bobbled)

1. (intransitive) To bob up and down.
2. (US) To make a mistake in.
3. (intransitive) To roll slowly.
   • November 17 2012, BBC Sport: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham [1]

     A neat interchange between Mikel Arteta and Wilshere set up Podolski and his finish bobbled into the net via Gallas.

Derived terms

• bobbler

Translations