# limp

> English word · Verb · IPA /lɪmp/ · frequency rank #16,514

## Definitions
1. To walk lamely, as if favoring one leg.
2. To travel with a malfunctioning system of propulsion.
3. To move or proceed irregularly.
4. To call, particularly in an unraised pot pre-flop.

## Etymology
From Middle English limpen (“to fall short”), from Old English limpan, from Proto-West Germanic *limpan, from Proto-Germanic *limpaną (“to hang down”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lemb-, *(s)lembʰ- (“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”).

## Easily confused with
- **LP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lp)
- **LM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lm)
- **lit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lit)
- **lip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lip)
- **Liz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-liz)
- **lin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lin)
- **Liu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-liu)
- **Liv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-liv)
- **lis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lis)
- **lop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lop)
- **lum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lum)
- **live** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-live)
- **line** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-line)
- **list** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-list)
- **link** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-link)
- **lips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lips)
- **Lisa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lisa)
- **loop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-loop)
- **lion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lion)
- **lump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limp-vs-lump)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ilmp`, `limmp`, `limpp`, `lipm`, `llimp`, `lmip`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/limp