limber

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: lim=ber

CIDE DICTIONARY

limber, n. [For limmer, Icel. limar branches, boughs, pl. of lim; akin to E. limb. See Limb a branch.].

•  The shafts or thills of a wagon or carriage.  [1913 Webster]
•  The detachable fore part of a gun carriage, consisting of two wheels, an axle, and a shaft to which the horses are attached. On top is an ammunition box upon which the cannoneers sit.  [1913 Webster]
•  Gutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to afford a passage for water to the pump well.  [1913 Webster]

Limber boards (Naut.), short pieces of plank forming part of the lining of a ship's floor immediately above the timbers, so as to prevent the limbers from becoming clogged. -- Limber box or Limber chest (Mil.), a box on the limber for carrying ammunition. -- Limber rope, Limber chain or Limber clearer (Naut.), a rope or chain passing through the limbers of a ship, by which they may be cleared of dirt that chokes them. Totten. -- Limber strake (Shipbuilding), the first course of inside planking next the keelson.

limber, v. t. 

 To attach to the limber; as, to limber a gun.  [1913 Webster]

To limber up, to change a gun carriage into a four-wheeled vehicle by attaching the limber.

limber, a. [Akin to limp, a. Limp, a.].

 Easily bent; flexible; pliant; yielding.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
"The bargeman that doth row with long and limber oar."  [1913 Webster]

limber, v. t. 

 To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant.  Richardson.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

limber, adj. & v.
--adj.
1 lithe, agile, nimble.
2 flexible.
--v. (usu. foll. by up)
1 tr. make (oneself or a part of the body etc.) supple.
2 intr. warm up in preparation for athletic etc. activity.

Derivative

limberness n.

limber, n. & v.
--n. the detachable front part of a gun-carriage, consisting of two wheels, axle, pole, and ammunition-box.
--v.
1 tr. attach a limber to (a gun etc.).
2 intr. fasten together the two parts of a gun-carriage.

Etymology

ME limo(u)r, app. rel. to med.L limonarius f. limo -onis shaft

THESAURUS

limber

adaptable, anemic, asthenic, bendable, bending, bloodless, chicken, compliant, cowardly, debilitated, drooping, droopy, ductile, dull, effete, elastic, etiolated, extensible, extensile, fabricable, facile, faint, faintish, feeble, fictile, flabby, flaccid, flexible, flexile, flexuous, floppy, formable, formative, giving, gone, gutless, imbecile, impotent, impressible, impressionable, languid, languorous, like putty, limp, lissome, listless, lithe, lithesome, lustless, malleable, marrowless, moldable, nerveless, pithless, plastic, pliable, pliant, pooped, powerless, receptive, resilient, responsive, rubbery, sapless, sensitive, sequacious, shapable, sinewless, slack, soft, spineless, springy, strengthless, submissive, supple, susceptible, tractable, tractile, unhardened, unnerved, unstrung, weak, weakly, whippy, willowy, yielding

ROGET THESAURUS

limber

Vehicle

N vehicle, conveyance, carriage, caravan, van, common carrier, wagon, waggon, wain, dray, cart, lorry, truck, tram, cariole, carriole, limber, tumbrel, pontoon, barrow, wheel barrow, hand barrow, perambulator, Bath chair, wheel chair, sedan chair, chaise, palankeen, palanquin, litter, brancard, crate, hurdle, stretcher, ambulance, black Maria, conestoga wagon, conestoga wain, jinrikisha, ricksha, brett, dearborn, dump cart, hack, hackery, jigger, kittereen, mailstate, manomotor, rig, rockaway, prairie schooner, shay, sloven, team, tonga, wheel, hobbyhorse, go-cart, cycle, bicycle, bike, two-wheeler, tricycle, velocipede, quadricycle, equipage, turn-out, coach, chariot, phaeton, break, mail phaeton, wagonette, drag, curricle, tilbury, whisky, landau, barouche, victoria, brougham, clarence, calash, caleche, britzka, araba, kibitka, berlin, sulky, desobligeant, sociable, vis-a-vis, dormeuse, jaunting car, outside car, dandi, doolie, dooly, munchil, palki, roller skates, skate, runabout, ski, tonjon, vettura, post chaise, diligence, stage, stage coach, mail coach, hackney coach, glass coach, stage wagon, car, omnibus, fly, cabriolet, cab, hansom, shofle, four-wheeler, growler, droshki, drosky, dogcart, trap, whitechapel, buggy, four-in-hand, unicorn, random, tandem, shandredhan, char-a-bancs, motor car, automobile, limousine, car, auto, jalopy, clunker, lemon, flivver, coupe, sedan, two-door sedan, four-door sedan, luxury sedan, wheels, sports car, roadster, gran turismo, jeep, four-wheel drive vehicle, electric car, steamer, golf cart, electric wagon, taxicab, cab, taxicoach, checker cab, yellow cab, station wagon, family car, motorcycle, motor bike, side car, van, minivan, bus, minibus, microbus, truck, wagon, pick-up wagon, pick-up, tractor- trailer, road train, articulated vehicle, racing car, racer, hot rod, stock car, souped-up car, bob, bobsled, bobsleigh, cutter, double ripper, double runner, jumper, sled, sledge, sleigh, toboggan, train, accommodation train, passenger train, express trail, special train, corridor train, parliamentary train, luggage train, freight train, goods train, 1st class train, 2nd class train, 3rd class train, 1st class carriage, 2nd class carriage, 3rd class carriage, 1st class compartment, 2nd class compartment, 3rd class compartment, rolling stock, horse box, cattle truck, baggage car, express car, freight car, parlor car, dining car, Pullman car, sleeping car, sleeper, dome car, surface car, tram car, trolley car, box car, box wagon, horse car, bullet train, shinkansen, cannonball, the Wabash cannonball, lightning express, luggage van, mail, mail car, mail van, shovel, spool, spatula, ladle, hod, hoe, spade, spaddle, loy, spud, pitchfork, post hole digger, tractor, steamshovel, backhoe, fork lift, earth mover, dump truck, bulldozer, grader, caterpillar, trench digger, steamroller, pile driver, crane, wrecking crane.

Softness

N softness, pliableness, flexibility, pliancy, pliability, sequacity, malleability, ductility, tractility, extendibility, extensibility, plasticity, inelasticity, flaccidity, laxity, penetrability, clay, wax, butter, dough, pudding, alumina, argil, cushion, pillow, feather bed, down, padding, wadding, foam, mollification, softening, soft, tender, supple, pliant, pliable, flexible, flexile, lithe, lithesome, lissom, limber, plastic, ductile, tractile, tractable, malleable, extensile, sequacious, inelastic, aluminous, remollient, yielding, flabby, limp, flimsy, doughy, spongy, penetrable, foamy, cushiony, flaccid, flocculent, downy, edematous, oedematous, medullary, argillaceous, mellow, soft as butter, soft as down, soft as silk, yielding as wax, tender as chicken.