What does hobbed mean?
Hobbed is the past tense and past participle of hob, a verb meaning to walk lamely or with difficulty. It commonly describes someone moving slowly and unevenly because of an injury, disability, or physical discomfort: “She hobbled home after twisting her ankle.” The word often suggests a gait in which one person appears to drag or favor one leg, although it can describe any markedly uneven or laborious walk. In less literal use, hobbled may suggest that someone or something made limited progress: “The old car hobbled up the hill.” Hobbed is related in meaning to hobble and is easily understood in both British and American English.
verbPast tense and past participle of hob, meaning to walk lamely or with difficulty.
- Walked lamely or with difficulty.
- Moved slowly and unevenly, especially because of an injury or disability.
"After injuring her ankle, she hobbed home as quickly as she could."
"The old dog hobbled across the yard toward its owner."
"He hobbled around the kitchen after his surgery, leaning on a cane."
A single word can describe a walk made difficult by an injury, as in “She hobbled to the finish line.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hobbed come from?
The word is an inflected form of hob, whose precise origin is uncertain. It is associated with hobble, a word meaning to walk or move with difficulty, and the two have long been used with closely related meanings. The form hobbed developed simply by adding the regular past-tense and past-participle ending -ed.
Related word forms
How hobbed is actually used
The form is informal but widely used in everyday English. It usually describes walking affected by an injury, stiffness, or difficulty, and can convey a slow or uneven gait.