limp: English has two words limp, which perhaps share a common ancestry. Neither is particularly old. The verb first crops up in the 16th century (until then the word for ‘walk lamely’ had been halt, which now survives, barely, as an adjective). It was probably adapted from the now obsolete adjective limphalt ‘lame’, a descendant of Old English lemphealt (which goes back ultimately to Indo-European *lomb-). The adjective limp is first recorded in the 18th century, and in view of the common meaning element ‘lack of firmness, infirmity’ it seems likely that it is related to the verb.
limp (v.)
1560s, of unknown origin, perhaps related to Middle English lympen "to fall short" (c. 1400), which is probably from Old English lemphealt "halting, lame, limping," which has a lone cognate in the rare Middle High German limphin, and perhaps is from a PIE root meaning "slack, loose, to hang down" (cognates: Sanskrit lambate "hangs down," Middle High German lampen "to hang down"). Related: Limped; limping. As a noun, 1818, from the verb.
limp (adj.)
1706, "flaccid, drooping," of obscure origin, perhaps related to limp (v.).
例文
1. A stiff knee following surgery forced her to walk with a limp .
手術後の彼女の膝の動きは不便で、歩く時に足を引っ張られた。
2.He hit his head against a rock and went limp .
彼の頭は岩にぶつかり、体が柔らかくなった。
3.She was told to reject applicants with limp handshakes.
彼女は握手ができない申請者を拒否するように言われた。
4.His armswere limp at his sides.
彼の両腕は体の両側に無力に垂れ下がっている。
5.His hand went limp and the knife clattered to the ground.