limped

verb

past tense of limp
1
as in shuffled
to walk while favoring one leg she limped all day after stubbing her toe on the lawn sprinkler

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stumbled
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually the damaged boat limped back into port

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in dragged
to move slowly we'll have to stop limping if we are ever going to make our destination in time

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of limped Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen limped to the locker room midway through the second period after getting hit by a shot but quickly returned. — Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2026 Hampered by a hip injury, Payne limped through only a third of his allotted distance. — Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026 The Associated Press IZMIT, Turkey -- IZMIT, Turkey (AP) — Kylian Mbappé limped off moments after opening the scoring for France against Turkey in the Nations League on Friday. — ABC News, 25 Sep. 2026 Then came Week 2, when Brooks took his final snap in the second half and limped to the locker room, towel over his head, and proceeded to watch the rest of the game on the sidelines. — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 23 Sep. 2026 Doyle, who limped through a medical career before turning to a life of crime fiction at the age of twenty-seven, had studied under Bell in the late 1870s, marveling at the doctor’s careful reasoning and indefatigable intuition. — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026 Dart limped off the field and was initially treated in the team's medical tent. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2026 One arrived in 2001 when a US spy plane limped into Hainan Island with a 24-member crew after a collision with a Chinese fighter jet that killed its pilot. — Andy Browne, semafor.com, 21 Sep. 2026 The poor effort was the latest from a squad that mostly limped throughout a critical 15-game stretch against AL Central opponents that manager Derek Shelton identified as a sprint. — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for limped
  1. shuffled
  2. stumbled
  3. dragged
  4. hobbled
  5. struggled
  6. crawled
  7. halted
  8. trudged
Verb
  • Because Luke’s Diner was essentially a wooden frame without insulation—and the cast and crew constantly shuffled in and out the door—the December and January shoots on the backlot could be brutal.
    — Mara Reinstein, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Offensive line shuffled up Dykes said in earlier in the week that TCU looked at everything throughout the program during the 2-3 start and would make the necessary adjustments to try and turn things around.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of shuffled
Verb
  • Russia stumbled in all three of its Phobos attempts as well as many other Mars endeavors.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Munyon's Paw-Paw, an alcoholic beverage dating to the early 1900s, has been resurrected by two longtime spirits industry veterans who stumbled upon its unusual history during a family outing.
    — Peter Burke, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of stumbled
Verb
  • Malkin controlled Lapierre’s dump-in attempt near the blue line, toe-dragged past Panther defenseman Gustav Forsling in the slot and beat Black with a wrist shot.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
  • In my opinion, the president and his incompetent, corrupt acolytes have debased the office and dragged the good name of America through the mud.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • Ukraine’s defenses have been hobbled in recent days by unexplained failures of the Starlink and Starshield satellite systems that are a crucial tool to protect civilians from incoming Russian missiles and drone attacks.
    — Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Reagan hobbled to a seat in the Yellow Oval Room, started to sit down and fell the rest of the way, collapsing into his chair.
    — Bob Woodward, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of hobbled
Verb
  • The 3-3 Knights have struggled in the Big 12 since joining the conference, but tend to be better at home in the friendly confines of the Acrisure Bounce House.
    — Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The shift signals a turning point for the left, which has historically struggled to counter the far-right’s dominant online presence and savvy digital strategy.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of struggled
Verb
  • Giamanco crawled in through a shot-out window, reached the special education classroom and reracked his firearm in preparation for a deadly confrontation.
    — David K. Li, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
  • In May 2025, after Williams shut off the water in a cell, 10 inmates removed a toilet, crawled through a gap in the wall and scaled a fence out of the jail.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • Jake Guentzel scored twice and Charle-Edouard D’Astous added another for the Lightning, who saw their three-game winning streak halted.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The attack finally halted when journalist Jasper Nathaniel and several others came to Levine’s aid – but the danger wasn’t over.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of halted
Verb
  • Some poor families trudged from one village to another, falling victim to violence, hunger and cold.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • And, like any good party, someone had a notion that the others loved — and so the players trudged back onto the field to have a team photo taken in front of the Crown Vision board still displaying a congratulatory message to the White Sox.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of trudged

Browse Nearby Words

limp
limped
limpid
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Limped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/limped. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of disparate

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All