LIMBER

The shafts or thills of a wagon or carriage. [Prov. Eng.]

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.

Gutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to afford a passage for water to the pump well. 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 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.

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

Easily bent; flexible; pliant; yielding. Milton. The bargeman that doth row with long and limber oar. Turbervile.

To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant. Richardson.