"fimble" meaning in English

See fimble in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈfɪmbl̩/ Forms: fimbles [plural], femble [alternative]
Rhymes: -ɪmbəl Etymology: From Middle Dutch femele, fimele (“cannabis brevior”), from fimelen (“to tease: flax, hemp, wool, etc.; to move quickly, fiddle, play, trifle”) (whence Dutch fijmelen, femelen), related to Middle Low German fimmelen, fimmeren (“to grope about”), German fimmeln (“to grope; fumble”), West Frisian fimelje (“to pick; fiddle' trifle”), English fimble (“to fumble”). Alternatively, it is sometimes suggested that Middle Dutch femele is from French chanvre) femelle (“female (hemp)”), which was applied to the male hemp plant as it is smaller and was therefore believed to be female; this would parallel the old designation of the larger, female plant as carl-hemp (“man-hemp”). Etymology templates: {{der|en|dum|femele}} Middle Dutch femele, {{cog|nl|fijmelen}} Dutch fijmelen, {{cog|gml|fimmelen}} Middle Low German fimmelen, {{cog|de|fimmeln||to grope; fumble}} German fimmeln (“to grope; fumble”), {{cog|fy|fimelje||to pick; fiddle' trifle}} West Frisian fimelje (“to pick; fiddle' trifle”), {{der|en|fr|chanvre}} French chanvre Head templates: {{en-noun}} fimble (plural fimbles)
  1. The male hemp plant. Related terms: fimble-famble
    Sense id: en-fimble-en-noun-B5e3vJZy Categories (other): Hemp family plants Disambiguation of Hemp family plants: 71 29
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Verb

IPA: /ˈfɪmbl̩/ Forms: fimbles [present, singular, third-person], fimbling [participle, present], fimbled [participle, past], fimbled [past]
Rhymes: -ɪmbəl Etymology: From a dialectal variant of fumble. Head templates: {{en-verb}} fimble (third-person singular simple present fimbles, present participle fimbling, simple past and past participle fimbled)
  1. (intransitive, dialectal) To fumble; do (anything) imperfectly or irresolutely. Tags: dialectal, intransitive
    Sense id: en-fimble-en-verb-KngW-UX- Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 12 88 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 16 84 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 12 88
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "From a dialectal variant of fumble.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fimbles",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fimbling",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fimbled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fimbled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fimble (third-person singular simple present fimbles, present participle fimbling, simple past and past participle fimbled)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "12 88",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 84",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 88",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fumble; do (anything) imperfectly or irresolutely."
      ],
      "id": "en-fimble-en-verb-KngW-UX-",
      "links": [
        [
          "fumble",
          "fumble"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, dialectal) To fumble; do (anything) imperfectly or irresolutely."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɪmbl̩/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪmbəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fimble"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dum",
        "3": "femele"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch femele",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "fijmelen"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch fijmelen",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gml",
        "2": "fimmelen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Low German fimmelen",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "fimmeln",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to grope; fumble"
      },
      "expansion": "German fimmeln (“to grope; fumble”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "fimelje",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to pick; fiddle' trifle"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian fimelje (“to pick; fiddle' trifle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "chanvre"
      },
      "expansion": "French chanvre",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle Dutch femele, fimele (“cannabis brevior”), from fimelen (“to tease: flax, hemp, wool, etc.; to move quickly, fiddle, play, trifle”) (whence Dutch fijmelen, femelen), related to Middle Low German fimmelen, fimmeren (“to grope about”), German fimmeln (“to grope; fumble”), West Frisian fimelje (“to pick; fiddle' trifle”), English fimble (“to fumble”). Alternatively, it is sometimes suggested that Middle Dutch femele is from French chanvre) femelle (“female (hemp)”), which was applied to the male hemp plant as it is smaller and was therefore believed to be female; this would parallel the old designation of the larger, female plant as carl-hemp (“man-hemp”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fimbles",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "femble",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fimble (plural fimbles)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "71 29",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Hemp family plants",
          "orig": "en:Hemp family plants",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The male hemp plant."
      ],
      "id": "en-fimble-en-noun-B5e3vJZy",
      "links": [
        [
          "hemp",
          "hemp"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "fimble-famble"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɪmbl̩/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪmbəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fimble"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from French",
    "English terms derived from Middle Dutch",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪmbəl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪmbəl/2 syllables",
    "en:Hemp family plants"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "From a dialectal variant of fumble.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fimbles",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fimbling",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fimbled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fimbled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fimble (third-person singular simple present fimbles, present participle fimbling, simple past and past participle fimbled)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dialectal terms",
        "English intransitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fumble; do (anything) imperfectly or irresolutely."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fumble",
          "fumble"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, dialectal) To fumble; do (anything) imperfectly or irresolutely."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɪmbl̩/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪmbəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fimble"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from French",
    "English terms derived from Middle Dutch",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪmbəl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪmbəl/2 syllables",
    "en:Hemp family plants"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dum",
        "3": "femele"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch femele",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "fijmelen"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch fijmelen",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gml",
        "2": "fimmelen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Low German fimmelen",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "fimmeln",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to grope; fumble"
      },
      "expansion": "German fimmeln (“to grope; fumble”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "fimelje",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to pick; fiddle' trifle"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian fimelje (“to pick; fiddle' trifle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "chanvre"
      },
      "expansion": "French chanvre",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle Dutch femele, fimele (“cannabis brevior”), from fimelen (“to tease: flax, hemp, wool, etc.; to move quickly, fiddle, play, trifle”) (whence Dutch fijmelen, femelen), related to Middle Low German fimmelen, fimmeren (“to grope about”), German fimmeln (“to grope; fumble”), West Frisian fimelje (“to pick; fiddle' trifle”), English fimble (“to fumble”). Alternatively, it is sometimes suggested that Middle Dutch femele is from French chanvre) femelle (“female (hemp)”), which was applied to the male hemp plant as it is smaller and was therefore believed to be female; this would parallel the old designation of the larger, female plant as carl-hemp (“man-hemp”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fimbles",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "femble",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fimble (plural fimbles)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "fimble-famble"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The male hemp plant."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hemp",
          "hemp"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɪmbl̩/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪmbəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fimble"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (96027d6 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.