From Middle English lyme, lym, lime, from Old English līm, from Proto-West Germanic *līm, from Proto-Germanic *līmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Liem (“glue”), Dutch lijm (“glue”), German Leim (“glue”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish lim (“glue”), Faroese and Icelandic lím (“glue”), Latin limus (“mud”).
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) Any inorganic material containing calcium, usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime).
Lime, which is the product of the burning of chalk or limestone, might be bought ready burnt, or it could be burnt in kilns specially constructed in the neighbourhood of the building operations. 1952, L.F. Salzman, Building in England, page 149:
(countable, poetic, uncountable) Any gluey or adhesive substance that traps or captures; sometimes a synonym for birdlime.
Monster, come, put some lime upon your fingers, and away with the rest. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
Like the lime which foolish birds are caught with. 1835, William Wordsworth, They called Thee Merry England, in old time [first line of unnamed poem]:
(countable, uncountable) A limelight; any spotlight.
Then out of the blue, a spotlight much like the “limes” in a theatre, lit up what seemed like a Punch and Judy tent […] He struggled even more, when from out of the shadows and into the bright light of the limes, stepped Uncle Jolly. 2018, Robert Charles Hines, Twists and Turns: 13 Tales of the Uneasy, page 121:
Sellers moved on until he was actually trusted to operate the limes, the spotlights that can make or destroy an artist's act. 1980, Peter Evans, Peter Sellers: The Mask Behind the Mask, page 30:
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limes
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Deriveds
carbonate of lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limelight (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limehouse (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · Limedale (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limeberry (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · slaked lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · delime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime kiln (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · caustic lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · hydraulic lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · belime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · birdlime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime-twigged (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · pickling lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limescale (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · soda-lime glass (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limekiln (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · cream of lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · unlime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · unslaked lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limelighter (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limetwig (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limelike (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limeburner (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · soda-lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · time and lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · whitelime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime plaster (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · milk of lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limeworks (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime pit (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime sulfur (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · white lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · quicklime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limestone (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime mortar (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · shell lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime-fingered (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · chlorinated lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limeless (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · Jew's lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limecrete (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · dolime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · nitrolime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limeworking (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limewater (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · anhydrous lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limy (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · tobacco lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limerod (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime burning (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · chloride of lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · soda lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · acid lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime-twig (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · unhydrated lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · limeyard (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · burnt lime (terms derived from lime (alkali substance)) · lime-ash (terms derived from lime (alkali substance))
Relateds
calcium (Entries of interest) · asbestos (Entries of interest) · calcine (Entries of interest) · calcium hydroxide (Entries of interest) · calc-tufa (Entries of interest) · calx (Entries of interest) · calcify (Entries of interest) · calcspar (Entries of interest) · chalk (Entries of interest) · calculus (Entries of interest) · calcareous (Entries of interest)
Translations (103)
et liim (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · de Kalk (inorganic material containing calcium) · uk вапно (inorganic material containing calcium) · mg sokay (inorganic material containing calcium) · ms kapur (inorganic material containing calcium) · pt visco (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · bn চুন (inorganic material containing calcium) · mk вар (inorganic material containing calcium) · et lubi (inorganic material containing calcium) · fa گرچ (inorganic material containing calcium) · ca envescada (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · pdt Kaulkj (inorganic material containing calcium) · zu umcako (inorganic material containing calcium) · sw chokaa (inorganic material containing calcium) · bho चूना (inorganic material containing calcium) · bo ས་དཀར (inorganic material containing calcium) · la calx (inorganic material containing calcium) · fi mönjä (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · ru и́звесть (inorganic material containing calcium) · th ปูนขาว (inorganic material containing calcium) · ga aol (inorganic material containing calcium) · mwl cal (inorganic material containing calcium) · fy kalk (inorganic material containing calcium) · eo kalko (inorganic material containing calcium) · sl apno (inorganic material containing calcium) · ckb ئاھەک (inorganic material containing calcium) · fa آهک (inorganic material containing calcium) · ckb قسڵ (inorganic material containing calcium) · kmr kisl (inorganic material containing calcium) · nl lijm (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · id kapur (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · ast cal (inorganic material containing calcium) · tr kireç (inorganic material containing calcium) · grc τίτανος (inorganic material containing calcium) · inh кӏир (inorganic material containing calcium) · cs vápno (inorganic material containing calcium) · mn шохой (inorganic material containing calcium) · io kalko (inorganic material containing calcium) · tl apog (inorganic material containing calcium) · ar جِير (inorganic material containing calcium) · te సున్నము (inorganic material containing calcium) · sv fågellim (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · be вапна (inorganic material containing calcium) · yi קאַלך (inorganic material containing calcium) · it calce (inorganic material containing calcium) · nl kalk (inorganic material containing calcium) · tl pirali (inorganic material containing calcium) · pl wapno (inorganic material containing calcium) · ce кир (inorganic material containing calcium) · tg оҳак (inorganic material containing calcium) · ro oxid de calciu (inorganic material containing calcium) · ota كیرج (inorganic material containing calcium) · ckv apuk (inorganic material containing calcium) · da kalk (inorganic material containing calcium) · bo རྡོ་ཐལ (inorganic material containing calcium) · ro var (inorganic material containing calcium) · lld ciauc (inorganic material containing calcium) · et paas (inorganic material containing calcium) · ja 石灰 (inorganic material containing calcium) · az əhəng (inorganic material containing calcium) · kn ಸುಣ್ಣ (inorganic material containing calcium) · fi liisteri (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · an calsina (inorganic material containing calcium) · sv kalk (inorganic material containing calcium) · is kalk (inorganic material containing calcium) · ceb apog (inorganic material containing calcium) · nap calce (inorganic material containing calcium) · bo རྡོ་ཞོ (inorganic material containing calcium) · oc calç (inorganic material containing calcium) · af kalk (inorganic material containing calcium) · hy կիր (inorganic material containing calcium) · fo kálk (inorganic material containing calcium) · lv kaļķis (inorganic material containing calcium) · hu mész (inorganic material containing calcium) · pt cal (inorganic material containing calcium) · ko 석회 (inorganic material containing calcium) · ext cal (inorganic material containing calcium) · sq gëlqere (inorganic material containing calcium) · mba apug (inorganic material containing calcium) · nn kalk (inorganic material containing calcium) · cy calch (inorganic material containing calcium) · ml ചുണ്ണാമ്പ് (inorganic material containing calcium) · he סִיד (inorganic material containing calcium) · hi चूना (inorganic material containing calcium) · lzz კირი (inorganic material containing calcium) · mt ġir (inorganic material containing calcium) · pt visgo (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · an calso (inorganic material containing calcium) · ca calç (inorganic material containing calcium) · ka კირი (inorganic material containing calcium) · bg вар (inorganic material containing calcium) · hil apog (inorganic material containing calcium) · msk apog (inorganic material containing calcium) · fr chaux (inorganic material containing calcium) · la viscum (gluey or adhesive substance used to trap or capture) · co cal (inorganic material containing calcium) · nb kalk (inorganic material containing calcium) · cmn 石灰 (inorganic material containing calcium) · gl cal (inorganic material containing calcium) · fi kalkki (inorganic material containing calcium) · vi vôi (inorganic material containing calcium) · qu isku (inorganic material containing calcium) · es cal (inorganic material containing calcium)
From Middle English lyme, lym, lime, from Old English līm, from Proto-West Germanic *līm, from Proto-Germanic *līmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Liem (“glue”), Dutch lijm (“glue”), German Leim (“glue”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish lim (“glue”), Faroese and Icelandic lím (“glue”), Latin limus (“mud”).
Meanings
(transitive) To treat with calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide (lime).
If I were you, I'd lime. 1917, Rudyard Kipling, The Land:
(transitive) To smear with birdlime.
(rare, transitive) To smear with birdlime. ▸ To ensnare, catch, entrap.
URSULA. She's lim'd, I warrant you: we have caught her, madam.
HERO. If it prove so, then loving goes by haps:
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps. 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
Abraham, like his parents, seemed to have been limed and caught by the ensnaring inn. 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 39:
Lime (17th c.) and line (16th c.) are alterations of obsolete lind, from Middle English lynde, from Old English lind, from Proto-Germanic *lindijō. The phonetic development is unusual, but it has been suggested that it began in compounds (loss of -d- perhaps before tree, the change to -m- before labials as in bark or wood). Doublet of linden, which see.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) A deciduous tree of the genus Tilia, especially Tilia × europaea; the linden tree.
But there was nothing of an ascetic's expression in her bright full eyes, as she looked before her, not consciously seeing, but absorbing into the intensity of her mood, the solemn glory of the afternoon with its long swathes of light between the far-off rows of limes, whose shadows touched each other. 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter III, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, page 38:
The linden or lime tree is the favourite haunt of the Elves and cognate beings; and it is not safe to be near it after sunset. 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 158:
(countable, uncountable) The wood of this tree.
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limes
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Deriveds
broad-leaved lime (terms derived from noun lime (tree)) · brooklime (terms derived from noun lime (tree)) · round lime (terms derived from noun lime (tree)) · lime tree looper (terms derived from noun lime (tree)) · Ogeechee lime (terms derived from noun lime (tree)) · American lime (terms derived from noun lime (tree)) · limelike (terms derived from noun lime (tree)) · Philippine lime (terms derived from noun lime (tree)) · silver lime (terms derived from noun lime (tree))
Borrowed from French lime, from Spanish lima, from Arabic لِيمَة (līma), from Classical Persian لِیمُو (līmū, līmō), from Sanskrit निम्बू (nimbū, “lime”), ultimately from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *limaw or Munda. Doublet of lemon.
Meanings
(not-comparable) Containing lime or lime juice.
(not-comparable) Having the aroma or flavor of lime.
(not-comparable) Lime-green.
Translations (17)
de Limetten- (containing lime or lime juice) · tr lim sulu (containing lime or lime juice) · tr limli (containing lime or lime juice) · fi limetinmakuinen (having the aroma or taste of lime) · ru ла́ймовый (containing lime or lime juice) · pl limonowy (containing lime or lime juice) · sl limetast (having the aroma or taste of lime) · tr lim aromalı (having the aroma or taste of lime) · es de lima (containing lime or lime juice) · uk ла́ймовий (containing lime or lime juice) · de mit Limettengeschmack (having the aroma or taste of lime) · sl limetin (containing lime or lime juice) · de mit Limettenaroma (having the aroma or taste of lime) · vi vôi (containing lime or lime juice) · fi limetti- (containing lime or lime juice) · tr limli (having the aroma or taste of lime) · fr citron vert (containing lime or lime juice)
Borrowed from French lime, from Spanish lima, from Arabic لِيمَة (līma), from Classical Persian لِیمُو (līmū, līmō), from Sanskrit निम्बू (nimbū, “lime”), ultimately from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *limaw or Munda. Doublet of lemon.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) Any of several green citrus fruit, somewhat smaller and sharper-tasting than a lemon.
(countable, uncountable) Any of the trees that bear limes, especially Key lime, Citrus aurantiifolia.
(uncountable) Any of several brilliant, sometimes yellowish, green colours associated with the fruits of a lime tree.
(countable, uncountable) Any of several brilliant, sometimes yellowish, green colours associated with the fruits of a lime tree. ▸ A particular one of those colours that has been standardized under this name, at least in some organizations' standards.
(countable, slang, uncountable) A fan fiction story which contains sexual references, but stops short of full, explicit descriptions of sexual activity (coined by analogy with lemon).
I have no intention of writing any lemon scenes, limes are possibilities but unlikely and if they occur they will be few in number. 2001 November 27, Schemer, “[Ranma/SF][FanFic] A Learning Experience - Chapter 01”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):
Even with all the sex in Garden of EVA, I still think the main stories are better for just being the lemon-scented limes that they are. 1998 December 29, jiml...@earthlink.net, “[EVA][FanFic][Lemon] Garden of EVA 0:6x - Wet Dreams Bite!”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):
WARNING: This is a lime. While it does not show explicit sex, as a lemon would, references to sexual situations abound. 1998 June 8, Gary Kleppe, “[Ranma][Fanfic] Tangled Web”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):
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limes
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Deriveds
lime-juicer (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Key lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · kaffir lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · limequat (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lime butterfly (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Sylhet lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Spanish lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lime disease (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Tahiti lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Palestinian sweet lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Australian desert-lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Indian sweet lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · limetini (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lemonime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · blood lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lime blossom (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · sweet lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Bearss' lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lime-aise (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · desert lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Australian lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · finger lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Thai lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · limerita (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · limeade (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lime green (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Mandarin lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · wild lime (Adelia ricinella, (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · musk lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lime yellow (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Rangpur lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Persian lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · caviar lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lime-green (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lemon and lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lemon-lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lime juice (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · makrut lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Australian finger-lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lemon lime (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · limey (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · Key lime pie (terms derived from lime ("Citrus")) · lime rickey (terms derived from lime ("Citrus"))
lemon (terms of interest for lime (noun) fruit and color) · plaster (terms of interest for lime (noun) fruit and color) · gimlet (terms of interest for lime (noun) fruit and color) · sour (terms of interest for lime (noun) fruit and color) · fur up (terms of interest for lime (noun) fruit and color)
Either a back-formation of limer or from the derogatory term limey, a term first given to British soldiers but also used by Trinidadians for American soldiers who used to hang out idle in Port of Spain during World War 2.
Meanings
(Caribbean, qualifier:Trinidad & Tobago) A casual gathering to socialize.
Either a back-formation of limer or from the derogatory term limey, a term first given to British soldiers but also used by Trinidadians for American soldiers who used to hang out idle in Port of Spain during World War 2.
Meanings
(Barbados, Caribbean, Trinidad-and-Tobago, informal) To hang out or socialize in an informal, relaxed environment, especially with friends, for example at a party or on the beach.