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lime

Pronunciation: /laɪm/

The English word “lime” has 19 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Any inorganic material containing calcium, usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime).
  2. Any gluey or adhesive substance that traps or captures; sometimes a synonym for birdlime.
  3. A limelight; any spotlight.
  4. A deciduous tree of the genus Tilia, especially Tilia × europaea; the linden tree.
  5. The wood of this tree.
  6. Any of several green citrus fruit, somewhat smaller and sharper-tasting than a lemon.
  7. Any of the trees that bear limes, especially Key lime, Citrus aurantiifolia.
  8. Any of several brilliant, sometimes yellowish, green colours associated with the fruits of a lime tree.
  9. A particular one of those colours that has been standardized under this name, at least in some organizations' standards.
  10. A fan fiction story which contains sexual references, but stops short of full, explicit descriptions of sexual activity (coined by analogy with lemon).
  11. A casual gathering to socialize.

verb

  1. To treat with calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide (lime).
  2. To smear with birdlime.
  3. To ensnare, catch, entrap.
  4. To apply limewash.
  5. To hang out or socialize in an informal, relaxed environment, especially with friends, for example at a party or on the beach.

adjective

  1. Containing lime or lime juice.
  2. Having the aroma or flavor of lime.
  3. Lime-green.

Etymology

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”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.