Part 705

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.

Lim"ber, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Limbered (-brd); p. pr. & vb. n. Limbering.] (Mil.) 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.

Lim"ber, a. [Akin to limp, a. √125. See Limp, a.] Easily bent; flexible; pliant; yielding. Milton.

The bargeman that doth row with long and limber oar.

Turbervile.

Lim"ber, v. t. To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant. Richardson.

Lim"ber*ness, n. The quality or state of being limber; flexibleness. Boyle.

Limb"less (lm"ls), a. Destitute of limbs.

Limb"meal` (-ml`), adv. [See Limb, and Piecemeal.] Piecemeal. [Obs.] "To tear her limbmeal." Shak.

{ Lim"bo (lm"b), Lim"bus (- bs), } n. [L. limbus border, edge, in limbo on the border. Cf. Limb border.] 1. (Scholastic Theol.) An extramundane region where certain classes of souls were supposed to await the judgment.

As far from help as Limbo is from bliss.

Shak.

A Limbo large and broad, since called The Paradise of fools.

Milton.

The limbus patrum was considered as a place for the souls of good men who lived before the coming of our Savior. The limbus infantium was said to be a similar place for the souls of unbaptized infants. To these was added, in the popular belief, the limbus fatuorum, or fool's paradise, regarded as a receptacle of all vanity and nonsense.

2. Hence: Any real or imaginary place of restraint or confinement; a prison; as, to put a man in limbo.

3. (Anat.) A border or margin; as, the limbus of the cornea.

Lim"bous (lm"bs), a. [See Limbus.] (Anat.) With slightly overlapping borders; -- said of a suture.

Lime (lm), n. [See Leam a string.] A thong by which a dog is led; a leash. Halliwell.

Lime, n. [Formerly line, for earlier lind. See Linden.] (Bot.) The linden tree. See Linden.

Lime, n. [F. lime; of Persian origin. See Lemon.] (Bot.) A fruit allied to the lemon, but much smaller; also, the tree which bears it. There are two kinds; Citrus Medica, var. acida which is intensely sour, and the sweet lime (C. Medica, var. Limetta) which is only slightly sour.

Lime, n. [AS. lm; akin to D. lijm, G. leim, OHG. lm, Icel. lm, Sw. lim, Dan. liim, L. limus mud, linere to smear, and E. loam. √126. Cf. Loam, Liniment.] 1. Birdlime.

Like the lime That foolish birds are caught with.

Wordsworth.

2. (Chem.) Oxide of calcium; the white or gray, caustic substance, usually called quicklime, obtained by calcining limestone or shells, the heat driving off carbon dioxide and leaving lime. It develops great heat when treated with water, forming slacked lime, and is an essential ingredient of cement, plastering, mortar, etc.

Lime is the principal constituent of limestone, marble, chalk, bones, shells, etc.

Caustic lime, calcium hydrate or slacked lime; also, in a less technical sense, calcium oxide or quicklime. -- Lime burner, one who burns limestone, shells, etc., to make lime. -- Lime light. See Calcium light, under Calcium. -- Lime pit, a limestone quarry. -- Lime rod, Lime twig, a twig smeared with birdlime; hence, that which catches; a snare. Chaucer.