lime
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /laɪm/
rhymes: -aɪm
Forms: form: limes
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, German Leim (“glue”), Danish lim (from Old Norse lím), Latin limus (“mud”).
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1952, L.F. Salzman, Building in England, page 149:
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: Any inorganic material containing calcium, usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime).
examples: text: Monster, come, put some lime upon your fingers, and away with the rest.
ref: 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]:
text: Like the lime which foolish birds are caught with.
ref: 1835, William Wordsworth, They called Thee Merry England, in old time [first line of unnamed poem]:
glosses: Any gluey or adhesive substance that traps or captures; sometimes a synonym for birdlime.
examples: text: Sellers moved on until he was actually trusted to operate the limes, the spotlights that can make or destroy an artist's act.
ref: 1980, Peter Evans, Peter Sellers: The Mask Behind the Mask, page 30:
text: 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.
ref: 2018, Robert Charles Hines, Twists and Turns: 13 Tales of the Uneasy, page 121:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
theater
glosses: A limelight; any spotlight.
Derived terms: sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: acid lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: belime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: birdlime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: carbonate of lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: caustic lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: chloride of lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: chlorinated lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: cream of lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: delime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: dolime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: hydraulic lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: Jew's lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: lime-ash
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limeberry
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limeburner
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: lime burning
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limecrete
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: Limedale
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: lime-fingered
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limehouse
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: lime kiln
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limekiln
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limeless
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limelight
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limelighter
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limelike
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: lime mortar
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: lime pit
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limerod
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limescale
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limestone
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: lime sulfur
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limetwig
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: lime-twig
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: lime-twigged
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limewater
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limeworking
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limeworks
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limeyard
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: limy
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: milk of lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: nitrolime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: pickling lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: quicklime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: shell lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: slaked lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: soda lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: soda-lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: soda-lime glass
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: time and lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: tobacco lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: unlime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: unslaked lime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: whitelime
sense: terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
word: white lime
Related terms: sense: Entries of interest
word: asbestos
sense: Entries of interest
word: calcareous
sense: Entries of interest
word: calcify
sense: Entries of interest
word: calcine
sense: Entries of interest
word: calcium
sense: Entries of interest
word: calcium hydroxide
sense: Entries of interest
word: calcspar
sense: Entries of interest
word: calc-tufa
sense: Entries of interest
word: calculus
sense: Entries of interest
word: calx
sense: Entries of interest
word: chalk