limbec 
This blouU, together with the opened veius,were stilled 
in a vessell of lead, drawn thorow a Limbeck. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 168. 
2. In her., the representation of an alembic or 
still used as a bearing. 
linibect, limbeckt (lim'bek), v. t. [< limbec, 
limbeck, .] To strain or pass through a still. 
The greater do nothing but limbeck their brains in the 
art ol alchemy. Sandys, State of Religion. 
limbed (limd), a. [< limbi + -e&.] Having 
limbs: used mostly in composition with ad- 
jectives: as, strong-K6erf, \arge-limbed, short - 
limbed. 
Timerously hasting from the sickly pale face or feeble 
limined suter. Ilakluyt's Voyages, p. 8. 
Innumerous living creatures, perfect forms, 
Limb'd and full grown. Milton, P. L., vii. 456. 
limber 1 (lim'ber), a. [Also formerly or dial. 
limmer; appar. for *Kmper, < limp* + -er, with 
freq. (adj.) force.] Easily bent; flexible; pli- 
ant; lithe; yielding: as, a Umber rod ; a, Umber 
joint. 
You put me off with limber vows. Shak., W. T. , i. 2. 47. 
I could skip 
Out of my skin now, like a subtle snake, 
I am so limber. B. Jonson, Volpone, iii. 1. 
limber 1 (lim'ber), v. t. [< limber*, a.] To 
cause to become limber; render limber or pli- 
ant. [Bare.] 
Her stiff hams, that have not been bent to a civility for 
ten years past, are now limbered into courtesies three 
deep at every word. 
Richardson, Clarissa Harlowe, III. 356. 
limber 2 (lim'ber), n. [Also dial, limmer; prob. 
< Icel. limar, limbs, boughs, branches (hence 
in E. shafts), pi. of Urn, foliage, < limr, a limb 
(branch): see Kmfe 1 .] 1. The shaft or thill of 
a wagon: usually in the plural. 2. The fore 
part of the carriage of a field-gun or cannon, 
consisting of two wheels and an axle, with a 
framework and a pole for the horses. On the top 
of the frame are two ammunition-chests (or sometimes 
one), which serve also as seats for two artillerymen. The 
limber is connected with the gun-carriage properly so 
called by an iron hook called the pintle, fastened into an 
eye in the trail or block which supports the cannon in the 
rear. When the gun is brought into action, it is unlim- 
bered by unfastening the block from the pintle and laying 
it on the ground. 
3. Naut., a hole cut through the floor-timbers 
as a passage for water to the pump-well. 
limber 2 (lim'ber), v. t. and *. [< limber^, .] To 
attach the limber to, as a gun ; fasten together 
the two parts of a gun-carriage, in preparation 
for moving away : often with up. 
The enemy soon limbered up and fled west. 
If. A. Rev., CXXVI. 244. 
limber-board (lim'ber-bord), n. Naut., a short 
plank placed over a limber-hole to keep out 
dirt, etc. 
limber-box (lim'ber-boks), . Same as Umber- 
chest. 
limber-chain (lim'ber-chan), n. 1. la artillery, 
a keep-chain which goes round the pintle and 
confines the trail to the limber, preventing its 
flying off the limber-hook. Farrow, Mil. Encyc. 
2. Naut., a chain lying in the limber-holes of 
a ship so as to be drawn to and fro to clear the 
holes. 
limber-Chest (Iim'b6r-chest), n. In artillery, 
the box for ammunition placed on the limber 
of a field-piece. Sometimes called limber-box. 
Some of ... [the Confederates], springing nimbly on 
his limber-chests, shot down his horses and then his men. 
The Century, XXXVI. 103. 
limber-hole (lim'ber-hol), n. Same as liniber^, 3. 
limberness (litn'ber-nes), n. The quality of 
being limber or easily bent ; flexibleness ; pli- 
ancy. 
limber-strake (lim'ber-strak), n. The plank 
in the floor of a vessel nearest the keelson. 
limb-girdle (lim'ger'dl), . In anat., the bony 
or gristly apparatus by which a limb is attached 
to the trunk; the basis of the appendicular 
skeleton ; the shoulder-girdle or hip-girdle ; the 
pectoral or pelvic arch. 
3456 
limb-guard (lim'gard), n. Defensive armor for 
the legs and arms. 
limbi, . Plural of limbus, 2. 
limbic (lim'bik), a. Having the character of or 
pertaining to a limbus or border; bordering; 
marginal Limbic lobe, in anat. See late. 
limb-meal! (lim'mel), adv. [< ME. limmele, 
limemele, < AS. limmislum, limb by limb, < Km, 
limb, + mcelum, dat. pi. of mail, a portion, meal: 
see meatf, -meal.'} Limb by limb; limb from 
limb piecemeal. 
O that I had her here, to tear her limb-meal. 
Shak., Cymbeliue, ii. 4. 147. 
limbo (lim'bo), . [Orig. in the phrase in limbo, 
which is wholly L. (ML.) : L. in, in ; limbo, abl. 
of limbus, a border, edge, in ML. a supposed 
region on the border of hell : see limbus. The 
prep, in being taken as E., the L. abl. noun 
came to be used as an E. noun.] 1. A sup- 
posed border-land of hell; a region which has 
been believed by many to exist on the borders 
of hell, and to be the appointed abode of those 
who have not received the grace of Christ while 
living, and yet have not deserved the punish- 
ments of wilful and impenitent sinners. See 
the phrases. 
What I heris thou nojt this vggely noyse, 
Thes lurdans that in lymbo dwelle, 
Thei make menyng of many joies, 
And musteres grete mirthe thame emell. 
York Plays, p. 378. 
O, what a sympathy of woe Is this, 
As far from help as Limbo is from bliss ! 
Shak., Tit. And., iii. 1. 149. 
The gate of Dante's Limbo is left ajar even for the an- 
cient philosophers to slip out. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 113. 
2. Any similar region apart from this world. 
A limbo large and broad, since call'd 
The Paradise of Pools. Milton, P. L. , iii. 495. 
3. A prison or other place of confinement ; any 
place where things of little or doubtful value 
are deposited or thrown aside. 
He threw it therefore into a limbo of ambiguities. 
Bushnell, Nature and the Supernat., v. 
Quarantine is a sort of limbo, without the pale of civil- 
ized society. jB. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 23. 
There is a limbo of curious evidence bearing on the 
subject of pre-natal influences. 
0. W. Holmes, Elsie Venner, Pref. 
Limbo of toif8int,B(limbusiiifantiuni oritifantum), in Rom. 
Cath, and scholastic theol,, the appointed place after death 
of infants who die without receiving baptism. Limbo Of 
the fathers or of the patriarchs (limbus patrum), the 
place (the outermost circle of hell) where it has been be- 
lieved the spirits of the righteous who died before the death 
of Christ were confined until his descent into hell. It has 
been identified with the " prison " of the spirits to whom 
Christ preached when "put to death in the Hesh" (1 Pet 
ill. 18-20). 
limb-root (Urn'rot), n. In anat., the part of the 
skeleton which bears a limb. Thus, the pectoral 
and pelvic arches, or shoulder- and hip-girdles, are the 
limb-roots respectively of the fore and hind limbs: the 
actinosts of some fishes are limb-roots. 
Limburger cheese. See cheese 1 . 
limbiirgite (lim'berg-it), n. [< Limburg, a for- 
mer duchy, now divided between Belgium and 
the Netherlands, + -ite 2 .] The name given by 
Rosenbusch to a rock which is related to peri- 
dotite, and consists chiefly of olivin and augite 
with some magnetite and apatite in a variable 
but largely vitreous magma. It is essentially a 
basalt destitute of feldspathic constituents. To speci- 
mens of this rock from Bohemia the name of magma- 
basalt was given by Boficky. 
limbus (lim'bus), n. [L., a border, edge, ML. 
esp. as in def . 1 of limbo : see limbo, K6 2 .] 1. 
Same as limbo, 1. 
What thanne, is lymbus lorne, alias ! 
Garre Satan helpe that we were wroken, 
This werke is werse thanne euere it was. 
York Plays, p. 384. 
2. PI. limbi (-bi). In anat., a border Limbus 
infantium or infantum. See limbo of infants, under 
limbo. Limbus laminae spiralis, the membranous spi- 
ral cushion resting on the border of the osseous spiral 
lamina of the cochlea. It extends from the attachment of 
the membrane of Reissner and terminates externally in a 
crest overhanging the spiral groove. Limbus pallialis, 
the pallial border; the edge of the mantle or mantle flap 
of a mollusk. Limbus patrum. See limbo of the fathers, 
under limbo. 
lime 1 (lim), n. [< ME. lim, lym, < AS. Km, bitu- 
men, cement, glue, = D. lijm = MLG. lim = 
OHG. MHG. lim, G. leim, glue, = Icel. lim = 
Sw. Dan. Km, lime, glue; akin to AS. lam, E. 
loam, to Icel. leir, etc., clay, mud (> E. lairS), 
and prob. to L. limns, slime, mud; cf. L. linere, 
smear: see liniment, letters.] l. Any viscous 
substance ; especially, a viscous substance laid 
on twigs for catching birds; bird-lime. 
You must lay lime to tangle her desires. 
Shale., T. G. of V., iii. 2. 08. 
lime 
2. An alkaline earth of great economic im- 
portance. It is the oxid of the metallic base calcium; 
but neither this metal nor its oxid occurs in nature in 
the uncombined condition, although existing in enormous 
quantity in various combinations. Lime as artificially 
made for use in the arts is prepared by calcining lime- 
stone or marble, or sometimes sea-shells, in properly con- 
structed furnaces, known generally as lime-kilns, or sim- 
ply kilns. By this process the carbonic acid is driven olf 
from the lime, and the latter remains as an infusible amor- 
phous substance, which is white when pure limestone has 
been employed. In this condition it is commonly known 
as quicklime. When exposed to the air it attracts moist- 
ure and falls into powder, with greater or less rapidity 
according to the humidity of the atmosphere and the 
quality of the lime. This process is called air-staking:. 
For use in preparing mortar lime is slaked by the addi- 
tion of water, which is absorbed with avidity and with 
considerable evolution of heat. Lime may be so slaked 
that if packed in tight barrels immediately after the slak- 
ing it will keep for months without serious change or in- 
jury ; in most cases, however, the lime is slaked with the 
addition of a large quantity of water, and is then immedi- 
ately mixed with the amouut of sand deemed suitable for 
making the desired quality of mortar. (Seewortor.) There 
are few limestones which do not contain a greater or less 
quantity of sand and clay or of silicates of various bases 
mixed with the calcareous material. The lime as prepared 
from various qualities of rocks varies in character with the 
nature and amount of this foreign admixture. Limestone 
containing less than 5 or C per cent, of impurities yields 
a rich or, as it Is often called, a "fat" lime ; with more 
than that amount the lime is poor, and does not augment 
in bulk to any considerable extent when slaked with water. 
When the amount of silica, alumina, etc., in the limestone 
is increased to above 15 per cent., the lime made from it 
begins to acquire the property known as " hydraulicity," or 
of hardening, or "setting," as it is technically called, under 
water. (See cement, 2.) By far the most extensive use made 
of lime is as the chief ingredient in mortar ; but there are 
many other purposes to which it is applied when a strong 
and cheap base is desired. It is of importance in tanning, 
in various processes of chemical manufacture, as in the 
preparation of ammonia and the caustic alkalis and of 
bleaching-powdcr, for fertilizing or ameliorating land, 
for purifying gas, and for various other purposes. Sul- 
phate of lime, or gypsum, is found in the form of ala- 
baster and of selenite. It is ground and roasted at a low 
heat to make plaster of Paris, and is used for molding and 
statuary, and also as a fertilizer. For notices of the na- 
ture and distribution of the most important salts of lime, 
see, for the carbonates, calcite, araaonite, limestone, and 
marble ; for the sulphates, anhydrite, oypsum, and plaster 
of Paris (under plaster) ; for the phosphates, apatite and 
phosphorite. For the presence and action of lime in nat- 
ural waters, see water, and also stalagmite and stalactite. 
Chloric! of lime. Same as calx chlorata (which see, under 
calxi). Cream of lime. See creami. Hydraulic lime. 
See hydraulic. Lime cartridge. See cartridge. Milk 
of lime. See milk. White lime, a solution or prepara- 
tion of lime used for whitewashing; a variety of white- 
wash. (See also gas-lime.) 
lime 1 (lim), v. t.; pret. and pp. limed, ppr. lim- 
ing. [< ME. lime, < AS. limian (= D. lijmen = 
OHG. limjan, MHG. limen, G. leimen = Dan. lime 
= Sw. limmu), smear with lime, < Km, lime: see 
lime 1 , .] 1. To smear with a viscous sub- 
stance for the purpose of catching birds. 
For who so wol his hondis lyme, 
They mosten be the more uncleue. 
Qower. (Battiwett.) 
York, and impious Beaufort, that false priest, 
Have all limed bushes to betray thy wings, 
And, fly thou how thou canst, they'll tangle thee. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., ii. 4. 54. 
Hence 2. To entangle; insnare; encumber. 
O limed soul, (hat, struggling to be free, 
Art more engaged I Shak., Hamlet, iii. 3. 68. 
True we had limed ourselves 
With open eyes, and we must take the chance. 
Tennyson, Princess, iii. 
3. To apply lime to ; in a special use, to manure 
with lime, as soil ; throw lime into, as a pond 
or stream, to kill the fish in it. 
Encouragement ... to improve [land] by draining, marl- 
ing, and liming. Sir J. Child, On Trade. 
4. To sprinkle with slaked lime, as a floor ; treat 
with lime ; in leather-manuf., to steep (hides) in 
a solution of lime in order to remove the hair. 
5f. To cement. 
I will not ruinate my father's house, 
Who gave his blood to lime the stones together. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., v. 1. 84. 
lime 2 (lim), n. and a. [A corruption of line* for 
orig. lind : see lind.'] X n. A tree of the genus 
Tilia, natural order Tiliacece; the linden. 
II. a. Of or pertaining to the tree so called. 
Lime hawk-motll, Smerinthm tilioz, whose larva feeds 
on the lime. 
lime 3 (lim) , ii. [< F. lime, < Pers. lim ii, a lemon , a 
citron: seefcmem.] 1. A tree, a variety of Citriix 
mi'dica. The sour lime (var. acida) has a globose fruit, 
smaller than the lemon, with thin rind, and yields an ex- 
tremely acid juice. (See lime-juice.) It is cultivated in 
southern Europe, India, Florida, etc. The sweet lime ol 
India is the variety Limetta. 
2. The fruit of the lime-tree. 
The ruddier orange and the paler lime. 
Cowper, Task, iii. 673. 
Indian wild lime. See timonia. Ogeechee lime, the 
sour tupelo. NyKua capitata. found in parts of the southern 
United States. Its large acid fruit is made into a con- 
