Dictionary
lime
Pronunciation: (līm), [key]
—n., v., limed, lim•ing.
—
n.
1. Also called
burnt lime, calcium oxide, caustic lime, calx, quicklime. a white or grayish-white, odorless, lumpy, very slightly water-soluble solid, CaO, that when combined with water forms calcium hydroxide
(slaked lime), obtained from calcium carbonate, limestone, or oyster shells: used chiefly in mortars, plasters, and cements, in bleaching powder, and in the manufacture of steel, paper, glass, and various chemicals of calcium.
2. a calcium compound for improving crops grown in soils deficient in lime.
3. birdlime.
—
v.t.
1. to treat (soil) with lime or compounds of calcium.
2. to smear (twigs, branches, etc.) with birdlime.
3. to catch with or as if with birdlime.
4. to paint or cover (a surface) with a composition of lime and water; whitewash:
The government buildings were freshly limed. lime
Pronunciation: (līm), [key]—
n.
1. the small, greenish-yellow, acid fruit of a citrus tree,
Citrus aurantifolia, allied to the lemon.
2. the tree that bears this fruit.
3. greenish yellow.
—
adj.
1. of the color lime.
2. of or made with limes.
lime
Pronunciation: (līm), [key]—
n.
the European linden,
Tilia europaea.lime
Pronunciation: (līm), [key]—
n. Informal.
limelight.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
