Link Centre Dictionary

limb

UK/lɪm/ US/ˈlɪm/ fairly common

noun

1.

one of the jointed appendages of an animal used for locomotion or grasping: arm; leg; wing; flipper

2.

any of the main branches arising from the trunk or a bough of a tree

Synonyms
3.

(astronomy) the circumferential edge of the apparent disc of the sun or the moon or a planet

4.

a contrivance for injecting (e.g., water into the boiler of a steam engine or particles into an accelerator etc.)

5.

the graduated arc that is attached to an instrument for measuring angles

  • “the limb of the sextant”
6.

any projection that is thought to resemble an arm

  • “the arm of the record player”
  • “an arm of the sea”
  • “a branch of the sewer”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English lyme, lim, from Old English lim (“limb, branch”), from Proto-West Germanic *limu, from Proto-Germanic *limuz (“branch, limb”). Cognate with Old Norse limr (“limb”). The spelling with the silent unetymological -b first arose in the late 1500s. Compare crumb.

Phrases

  • CHILD syndrome
  • go out on a limb
  • hind limb
  • life and limb
  • limb brightening
  • limb darkening
  • limb from limb
  • limb girdle syndrome

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.