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limb
1[ lim ]
noun
- a part or member of an animal body distinct from the head and trunk, as a leg, arm, or wing:
the lower limbs;
artificial limbs.
Synonyms: extremity
- a large or main branch of a tree.
- a projecting part or member:
the four limbs of a cross.
- a person or thing regarded as a part, member, branch, offshoot, or scion of something:
a limb of the central committee.
- Archery. the upper or lower part of a bow.
- Informal. a mischievous child, imp, or young scamp.
verb (used with object)
- to cut the limbs from (a felled tree).
limb
2[ lim ]
noun
- Astronomy. the edge of the disk of the sun, a moon, or a planet.
- the graduated edge of a quadrant or similar instrument.
- Botany.
- the upper spreading part of a gamopetalous corolla.
- the expanded portion of a petal, sepal, or leaf.
limb
1/ lɪm /
noun
- the edge of the apparent disc of the sun, a moon, or a planet
- a graduated arc attached to instruments, such as the sextant, used for measuring angles
- botany
- the expanded upper part of a bell-shaped corolla
- the expanded part of a leaf, petal, or sepal
- either of the two halves of a bow
- Also calledfold limb either of the sides of a geological fold
limb
2/ lɪm /
noun
- an arm or leg, or the analogous part on an animal, such as a wing
- any of the main branches of a tree
- a branching or projecting section or member; extension
- a person or thing considered to be a member, part, or agent of a larger group or thing
- a mischievous child (esp in limb of Satan or limb of the devil )
- out on a limb
- in a precarious or questionable position
- isolated, esp because of unpopular opinions
verb
- tr a rare word for dismember
limb
/ lĭm /
- One of the appendages of an animal, such as an arm of a starfish, the flipper of dolphins, or the arm and leg of a human, used for locomotion or grasping.
- The expanded tip of a plant organ, such as a petal or corolla lobe.
- The circumferential edge of the apparent disk of a celestial body.
Derived Forms
- ˈlimbless, adjective
Other Words From
- limb·less adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of limb1
Origin of limb2
Word History and Origins
Origin of limb1
Origin of limb2
Idioms and Phrases
- out on a limb, in a dangerous or compromising situation; vulnerable:
The company overextended itself financially and was soon out on a limb.
More idioms and phrases containing limb
see out on a limb ; risk life and limb .Synonym Study
Example Sentences
They’ve got an extra set of limbs — two human arms plus four horse legs.
The reps are performed slowly, taking ten seconds up and ten seconds down, without locking the limbs or resting at the top or bottom of the motion.
Just wrap it around a green limb bent into a circle and face it into the sun.
A 2019 meta-analysis found no benefits to muscle strength, and another 2019 meta-analysis found benefits to upper limb but not lower limb muscle strength.
Her hair’s a mess, her limbs are streaked with blood, and there’s a ball-busting steeliness in her eyes.
Inevitably, the old visceral “hands-on” flying skills, no longer much employed by pilots, have atrophied like an unused limb.
Mating with a cousin or brother is safer than risking life and limb to mate with an outsider.
“We can do anything here from open heart surgery to limb amputations,” he says.
Some might want to be the star, others to direct, but it takes a special breed to want to risk life and limb as a stuntman.
So now, keeping all that in mind, how many Afghans do you think risked life and limb to cast their ballot?
The secretary trembled in his every limb; his eyes shunned his master's as his master's had shunned Garnache's awhile ago.
"You have give a limb," repeated Perry, emphasizing the announcement by shaking his finger at the old man.
Those in favor of hanging carried the day, so he was led under the projecting limb of a tree and a rope placed around his neck.
Scattergood, with great show of solicitude, dispatched a youngster to the deacon's house for his extra limb.
It was such a partition as is effected by hacking a living man limb from limb.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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