Limb

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Limb \Limb\ (l[i^]m), n. [OE. lim, AS. lim; akin to Icel. limr
     limb, lim branch of a tree, Sw. & Dan. lem limb; cf. also AS.
     li[eth], OHG. lid, gilid, G. glied, Goth. li[thorn]us. Cf.
     {Lith}, {Limber}.]
     1. A part of a tree which extends from the trunk and
        separates into branches and twigs; a large branch.


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     2. An arm or a leg of a human being; a leg, arm, or wing of
        an animal.
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              A second Hector for his grim aspect,
              And large proportion of his strong-knit limbs.
                                                    --Shak.
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     3. A thing or person regarded as a part or member of, or
        attachment to, something else. --Shak.
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              That little limb of the devil has cheated the
              gallows.                              --Sir W.
                                                    Scott.
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     4. An elementary piece of the mechanism of a lock.
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     {Limb of the law}, a lawyer or an officer of the law.
        [Colloq.] --Landor.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Limb \Limb\, v. t.
     1. To supply with limbs. [R.] --Milton.
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     2. To dismember; to tear off the limbs of.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Limb \Limb\, n. [L. limbus border. Cf. {Limbo}, {Limbus}.]
     A border or edge, in certain special uses.
     (a) (Bot.) The border or upper spreading part of a
         monopetalous corolla, or of a petal, or sepal; blade.
     (b) (Astron.) The border or edge of the disk of a heavenly
         body, especially of the sun and moon.
     (c) The graduated margin of an arc or circle, in an
         instrument for measuring angles.
         [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  limb
       n 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 [syn: {tree branch}]
       3: (astronomy) the circumferential edge of the apparent disc of
          the sun or the moon or a planet
       4: either of the two halves of a bow from handle to tip; "the
          upper limb of the bow"
       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" [syn: {arm}, {branch}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  130 Moby Thesaurus words for "limb":
     ankle, appendage, arm, bank, bar, bayonet legs, beam, bine, board,
     boom, border, bordure, bough, bowlegs, branch, branchedness,
     branchiness, brim, brink, brow, burgeon, calf, cant hook, claw bar,
     cnemis, coast, crank, crow, crowbar, deadwood, devil, drumstick,
     edge, enfant terrible, featheredge, flagellum, flange, foreleg,
     fork, frame, fringe, frond, gamb, gambrel, gigot, ham, hand,
     handspike, hem, hind leg, hock, imp, iron crow, jamb, jimmy, joint,
     knee, labellum, labium, labrum, ledge, leg, lever, limbus, link,
     lip, list, lobe, lobule, marge, margin, marlinespike, member,
     mischief, offshoot, organ, outrigger, peavey, pedal, pinch bar,
     pinion, podite, popliteal space, prize, pry, ragged edge, ramage,
     ramification, rapscallion, rascal, rim, ripping bar, rogue, runner,
     sarment, scalawag, scion, scissor-legs, selvage, shank, shin,
     shoot, shore, side, sideline, skirt, slip, spar, spear, spray,
     sprig, sprit, sprout, spur, stems, stolon, stumps, sucker, switch,
     tail, tarsus, tendril, thallus, treadle, trotters, twig, verge,
     villain, wing, wrecking bar
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  LIMB, n.  The branch of a tree or the leg of an American woman.
  
      'Twas a pair of boots that the lady bought,
          And the salesman laced them tight
          To a very remarkable height --
      Higher, indeed, than I think he ought --
          Higher than _can_ be right.
      For the Bible declares -- but never mind:
          It is hardly fit
      To censure freely and fault to find
      With others for sins that I'm not inclined
          Myself to commit.
      Each has his weakness, and though my own
          Is freedom from every sin,
          It still were unfair to pitch in,
      Discharging the first censorious stone.
      Besides, the truth compels me to say,
      The boots in question were _made_ that way.
      As he drew the lace she made a grimace,
          And blushingly said to him:
      "This boot, I'm sure, is too high to endure,
      It hurts my -- hurts my -- limb."
      The salesman smiled in a manner mild,
      Like an artless, undesigning child;
      Then, checking himself, to his face he gave
      A look as sorrowful as the grave,
          Though he didn't care two figs
      For her paints and throes,
      As he stroked her toes,
      Remarking with speech and manner just
      Befitting his calling:  "Madam, I trust
          That it doesn't hurt your twigs."
                                                        B. Percival Dike