Limbo

4 definitions found

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

  Limbo \Lim"bo\ (l[i^]m"b[-o]), Limbus \Lim"bus\ (l[i^]m"b[u^]s),
     n. [L. limbus border, edge in limbo on the border. Cf. {Limb}
     border.]
     1. (Scholastic Theol.) An spiritual region where certain
        classes of souls were supposed to await the last judgment.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              As far from help as Limbo is from bliss. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A Limbo large and broad, since called
              The Paradise of fools.                --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The limbus patrum was considered as a place for the
           souls of good men who lived before the coming of our
           Savior. The limbus infantium was said to be a similar
           place for the souls of unbaptized infants. To these was
           added, in the popular belief, the limbus fatuorum, or
           fool's paradise, regarded as a receptacle of all vanity
           and nonsense.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Hence: Any real or imaginary place of restraint or
        confinement; a prison; as, to put a man in limbo.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Hence: A state of waiting, or uncertainty, in which final
        judgment concerning the outcome of a decision is
        postponed, perhaps indefinitely; neglect for an indefinite
        time; as, the proposal was left in limbo while opponents
        and proponents refused to compromise.
        [PJC]
  
     4. (Anat.) A border or margin; as, the limbus of the cornea.
        [1913 Webster]

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

  Limbo \Lim"bo\ (l[i^]m"b[-o]), n. [Jamaican E. limba to bend,
     fr. E. limber (1950) --MW10]
     A West Indian dance contest, in which participants must dance
     under a pole which is lowered successively until only one
     participant can successfully pass under, without falling. It
     is often performed at celebrations, such as weddings.
     [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  limbo
       n 1: the state of being disregarded or forgotten [syn: {oblivion}]
       2: an imaginary place for lost or neglected things
       3: (theology) in Roman Catholicism, the place of unbaptized but
          innocent or righteous souls (such as infants and virtuous
          individuals)

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

  35 Moby Thesaurus words for "limbo":
     Abaddon, Gehenna, Hades, Naraka, Pandemonium, Sheol, Tophet,
     avichi, cage, coop, enclosure, hell, in abeyance, infernal regions,
     inferno, jahannan, lower world, nether world, on the shelf, pen,
     penfold, perdition, pinfold, place of confinement,
     place of torment, pound, purgatory, shades below, suspended,
     the abyss, the bottomless pit, the grave, the pit, treading water,
     underworld