What does "lime" mean?
Any inorganic material containing calcium, usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime).
Lime
/laɪm/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any inorganic material containing calcium, usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime).
- Grammar: lime is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: calcium oxide, lime tree, quicklime, acid.
- Useful contrasts: acid, acidify, noncitrus tree.
- Usage evidence: And she'll never walk down Lime Street anymore.
How to use "lime"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "lime" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "lime" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "lime" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "lime" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "lime" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "calcium oxide" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "lime", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any inorganic material containing calcium, usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime). countable, uncountable
"Lime, which is the product of the burning of chalk or limestone, might be bought ready burnt, or it could be burnt in kilns specially constructed in the neighbourhood of the building operations."
- 2 A deciduous tree of the genus Tilia, especially Tilia × europaea; the linden tree. countable, uncountable
"The linden or lime tree is the favourite haunt of the Elves and cognate beings; and it is not safe to be near it after sunset."
- 3 Any of several green citrus fruit, somewhat smaller and sharper-tasting than a lemon. countable, uncountable
- 4 A casual gathering to socialize. Caribbean
- 5 Alternative form of lyam (“a leash”). alt-of, alternative
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 the green acidic fruit of any of various lime trees wordnet
- 7 Any gluey or adhesive substance that traps or captures; sometimes a synonym for birdlime. countable, poetic, uncountable
"Monster, come, put some lime upon your fingers, and away with the rest."
- 8 The wood of this tree. countable, uncountable
- 9 Any of the trees that bear limes, especially Key lime, Citrus aurantiifolia. countable, uncountable
- 10 any of various deciduous trees of the genus Tilia with heart-shaped leaves and drooping cymose clusters of yellowish often fragrant flowers; several yield valuable timber wordnet
- 11 A limelight; any spotlight. countable, uncountable
"Sellers moved on until he was actually trusted to operate the limes, the spotlights that can make or destroy an artist's act."
- 12 Any of several brilliant, sometimes yellowish, green colours associated with the fruits of a lime tree. uncountable
- 13 any of various related trees bearing limes wordnet
- 14 Any of several brilliant, sometimes yellowish, green colours associated with the fruits of a lime tree.; A particular one of those colours that has been standardized under this name, at least in some organizations' standards. countable, uncountable
- 15 a sticky adhesive that is smeared on small branches to capture small birds wordnet
- 16 A fan fiction story which contains sexual references, but stops short of full, explicit descriptions of sexual activity (coined by analogy with lemon). countable, slang, uncountable
"WARNING: This is a lime. While it does not show explicit sex, as a lemon would, references to sexual situations abound."
- 17 a white crystalline oxide used in the production of calcium hydroxide wordnet
- 18 a caustic substance produced by heating limestone wordnet
Verb
- 1 To treat with calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide (lime). transitive
"If I were you, I'd lime."
- 2 To hang out or socialize in an informal, relaxed environment, especially with friends, for example at a party or on the beach. Barbados, Caribbean, Trinidad-and-Tobago, informal
- 3 cover with lime so as to induce growth wordnet
- 4 To smear with birdlime. transitive
- 5 spread birdlime on branches to catch birds wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To smear with birdlime.; To ensnare, catch, entrap. rare, transitive
"URSULA. She's lim'd, I warrant you: we have caught her, madam. HERO. If it prove so, then loving goes by haps: Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps."
- 7 To apply limewash. transitive
Adjective
- 1 Containing lime or lime juice. not-comparable
- 2 Having the aroma or flavor of lime. not-comparable
- 3 Lime-green. not-comparable
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"And she'll never walk down Lime Street anymore."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "lime"?
Common synonyms include: calcium oxide, lime tree, quicklime, acid, acidulant, adhesive.
How do you use "lime" in a sentence?
And she'll never walk down Lime Street anymore.
How do you pronounce "lime"?
Pronounced /laɪm/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English lyme, lym, lime, from Old English līm, from Proto-West Germanic *līm, from Proto-Germanic *līmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Liem (“glue”), Dutch lijm, German Leim (“glue”), Danish lim (from Old Norse lím), Latin limus (“mud”).
Etymology 2
Lime (17th c.) and line (16th c.) are alterations of obsolete lind, from Middle English lynde, from Old English lind, from Proto-Germanic *lindijō. The phonetic development is unusual, but it has been suggested that it began in compounds (loss of -d- perhaps before tree, the change to -m- before labials as in bark or wood). Doublet of linden, which see.
Etymology 3
From French lime, from Spanish lima, from Arabic لِيمَة (līma), from Persian لیمو (limu). Doublet of lemon.
Etymology 4
Either a back-formation of limer or from the derogatory term limey, a term first given to British soldiers but also used by Trinidadians for American soldiers who used to hang out idle in Port of Spain during World War 2.