limb1
- 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.
- 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.
- to cut the limbs from (a felled tree).
- out on a limb, in a dangerous or compromising situation; vulnerable: The company overextended itself financially and was soon out on a limb.
Origin of limb1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for limb on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
limb2
- 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.
Origin of limb2
Examples from the Web for limb
Contemporary Examples
Mating with a cousin or brother is safer than risking life and limb to mate with an outsider.
Mongooses, Meerkats, and Ants, Oh My! Why Some Animals Keep Mating All in the FamilyHelen Thompson
December 29, 2014
“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?
I worked like a beaver to get it out, and yet the disease appeared to creep from limb to limb of the study before me.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
Historical Examples
It was as if Martin, himself, were being torn limb from limb.
DustMr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
They were leisurely enough for Mr Verloc to recognise the limb and the weapon.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
If wrong had chanced to her, I would have rent you where you stand, limb from limb.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
Yet if I had caught him again I would have strung him up to the first limb.
The CavalierGeorge Washington Cable
Failing in that, it generally shears off a limb before it sheers away.
limb1
- 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
- mainly British a mischievous child (esp in limb of Satan or limb of the devil)
- out on a limb
- in a precarious or questionable position
- Britishisolated, esp because of unpopular opinions
- (tr) a rare word for dismember
Word Origin
limb2
- 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 called: fold limb either of the sides of a geological fold
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for limb
n.1
"part or member," Old English lim "limb, joint, main branch of a tree," from Proto-Germanic *limu- (cf. Old Norse limr "limb," lim "small branch of a tree"), a variant of *liþu- (cf. Old English liþ, Old Frisian lith, Old Norse liðr, Gothic liþus "a limb;" and with prefix ga-, source of German Glied "limb, member"), from PIE root *lei- "to bend, be movable, be nimble." The parasitic -b began to appear late 1500s for no etymological reason (perhaps by influence of limb (n.2)). In Old and Middle English, and until lately in dialects, it could mean "any visible body part."
The lymmes of generacion were shewed manyfestly. [Caxton, "The subtyl historyes and fables of Esope, Auyan, Alfonce, and Poge," 1484]
Hence, limb-lifter "fornicator" (1570s). To go out on a limb in figurative sense "enter a risky situation" is from 1897. Life and limb in reference to the body inclusively is from c.1200.
n.2
late 14c., "edge of a quadrant or other instrument," from Latin limbus "border, hem, fringe, edge," of uncertain origin. Klein suggests cognate with Sanskrit lambate "hangs down," and English limp. But Tucker writes that "the sense appears to be that of something which twists, goes round, or binds ... not of something which hangs loose," and suggests cognates in Lithuanian linta "ribbon," Old Norse linnr "whether." Astronomical sense of "edge of the disk of a heavenly body" first attested 1670s.
limb
(lĭm)- One of the paired jointed extremities of the body; an arm or a leg.
- A segment of such a jointed structure.
limb
- 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.