limbo
1(often initial capital letter)Roman Catholic Theology. a region on the border of hell or heaven, serving as the abode after death of unbaptized infants (limbo of infants ) and of the righteous who died before the coming of Christ (limbo of the fathers, or limbo of the patriarchs ).
a place or state of oblivion to which persons or things are regarded as being relegated when cast aside, forgotten, past, or out of date: My youthful hopes are in the limbo of lost dreams.
an intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place.
a place or state of imprisonment or confinement.
Origin of limbo
1Words Nearby limbo
Other definitions for limbo (2 of 2)
a dance from the West Indies, originally for men only, in which the dancer bends backward from the knees and moves with a shuffling step under a horizontal bar that is lowered after each successive pass.
Origin of limbo
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use limbo in a sentence
Having been at home in the months since then, my classmates and I have entered a period of extreme limbo.
Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto, one of the league’s young stars, tested positive for coronavirus hours before the team’s opening game on July 23, and his status for the season remains in limbo.
The NFL season will be a disaster if it doesn’t change course | Adam Epstein | July 27, 2020 | QuartzWhen it comes to link building, receiving a nofollow backlink can be a bummer, as your rankings are left in a state of limbo.
What Google says about nofollow, sponsored, and UGC links in 2020: Does it affect your SEO rankings? | Joseph Dyson | July 24, 2020 | Search Engine WatchThe pandemic has left many migrants in limbo, unable to come into the United States and unable to make a living in Tijuana.
Morning Report: Smart Streetlights Are Now Accessible Only to Police | Voice of San Diego | July 21, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoFor many years, Haitian migrants have been stuck in limbo in Tijuana.
Border Report: Surviving in Tijuana Has Gotten Even Harder for Haitian Migrants | Maya Srikrishnan | July 20, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
But she also recognizes that it places women who are told that they screened for HPV in a frustrating limbo.
Keeping him in limbo seems to be the preferred punishment for him in the eyes of the Iranian authorities.
Jafar Panahi: Filmmaking Ban Is My Iranian Prison | Jamsheed Akrami | July 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe warring courts that left two men in legal limbo and ultimately resolved nothing?
The 26 cases the Center found moved into that legal limbo when the courts sent out letters.
Law-Breaking Judges Took Cases That Could Make Them Even Richer | Reity O’Brien, Kytja Weir, Chris Young, Center for Public Integrity | April 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“This is a very difficult period right now—being in limbo,” he admits.
How ‘Transcendence’ Director Wally Pfister Became Christopher Nolan’s Secret Weapon | Andrew Romano | April 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWe're stationed out here in this limbo to watch Saturn and report any activity we see coming from there.
Derelict | Alan Edward NourseThe chamberlain, with an ineffable gesture, wafted the taxi-cab away into some limbo appointed for waiting vehicles.
The Regent | E. Arnold BennettHe took me up to my own room, and I heard him going out to wake limbo to harness, and at last heard him driving away in our coach.
Richard Carvel, Complete | Winston ChurchillLet the cult of that lusty Titan, the Limpet, sink awhile into the limbo of outworn idolatries.
One day there came a letter, and I learned that, in a commercial crash at home, my income and my expectations had gone to limbo.
Grif | B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
British Dictionary definitions for limbo (1 of 2)
/ (ˈlɪmbəʊ) /
(often capital) RC Church the supposed abode of infants dying without baptism and the just who died before Christ
an imaginary place for lost, forgotten, or unwanted persons or things
an unknown intermediate place or condition between two extremes: in limbo
a prison or confinement
Origin of limbo
1British Dictionary definitions for limbo (2 of 2)
/ (ˈlɪmbəʊ) /
a Caribbean dance in which dancers pass, while leaning backwards, under a bar
Origin of limbo
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for limbo
In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the afterlife, the condition of innocent persons who die without benefit of baptism; those in limbo do not suffer damnation, but they do not enjoy the presence of God. Limbo means “a bordering place.”
Notes for limbo
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with limbo
see in limbo.
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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