[lahym] 
noun, verb, limed, lim⋅ing.| 1. | Also called burnt lime, calcium oxide, caustic lime, calx, quicklime. a white or grayish-white, odorless, lumpy, very slightly water-soluble solid, CaO, that when combined with water forms calcium hydroxide (slaked lime), obtained from calcium carbonate, limestone, or oyster shells: used chiefly in mortars, plasters, and cements, in bleaching powder, and in the manufacture of steel, paper, glass, and various chemicals of calcium. |
| 2. | a calcium compound for improving crops grown in soils deficient in lime. |
| 3. | birdlime. |
| 4. | to treat (soil) with lime or compounds of calcium. |
| 5. | to smear (twigs, branches, etc.) with birdlime. |
| 6. | to catch with or as if with birdlime. |
| 7. | to paint or cover (a surface) with a composition of lime and water; whitewash: The government buildings were freshly limed. |
| lime 3 (līm) n.
[Middle English lim, from Old English līm, birdlime; see lei- in Indo-European roots.] lim'y adj. |
| quick·lime (kwĭk'līm') n. See lime3. [Middle English qwyke lyme, living lime (translation of Latin calx vīva) : quick, qwyke, living; see quick + lime, lyme, lime; see lime3.] |
lime 2
n.
Any of various mineral and industrial forms of calcium oxide differing chiefly in water content and percentage of constituents such as silica, alumina, and iron.
See calcium oxide.
| lime (līm) Pronunciation Key
A white, lumpy, caustic powder made of calcium oxide sometimes mixed with other chemicals. It is made industrially by heating limestone, bones, or shells. Lime is used as an industrial alkali, in waste treatment, and in making glass, paper, steel, insecticides, and building plaster. It is also added to soil to lower its acidity. |
