/ˈlɪmbəʊ/, /ˈlɪmboʊ/, /ˈlɪmboː/
OriginThe noun is derived from Middle English limbo, lymbo (“place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven”), from Latin limbō, the ablative singular of limbus (“border, edge; hem; fringe, tassel”) (notably in expressions like in limbō (“in limbo”) and e limbō (“out of limbo”)); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *lemb- (“to hang limply or loosely”), from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang down loosely (?)”). Doublet of limp.
The verb is derived from the noun.
- uncountableA speculation, thought possibly to be on the edge of the bottomless pit of Hell, where the souls of innocent deceased people might exist temporarily until they can enter heaven, specifically those of the saints who died before the advent of Jesus Christ (who occupy the limbo patrum or limbo of the p…
“Of vvhat texte thou proveſt hell / vvill a nother prove purgatory / a nother lymbo patrum / and a nother the aſſumpcion of oure ladi: And a nother ſhall prove of the ſame texte that an Ape hath a tayl”
“Oh vvhat a ſimpathie of vvoe is this, / As farre from helpe, as Lymbo is from bliſſe.”
“VVith all my hart, fare-vvell, far-vvell, / I am freed from Lymbo to be ſent to hell.”
- broadly, countable, uncountableChiefly preceded by in: any in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion which results in deadlock, delay, or some other unresolved status.
“My passport application has been stuck in bureaucratic limbo for two weeks.”
“It is hard to place thoſe ſoules in Hell vvhoſe vvorthy lives doe teach us vertue on earth; methinks amongſt thoſe many ſubdiviſions of hel, there might have been one Limbo left for theſe: […]”
“Proceeding further, I am met vvith a vvhole ging of vvords and phraſes not mine, for he hath maim'd them, and like a ſlye depraver mangl'd them in this his vvicked Limbo, vvorſe then the ghoſt of Deip”
- archaic, broadly, slang, uncountableJail, prison; (countable) a jail cell or lockup.
“Adr[iana]. VVhere is thy Maſter Dromio? Is he vvell? / S. Dro. [Dromio of Syracuse] No, he's in Tartar limbo, vvorſe then hell: […] / S. Dro. I doe not knovv the matter, hee is reſted [i.e., arrested]”
“Theſe are the youths that thunder at a Playhouſe, and fight for bitten Apples, that no Audience but the tribulation of Tovver Hill, or the Limbes of Limehouſe, their deare Brothers are able to endure.”
“[O]n she went, / To find the Knight in Limbo pent: / And 'twas not long before she found / Him, and his stout Squire in the Pound; / Both coupled in Inchanted Tether, / By further Leg behind together:”
- broadly, obsolete, uncountableSynonym of Hades or Hell.
“Nor quite of future Povv'r himſelf bereft, / But Limbo's large for Unbelievers left.”
- broadly, obsolete, uncountableSynonym of pawn (“the state of something being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge”).
“[…] I let him have all my ready Mony to redeem his great Svvord from Limbo— […]”
- countableA type of antisubmarine mortar installed on naval vessels.
- also, attributiveA competitive dance originating from Trinidad and Tobago in which dancers take turns to cross under a horizontal bar while bending backwards.
“Every limbo boy and girl / All around the limbo world / Gonna do the limbo rock / All around the limbo clock / Jack be limbo, Jack be quick / Jack go under limbo stick / All around the limbo clock / H”
“At night steel-band and calypso shows liven up many of the island's larger hotels. If you're not up for watching limbos, bottle dancing, and fire eating, your best bet might be a leisurely dinner befo”
“Limbo is a traditional popular dance contest that originated on the island of Trinidad. It got its name in the 1950s, but the limbo dates back to the 1800s in Trinidad. […] R&B singer-songwriter Chubb”
- alt-ofAlternative letter-case form of limbo (“a type of antisubmarine mortar installed on naval vessels”).
- rare, transitiveTo place (someone or something) in an in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion which results in deadlock, delay, or some other unresolved status.
“[A]s your doctrine is exceedingly evil, by Yamjamma's theory it follows, that you must be proportionably bedeviled; and since it harms others, your devil is of the number of those whom it is best to l”
“"If a fellow of ours isn't uncovered we may be limboed here till—" Till when? Till we were born again? I wished not to wonder just then. "Whenever."”
“An hour later, beside City Limits Road / I balanced, a gleaming can in each hand, / Limboed between worlds, repeating one dollar.”
- intransitiveTo dance the limbo (etymology 2, noun etymology 2 sense 1).
“Steve Becker was rolling around with the other skaters at the Pismo Beach, Calif. roller rink one day when it was announced that there would be a limbo contest. […] Steve had his friends set the bar l”
“The race begins at Alyeska Resort with an alpine skiing leg. It then proceeds through a downhill sprint, an in-line skate, a mountain bike ride, a 5K run, a wheelchair obstacle course and, if all that”
“After each player goes under once, the bar is lowered about an inch. Players keep limboing under the limbo stick as it gets lower and lower. If you touch the stick with any part of your body, you're o”
- also, broadly, figuratively, intransitiveOften followed by under: to pass under something, especially while bending backwards.
“How low can you go? Technology stocks limboed lower and lower last week as investors danced to the profit-taking beat.”
“Ahn slept over on Friday night, and as soon as the parents were asleep, Dana and Ahn limboed under the criss-cross barriers into the secret chamber.”
“[T]he Private […] limboed to his seat [in a mini-submarine], thrusting his chest up and twisting to the right, one arm behind him, steadying himself on the chair as he slid in.”
Formslimbos(plural) · limboes(plural) · Limbo(alternative) · limbos(present, singular, third-person) · limboing(participle, present) · limboed(participle, past) · limboed(past) · Limbos(plural)
Source: Wiktionary