Also 4–7 lyme, 5 lymyn; pa. pple. 3 i-limed, 4 ylymed. [f. LIME sb.1; OE. *límian seems to be implied by the vbl. sb. líming.]
1. trans. To cement. Chiefly fig.
a. 1225. [see LIME sb.1 2].
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1792. Ant te hali gast, hare beire luue, þe lihteð of ham baðe, & limeð togederes, swa þæt nan ne mei sundrin from oðere.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., V. i. 84. I will not ruinate my Fathers House, Who gaue his blood to lyme the stones together.
a. 1617. Bayne, Lect. (1634), 302. The wicked confidence wherewith our hearts are limed to the creature.
1855. Bailey, Mystic, 115. That cruel tower … Of living souls impacted, limed with blood.
2. To smear (twigs or the like) with bird-lime, for the purpose of catching birds. Also allusively.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), III. v. 54. Ye haue had handes lymed euer redy for to catche.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 305/2. Lymyn wythe bryd lyme, visco.
1547. Boorde, Introd. Knowl., ii. (1870), 126. My fyngers be lymed lyke a lyme twyg [sc. in order to pilfer].
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., I. iii. 91. My selfe haue lym’d a Bush for her.
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, ccclxxix. 350. Those Twigs in time will come to be Lim’d, and then your’e all Lost if you do but touch ’em.
1816. Scott, Antiquary, xlii. But he would have found twigs limed for him at Edinburgh.
b. To smear with a sticky substance. rare.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 562. Ðat arche was a feteles good, set and limed a-gen ðe flood.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 39 b/1. Make ther dyverse places and lyme it with cleye and pitche within and without.
1814. Cary, Dante, Inf., xxi. 18. A glutinous thick mass, that round Lim’d all the shore beneath.
3. To catch with birdlime. Often fig.
13[?]. K. Alis., 570. Hy maden her armes envenymed; He that was take of deth was lymed.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, I. 353. Loue he gan hyse federis so to lyme. Ibid. (c. 1386), Wife’s T., 78. A man shal winne us best with flaterye, And with attendance and with bisynesse Been we ylymed bothe moore and lesse.
c. 1440. Capgrave, Life St. Kath., V. 115. His demonstracyons coude vs not trappe ne lyme.
1575. Churchyard, Chippes (1817), 193. When birde is limde, farewell faire feathers all.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 88. Birds never lim’d no secret bushes fear.
c. 1600[?]. Distracted Emp., V. i. in Bullen, O. Pl., III. 240. Am I then noosd!… am I lymed!
1680. Crowne, Misery Civ. War, V. 70. The bird that sees the bush where once itself Was lim’d.
1791. E. Darwin, Bot. Gard., I. 74. Fine as the spider’s flimsy thread he wove The immortal toil to lime illicit love.
1806–7. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), XI. xxxi. The buzz of a struggling insect who has limed himself in your ear.
a. 1822. Shelley, Ess., Def. Poetry (1840), I. 39. Lucretius had limed the wings of his swift spirit in the dregs of the sensible world.
1868. Browning, Ring & Bk., V. 364. Vittiano—one limes flocks of thrushes there.
1870. Miss Bridgman, Rob. Lynne, II. iii. 64. He was … limed this time [matrimonially].
† 4. To foul, defile. Obs.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 179. For who so wole his handes lime, Thei mosten be the more unclene.
c. 1450. Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.), 63. Off handys and dede be trewe evyrmore, ffor yf thin handys lymyd be, Thou art but shent.
1549. Chaloner, Erasm. on Folly, D j. No witte maie be founde not lymed with some great vices.
1592. G. Harvey, Pierce’s Super. (1593), 37. Who is not limed with some default.
5. To treat or dress with lime.
† a. To put lime into (wine). In quot. absol. (Cf. LIME sb.1 3, quots. 1596, 1622.) Obs.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., I. iii. 15 (Qo. 1602). Host. … Let me see thee froth, and lyme [Fo. liue].
b. To dress (land, etc.) with lime. Also absol.
1649. Blithe, Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653), 135. About twelve or fourteen quarters of Lime will very wel Lime an Acre, you may also over-Lime it, as well as under-Lime it.
1674–91. Ray, Collect. Words (E. D. S.), 15. The most effectual way to prevent smutting or burning of any corn, is to lime it before you sow it.
a. 1698. W. Blundell, Cavalier’s Note Book, (1880), 87. Sir Roger Bradshaigh limed the hall croft with lime from Clitheroe.
1757. Mrs. Griffith, Lett. Henry & Frances (1767), I. 158. Sixty-three acres of corn,… all limed, at eighty barrels to an acre.
1765. Museum Rust., IV. 245. Where I limed, there seems now a pretty deal of grass.
1796. J. Adams, Diary, 27 July, Wks. 1851, III. 421. Making and liming a heap of manure.
1799. J. Robertson, Agric. Perth, 266. Then lime and sow with oats.
1880. Daily News, 10 Dec., 5/8. The farmer has expended not less than £6000 in building, and in draining, and liming four hundred acres.
† c. To smear or coat with lime-wash. Obs. (Also WHITE-LIME.)
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 305/2. Lyme wythe lyme, idem quod whyton wythe lyme.
1530. Palsgr., 611/2. I lyme a wall, or rofe with whyte lyme to make it whyte.
1574. Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden), 261. For lymynge over the vestrye.
1591. Lodge, Catharos (1875), 30. Thou tylest thy house against stormes and lymest it well.
1615. Crooke, Body of Man, 387. Houses newly limed.
d. To steep (skins) in lime and water.
1688–1844. [cf. LIMING vbl. sb.1 2 c].
1707. Rhode Island Col. Rec. (1859), IV. 7. Leather, which shall be insufficiently tanned, or which hath been over-limed or burnt in lime.
e. (See quot.)
1891. Lancet, 3 Oct., 783. The sludge … is limed—that is, a small quantity of lime is added to it so as to facilitate the operation of pressing.
