lime
B2Neutral. Common in everyday, culinary, and technical/industrial contexts.
Definition
Meaning
A green, sour citrus fruit, or the tree that bears it.
A calcium-containing inorganic mineral, quicklime (calcium oxide), or hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide), used in building, agriculture, and industry; a bright green-yellow colour; a gluey substance from linden bark; a deciduous tree (linden or basswood).
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
The word is highly polysemous. The citrus and chemical/building material meanings are distinct and unrelated etymologically. Context is crucial for disambiguation.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
In the UK, 'lime tree' commonly refers to the linden tree (Tilia). In the US, 'lime tree' almost exclusively means the citrus tree, with 'linden' or 'basswood' used for Tilia.
Connotations
Similar for citrus and chemical uses. 'Limey' as slang for a British person (from historical lime juice on ships) is more common in American than British usage.
Frequency
The citrus meaning is dominant in both varieties. The building material/chemical meaning is frequent in technical/industrial contexts globally.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[lime] + [noun] (juice, tree, scale)[verb] + [lime] (add, squeeze, use, spread, apply)[adjective] + [lime] (fresh, key, slaked, quick, hydrated)Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “In the limelight (originally from lime-light, a type of stage lighting using quicklime)”
- “Limey (slang, mildly derogatory for a British person)”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Rare, except in contexts like import/export of fruit or construction materials.
Academic
In botany (citrus, Tilia), chemistry (calcium compounds), agriculture (soil treatment), and construction history (traditional building).
Everyday
Primarily the citrus fruit (for cooking, drinks) and the colour.
Technical
Hydrated/slaked lime (Ca(OH)2) for water treatment, mortar, plaster; quicklime (CaO) in steelmaking.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The farmer will lime the field to reduce acidity.
- Traditional builders lime washed the cottage walls.
American English
- We need to lime the lawn to balance the pH.
- They limed the old fence for a fresh look.
adverb
British English
- No standard adverbial use.
American English
- No standard adverbial use.
adjective
British English
- She wore a striking lime-green dress.
- The room was painted a bright lime colour.
American English
- He bought a lime-colored sports car.
- The cocktail had a lime flavor.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The drink tastes of lime.
- The wall is lime green.
- Can you add a slice of lime to my water, please?
- The old recipe uses lime mortar, not cement.
- Excessive lime scale in the kettle is a sign of hard water.
- Key lime pie is a classic dessert from Florida.
- The soil was aggressively limed to counteract decades of acidification.
- The chemist explained the exothermic reaction when water is added to quicklime.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a LIME-GREEN fruit sitting on a pile of white, chalky building LIME. The colour connects the two common meanings.
Conceptual Metaphor
SOURNESS (of fruit) -> something sharp, tart, or biting (e.g., 'lime-sharp wit'). WHITENESS/PURITY (of chemical lime) -> cleansing, sanitising.
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'лимон' (lemon). 'Lime' is 'лайм'.
- The building material 'lime' is 'известь'.
- The tree 'lime/linden' is 'липа'.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'lime' to mean 'lemon'.
- Confusing 'lime' (fruit) with 'lime' (chemical) in technical translations.
- Spelling: 'limе' (with Cyrillic 'е') instead of 'lime'.
Practice
Quiz
In a British context, what might a 'lime tree' in a park most likely be?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, limes and lemons are distinct citrus species. Limes (Citrus aurantiifolia/latifolia) are typically smaller, greener, and have a different flavour profile.
Quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO) is produced by heating limestone. When water is added, it undergoes a vigorous reaction to become slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2), which is used in building and agriculture.
The term originates from the 19th-century British Royal Navy practice of issuing lime juice to sailors to prevent scurvy. American sailors began calling them 'lime-juicers', later shortened to 'Limeys'.
For the tree species Tilia, 'linden' is the precise term, especially in American English. In British English, 'lime tree' is a common name for it, but this can cause confusion with the citrus lime.
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