limbless

Variant of limb

noun

  1. a part that extends from the trunk of a body, as an arm, leg, or wing
  2. a large branch of a tree
  3. any projecting part forming an outgrowth or extension from a larger body
  4. a person or thing regarded as a branch, part, agent, or representative: a policeman is a limb of the law
  5. Chiefly Brit., Informal a naughty child

Origin: with unhistoric -b < ME lim < OE, akin to ON limr, limb < IE base *(e)lei-, to bend > el(bow)

transitive verb

Rare to dismember; disjoint

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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