limbo
Syllables: lim·bo/ˈlɪmbəʊ/US/ˈlɪmboʊ/
limbo noun: a speculative place or state, 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 patriarchs or fathers) and those of unbaptized infants (who occupy the limbo infantum or limbo of the infants); (countable) the possible place where each category of souls might exist, regarded separately.
Noun (1)
limbo (countable and uncountable, plural limbos or limboes)
- A speculative place or state, 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 patriarchs or fathers) and those of unbaptized infants (who occupy the limbo infantum or limbo of the infants); (countable) the possible place where each category of souls might exist, regarded separately.
- 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 tayle.1528 October 12 (Gregorian calendar), William Tyndale, “William Tyndale other wise Called William Hychins vnto the Reader”, in The Obediẽce of a Christen Man […], [Antwerp]: [Johannes Hoochstraten]...
- Oh vvhat a ſimpathie of vvoe is this, / As farre from helpe, as Lymbo is from bliſſe.c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas...
- Chiefly 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: […]1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “The First Part”, in Religio Medici. […], 4th edition, London: […] E. Cotes for Andrew Crook […], published 1656, →OCLC, section 54, page 115
- Jail, 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] on the caſe. / Adr. VVhat is he arreſted? tell me at vvhoſe ſuite?c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- 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. I haue ſome of 'em in Limbo Patrum, and there they are like to dance theſe three dayes; beſides...1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
- Synonym of Hades or Hell.
- Nor quite of future Povv'r himſelf bereft, / But Limbo's large for Unbelievers left.1682, [Nahum Tate; John Dryden], The Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 4
- Synonyms:
- Hades or Hell
- Synonym 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— […]1693, Will[iam] Congreve, The Old Batchelour, a Comedy. […], London: […] Peter Buck, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 11
- Synonyms:
- pawn
- A type of antisubmarine mortar installed on naval vessels.
Verb (1)
limbo (third-person singular simple present limbos, present participle limboing, simple past and past participle limboed)
- To 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 limbo; and since he is one of those that can be limboed, limboed he shall be in you.1849, Herman Melville, “Wherein Babbalanja Broaches a Diabolical Theory, and, in His Own Person, Proves it”, in Mardi: And a Voyage Thither. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […]...
- "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."1988 October, Jack Womack, chapter 5, in Terraplane […], New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, →ISBN, page 102
Noun (2)
limbo (plural limbos)
- A competitive dance originating from Trinidad and Tobago in which dancers take turns to cross under a horizontal bar while bending backwards. The bar is lowered with each round, and the competition is won by the dancer who passes under the bar in the lowest position without dislodging it or falling down.
- 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 / Hey, let's do the limbo rock1962 October, Jan Sheldon [pseudonym; Kal Mann], Billy Strange, “Limbo Rock”, in Limbo Party, performed by Chubby Checker
- 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 before settling down on chaise longues around your hotel's pool with a couple of fruity concoctions.1992, Susan Farewell, “The United States Virgin Islands”, in Alan Tucker, editor, The Berlitz Travellers Guide to the Caribbean 1993, New York, N.Y.; Oxford, Oxfordshire: Berlitz Publishing Company...
Verb (2)
limbo (third-person singular simple present limbos, present participle limboing, simple past and past participle limboed)
- To dance the limbo (etymology 2, noun etymology 2, noun 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 lower and lower while he got flatter and flatter, until finally, at just over a foot and almost...1967 November 24, “Miscellany: Stoop to Conquer”, in George P. Hunt, editor, Life, volume 63, number 21, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 124
- 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 wasn't enough, a three-legged race in which participants chug a beer or soda before limboing under...1993 May–June, Kathleen Ring, “Coming Attractions”, in Snow Country: The Year-round Magazine of Skiing, Mountain Sports & Living, volume 6, number 3, Trumbull, Conn.: NYT Sports/Leisure Magazines...
- Often 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.1990 March 26, “Low Motion: Technology Firms Dip, Pivot as Investors Drum Up Profits”, in Bill Laberis, editor, Computerworld: The Newsweekly of Information Systems Management, volume XXIV, number...
- 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.1994, Lois Ruby, “No Nancy Drews”, in Steal Away Home (Aladdin Historical Fiction), New York, N.Y.: Aladdin Paperbacks, published January 1999, →ISBN, page 41
Noun (3) capitalized: Limbo
Limbo (plural Limbos)
limbo meaning in Marathi, Punjabi, Odia and Nepali
limbo in Marathi
- competitive dance in which dancers take turns to cross under a horizontal bar while bending backwards
- लिम्बो limbo
limbo in Punjabi
- ਲਿੰਬੋ
limbo in Odia
- ଲିମ୍ବୋ
limbo in Nepali
- लिम्बो, लिम्बो गर्न
Examples of limbo in a sentence
- Limbo, or more exactly the notion of two different limbos within Christendom, was also an invention.1992, William R. LaFleur, “Jizō at the Crosswords”, in Liquid Life: Abortion and Buddhism in Japan, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University...
- As yet my books are lying as ghost books, in a limbo on the banks of a certain Bristolian Styx, humanly speaking, a Canal; […]1839 June 15 (date written), John Sterling, “Clifton”, in Thomas Carlyle, The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […]...
- Homœpathy, so-called, is an unutterable humbug, and is to be consigned to the eternal Limbos of the Unblessed—where, indeed, it is already for the most part gone.1881 April 23, “Lord Beaconsfield and Homœpathy”, in George F[rederick] Shrady [Sr.], editor, The Medical Record: A Weekly Journal of...
- [U]rged beyond that line where the soul is mistress over herself, he lost himself in those delicious limboes, which the vulgar call so foolishly "the imaginary regions."1896, Honoré de Balzac, translated by Ernest Dowson, La Fille aux Yeux d’Or [The Girl with the Golden Eyes], London: Leonard Smithers […]...
Synonyms of limbo
- Hades or Hell
- pawn
Forms of limbo
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | limbos |
| plural | limboes |
| alternative form | Limbo |
| plural | Limbos |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | limbos |
| present participle | limboing |
| past participle | limboed |
| past | limboed |
Origin of limbo
The 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.
Origin uncertain; possibly an alteration of limber (“bendable, flexible, pliant”) with the ending of the word respelled to represent a Caribbean English pronunciation. It is unclear whether the verb is derived from the noun, or the noun is derived from the verb; the noun is attested slightly earlier.
Words formed from limbo
Phrases with limbo
Words that rhyme with limbo
Questions about limbo
- What does limbo mean?
- Limbo means a speculative place or state, 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 patriarchs or fathers) and those of unbaptized infants (who occupy the limbo infantum or limbo of the infants); (countable) the possible place where each category of souls might exist, regarded separately.
- What is limbo in Marathi?
- Limbo in Marathi is लिम्बो (limbo). See Limbo meaning in Marathi.
- How do you use limbo in a sentence?
- Limbo, or more exactly the notion of two different limbos within Christendom, was also an invention.
- What part of speech is limbo?
- Limbo can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce limbo?
- Limbo is pronounced /ˈlɪmbəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of limbo?
- The plural of limbo is limbos.
Words near limbo in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: limbo (page history and authors); Limbo (page history and authors); limbo (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); limbo (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); limbo (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-limbo.wav.
Cite this entry: “limbo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/limbo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.