limey
/ˈlaɪmi/
limey adjective: resembling limes (the fruit); lime-like.
Adjective
limey (comparative limier, superlative limiest)
- Resembling limes (the fruit); lime-like.
- Of, or pertaining to, limes (the fruit).
- This drink is full of limey goodness.
Noun (1)
limey (plural limeys)
- An Englishman or other Briton, or a person of British descent; an English or British immigrant.
- Ya look like anything ’cept a tourist who’s come to lose his wad and they get a bad case of nose trouble. Take yaself. Anyone can see ya’re a Limey even before ya start talking.1956, Ian Fleming, chapter 15, in Diamonds Are Forever
- An English or British ship.
Noun (2) capitalized: Limey
Limey (plural Limeys)
- Alternative letter-case form of limey (“an Englishman or other Briton”).
Synonyms of limey
Forms of limey
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | limier |
| superlative | limiest |
| Noun | |
| plural | limeys |
| alternative form | Limey |
| plural | Limeys |
Origin of limey
In adjectival senses, by surface analysis, lime + -y. In the sense of Englishman, reduced from the 19th century term lime-juicer (“a British ship”), from the lime juice British ships carried to ward off scurvy.
Words formed from limey
Words that rhyme with limey
Questions about limey
- What does limey mean?
- Limey means resembling limes (the fruit); lime-like.
- What part of speech is limey?
- Limey can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce limey?
- Limey is pronounced /ˈlaɪmi/.
Words near limey in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: limey (page history and authors); Limey (page history and authors). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-limey.ogg.
Cite this entry: “limey.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/limey. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.