From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Limbo \Lim"bo\ (l[i^]m"b[-o]), n. [Jamaican E. limba to bend,
fr. E. limber (1950) --MW10]
A West Indian dance contest, in which participants must dance
under a pole which is lowered successively until only one
participant can successfully pass under, without falling. It
is often performed at celebrations, such as weddings.
[PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Limbo \Lim"bo\ (l[i^]m"b[-o]), Limbus \Lim"bus\ (l[i^]m"b[u^]s),
n. [L. limbus border, edge in limbo on the border. Cf. {Limb}
border.]
1. (Scholastic Theol.) An spiritual region where certain
classes of souls were supposed to await the last judgment.
[1913 Webster]
As far from help as Limbo is from bliss. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
A Limbo large and broad, since called
The Paradise of fools. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The limbus patrum was considered as a place for the
souls of good men who lived before the coming of our
Savior. The limbus infantium was said to be a similar
place for the souls of unbaptized infants. To these was
added, in the popular belief, the limbus fatuorum, or
fool's paradise, regarded as a receptacle of all vanity
and nonsense.
[1913 Webster]
2. Hence: Any real or imaginary place of restraint or
confinement; a prison; as, to put a man in limbo.
[1913 Webster]
3. Hence: A state of waiting, or uncertainty, in which final
judgment concerning the outcome of a decision is
postponed, perhaps indefinitely; neglect for an indefinite
time; as, the proposal was left in limbo while opponents
and proponents refused to compromise.
[PJC]
4. (Anat.) A border or margin; as, the limbus of the cornea.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
limbo
n 1: the state of being disregarded or forgotten [syn:
{oblivion}, {limbo}]
2: an imaginary place for lost or neglected things
3: (theology) in Roman Catholicism, the place of unbaptized but
innocent or righteous souls (such as infants and virtuous
individuals)
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