LIME (4)

Lime, n. [[AS. līm; akin to D. lijm, G. leim, OHG. līm, Icel. līm, Sw. lim, Dan. liim, L. limus mud, linere to smear, and E. loam. √126. Cf. Loam, Liniment.]] 1. 1. Birdlime.
Like the lime That foolish birds are caught with. Wordsworth. 2. 2. (Chem.) Oxide of calcium; the white or gray, caustic substance, usually called quicklime, obtained by calcining limestone or shells, the heat driving off carbon dioxide and leaving lime. It develops great heat when treated with water, forming slacked lime, and is an essential ingredient of cement, plastering, mortar, etc.
☞ Lime is the principal constituent of limestone, marble, chalk, bones, shells, etc. Caustic lime, calcium hydrate or slacked lime; also, in a less technical sense, calcium oxide or quicklime. — Lime burner, one who burns limestone, shells, etc., to make lime. — Lime light. See Calcium light, under Calcium. — Lime pit, a limestone quarry. — Lime rod, Lime twig, a twig smeared with birdlime; hence, that which catches; a snare. Chaucer.