2 VERB If you say that something such as an organization, process, or vehicle limps along , you mean that it continues slowly or with difficulty, for example because it has been weakened or damaged. □ [V adv/prep] In recent years the newspaper had been limping along on limited resources. □ [V adv/prep] A British battleship, which had been damaged severely in the battle of Crete, came limping into Pearl Harbor.
3 ADJ If you describe something as limp , you mean that it is soft or weak when it should be firm or strong. □ A residue can build up on the hair shaft, leaving the hair limp and dull looking. ● limp|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ Flags and bunting hung limply in the still, warm air.
4 ADJ If someone is limp , their body has no strength and is not moving, for example because they are asleep or unconscious. □ He carried her limp body into the room and laid her on the bed.
lim|pet /l I mp I t/ (limpets ) N‑COUNT A limpet is a small sea animal with a cone-shaped shell which attaches itself tightly to rocks.
lim|pid /l I mp I d/
1 ADJ If you say that something is limpid , you mean that it is very clear and transparent. [LITERARY ] □ …limpid blue eyes. □ …limpid rock-pools.
2 ADJ If you describe speech, writing, or music as limpid , you like it because it is clear, simple and flowing. [LITERARY , APPROVAL ] □ He thought the speech a model of its kind, limpid and unaffected.
linch|pin /l I ntʃp I n/ (linchpins ) also lynchpin N‑COUNT If you refer to a person or thing as the linchpin of something, you mean that they are the most important person or thing involved in it. □ [+ of ] He's the lynchpin of our team and crucial to my long-term plans.
lin|den /l I nd ə n/ (lindens ) N‑VAR A linden or a linden tree is a large tree with pale green leaves which is often planted in parks in towns and cities.
line ◆◆◆ /la I n/ (lines , lining , lined )
1 N‑COUNT A line is a long thin mark which is drawn or painted on a surface. □ Draw a line down that page's center. □ …a dotted line. □ The ball had clearly crossed the line.
2 N‑COUNT [usu pl] The lines on someone's skin, especially on their face, are long thin marks that appear there as they grow older. □ He has a large, generous face with deep lines.
3 N‑COUNT A line of people or things is a number of them arranged one behind the other or side by side. □ [+ of ] The sparse line of spectators noticed nothing unusual.
4 N‑COUNT A line of people or vehicles is a number of them that are waiting one behind another, for example in order to buy something or to go in a particular direction. □ Children clutching empty bowls form a line.
5 N‑COUNT A line of a piece of writing is one of the rows of words, numbers, or other symbols in it. □ The next line should read: Five days, 23.5 hours. □ Tina wouldn't have read more than three lines.
6 N‑COUNT A line of a poem, song, or play is a group of words that are spoken or sung together. If an actor learns his or her lines for a play or film, they learn what they have to say. □ [+ from ] …a line from Shakespeare's Othello: 'one that loved not wisely but too well'. □ Learning lines is very easy. Acting is very difficult.
7 N‑VAR You can refer to a long piece of wire, string, or cable as a line when it is used for a particular purpose. □ She put her washing on the line. □ …a piece of fishing-line. □ The winds downed power lines.
8 N‑COUNT [oft on the N ] A line is a connection which makes it possible for two people to speak to each other on the phone. □ The phone lines went dead. □ It's not a very good line. Shall we call you back Susan? □ She's on the line from her home in Boston.
9 N‑COUNT [oft in names] You can use line to refer to a phone number which you can ring in order to get information or advice. □ …the 24-hours information line.
10 N‑COUNT [usu pl] A line is a route, especially a dangerous or secret one, along which people move or send messages or supplies. □ Negotiators say they're keeping communication lines open. □ …the guerrillas' main supply lines.
11 N‑COUNT The line in which something or someone moves is the particular route that they take, especially when they keep moving straight ahead. □ Walk in a straight line. □ [+ of ] The wings were at right angles to the line of flight.
12 N‑COUNT [oft in names] A line is a particular route, involving the same stations, roads, or stops along which a train or bus service regularly operates. □ They've got to ride all the way to the end of the line. □ I would be able to stay on the Piccadilly Line and get off the tube at South Kensington.
13 N‑COUNT A railway line consists of the pieces of metal and wood which form the track that the trains travel along.
14 N‑COUNT A shipping, air, or bus line is a company which provides services for transporting people or goods by sea, air, or bus. [BUSINESS ] □ The Foreign Office offered to pay the shipping line all the costs of diverting the ship to Bermuda.
15 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A state or county line is a boundary between two states or counties. [AM ] □ …the California state line.
16 N‑COUNT You can use lines to refer to the set of physical defences or the soldiers that have been established along the boundary of an area occupied by an army. □ Their unit was shelling the German lines only seven miles away.
17 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The particular line that a person has towards a problem is the attitude that they have towards it. For example, if someone takes a hard line on something, they have a firm strict policy which they refuse to change. □ Forty members of the governing Conservative party rebelled, voting against the government line.