▪ I. ˈlimer1 Obs. (exc. arch.)
Also 4–5 lymer(e, 5 lemer, lymour, -eer, 5–6 lymmer, limmer, 5, 7 lemor, (corrupt forms 6–8 levyner, -iner, lyemmer), 7–9 leamer.
[a. AF. limer = OF. liemier (mod.F. limier), f. OF. liem (F. lien) leash: see lien1 and lyam.]
A kind of hound, properly a leash-hound; in early use (and now arch.) a bloodhound; later, a mongrel.
| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 362 There ouertoke I a grete route Of hunters and eke of foresters, And many relayes and lymers. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 56 With Alauntes, Lymmeris and Racches free. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 21444 They berke, they byte, ryht felly,..The grete lemerys wer so strong. c 1440 Partonope 530 Fayre Grehoundes and grete lymours. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 15 Hauithe youre loke and holdithe youre hede ferme as a best that is called a lymer. 1486 Bk. St. Albans F iv b, Theis be the namys of houndes..a Mastyfe, a Lemor, a Spanyell. 1538 Elyot Dict., Hybrida, is a dogge, ingendred betwyxte a hounde and a mastyue, called a lymmar, or mongrell. [1570 J. Caius De Canibus Brit. 11 b, A leuitate, Leuyner, à loro Lyemmer appelatur is quem Leuinarium & Lorarium latine nominauimus.] 1576 Fleming tr. Caius' Dogs in Arb. Garner III. 264 Of the Levyner or the Lyemmer. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 185/1 The Leviner, or Lyemmer, or Leamer; so called from the Leam, or Lyne wherewith they are led. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Limer, a great Dog to hunt the wild Boar. 1828 Webster, Leamer, a dog, a kind of hound. 1897 D. H. Madden Diary Wm. Silence 65 The bloodhound, or limer, would have been entitled to the first share [of the hart's paunch]. |
▪ II. limer2
(ˈlaɪmə(r))
[f. lime v.1 + -er1.]
One who limes; one who snares with bird-lime; one who limewashes. Also a brush used for lime-washing. (See also white-limer.)
| 1611 Cotgr., Blanchisseur, a white dauber, or white limer. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 347/1 Hair, such as the White Limers use. 1655 Speymouth Session Rec. 20 David Dunbar was desyred to agree with some lymers for as much lyme as would serve. 1872 Daily News 8 June, She was only furnishing the Whitechapel trappers and limers with a new and valuable kind of quarry. 1894 P. N. Hasluck House Decoration 67 In some parts of the country this ‘limer’ is the principal ceiling-brush used... Limers of the best kind are as expensive as distemper brushes. |
▪ III. limer3 W. Indies.
(ˈlaɪmə(r))
[Etym. unknown.]
A person who hangs about the streets. Hence (as a back-formation) lime v.4 intr., to hang about the streets; also ˈliming vbl. n.3
Said to have been used in the 1940s but printed evidence is lacking.
| 1970 Express (Trinidad & Tobago) 6 Jan. 4 ‘Limers’ are a menace on High Street at night. 1972 Ibid. 4 Feb. 21 One ride in a route taxi and a little liming in Frederick Street..would uncover whatever the wooding group may have forgotten. 1973 Sunday Express (Trinidad & Tobago) 1 Apr. (Suppl.) 13/1 Staying a minute more to lime. Ibid. 8 Apr. 13/3 Now I confess that in the past I have often had cause to voice a complaint about his penchant for ole talking and liming. 1974 Sunday Advocate-News (Barbados) 3 Mar. 16/6 The limers' attire ranges from the sophisticated to the ridiculous. |