Lima
(ˈliːmə)
the name of the capital of Peru, used attrib. in the following names of products of that locality: Lima bark, the bark of certain species of Cinchona; a kind of Peruvian bark; Lima bean, Phaseolus lunatus; see also quot. 1858; Lima-wood, a kind of Brazil-wood.
| 1819 [see butter-bean]. 1831 M. Holley Texas (1833) xi. 123 He had known winters here so mild, as not to kill the Lima bean. 1834 M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. Ind. 152 The Lima Bean is said to be more like a pea than a bean. 1855 Mayne Expos. Lex., Lima Bark, common name for the Cinchona pallida, or pale Peruvian bark. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Lima⁓bean, the Phaseolus Limensis, an esteemed kind of pulse cultivated in the tropics; the perennial kidney-bean, P. perennis. 1864 Craig, Suppl., Lima-wood is a fine kind of Nicaragua wood, produced in South America. 1886 A. H. Church Food Grains Ind. 155 The Lima or Duffin bean..is cultivated almost everywhere throughout India. 1969 Northwest (Sunday Oregonian Mag.) 14 Dec. 19/1 The pulp [of pawpaw] is yellow or orange and contains several brown seeds about the size and shape of a Lima Bean. |
b. ellipt. = Lima bean. U.S.
| 1856 F. S. Cozzens Sparrowgrass Papers vii. 85 Put the Limas to the right..and as for the rest of the seeds sweep them into the refuse basket. 1865 Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. V. 758 Pole Beans—Amongst these the Limas deservedly rank the highest. 1942 E. Paul Narrow St. vi. 51 The {Eacu}picerie Danton had limas, normal-sized and ‘baby’, Canterbury, scarlet runners, pintos, [etc.]. |