Dictionary:

lime³

  (līm)

1. 1. See calcium oxide.
   2. Any of various mineral and industrial forms of calcium oxide differing chiefly in water content and percentage of constituents such as silica, alumina, and iron. Also called quicklime.
2. Birdlime.

1. To treat with lime.
2. To smear with birdlime.
3. To catch or snare with or as if with birdlime.

[Middle English lim, from Old English līm, birdlime.]

A general term for burned (or calcined) limestone, also known as quicklime, hydrated lime, and unslaked or slaked lime. Its predominant usage (90%) is as a basic industrial chemical. It still enjoys its traditional building uses. In order of decreasing size uses are: steel fluxing, water treatment, nonferrous metals (alumina, magnesium, copper, and others), pulp and paper, refractories, soil stabilization, sewage and trade waste treatment, chemicals, and glass manufacture. See also Limestone.

Lime is not a mineral; it is manufactured from a mineral— limestone, coral, oystershell, all being sources of calcium carbonate. Dolomite, a calcium-magnesium carbonate, is used to produce dolomitic (magnesium) lime. Only the purest types of stone or shell are used for lime.

For more information on lime, visit Britannica.com.

Addition of lime to a pasture or crop field as a fertilizer and soil conditioner.

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