Meanings
alternative limb-meal · alternative limb meal
- archaicnot comparableInto pieces; limb from limb.
1890, John Payne (translator), The Novels of Matteo Bandello Bishop of Agen, London: The Villon Society, Volume 5, Part 3, Story 24, pp. 323-324, Such was the end of that vile and wicked woman, worthy of a more cruel death and to be torn of dogs limbmeal.
2 more examples
O, that I had her here, to tear her limb-meal!
1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv][…] they deal with Christ as a Kennel of Hounds do with an Hare, pluck him to pieces, wound and tear him, what in them lies, limb meal, neither his Blood, nor his Wounds, nor his Head, nor his Heart, nor any other part shall escape, and they even dare Vengeance it self […]
1677, Edward Bury, England’s Bane, or, The Deadly Danger of Drunkenness, London: Thomas Parkhurst, page 16
Origin
- Old Englishlimmǣlum“limbmeal, limb by limb”
- Middle Englishlymmele
- Englishlimbmeal
From Middle English lymmele, limmel, from Old English limmǣlum (“limbmeal, limb by limb”); equivalent to limb + -meal.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
limbmeal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/limbmeal
“limbmeal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/limbmeal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “limbmeal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/limbmeal.
Source: limbmeal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.