limey

[lahy-mee] /ˈlaɪ mi/
noun, plural limeys.
1.
a British sailor.
2.
a British person.
3.
a British ship.
adjective
4.
British.
Origin
1885-90; see lime-juicer, -y2
Examples from the web for limey
  • Described as thin-banded limey quartzite-uniform bands of light-greenish and dark-gray to purple bands.
  • It is adapted to limey soils of wet and dry sites and grows on coarse, shallow soils of droughty uplands.
  • Some layers were composed of erodible material, others of limey material from the bodies of marine life.
  • If the aggregate is fine-grained limey dolomite, the alkali-carbonate reaction is likely.
  • The lower elevation portion of the allotment is primarily within the silty-limey ecological site.
British Dictionary definitions for limey

limey

/ˈlaɪmɪ/
noun
1.
a British person
2.
a British sailor or ship
adjective
3.
British
Word Origin
abbreviated from C19 lime-juicer, because British sailors were required to drink lime juice as a protection against scurvy
Word Origin and History for limey
n.

1888, Australian, New Zealand, and South African slang for "English immigrant;" U.S. use is attested from 1918, originally "British sailor, British warship," short for lime-juicer (1857), in derisive reference to the British Navy's policy (begun 1795) of issuing lime (n.2) juice on ships to prevent scurvy among sailors. In U.S., extended to "any Englishman" by 1924.

Midway Signs Limey Prof to Dope Yank Talk ["Chicago Tribune" headline, Oct. 18, 1924]

Slang definitions & phrases for limey

limey

noun
  1. An English person: The ''Doctor'' was a lime-juicer (1888+)
  2. A British ship (1919+)

[fr the ration of lime juice given to British sailors as an antiscorbutic; the dated use for the first sense is strictly ''an English immigrant to the Antipodes''; the generalized term probably reflects the US use, ''English sailor or soldier,'' found by 1918]