Meaning & use
liming
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Meanings
noununcountableinformalregional
the activity of relaxing and spending time with friends, often talking or doing nothing in particular
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun; 'a liming' is not standard.
Patterns
- go liming
- spend time liming
- a liming spot
We spent the afternoon liming on the beach, just talking and laughing.
Liming is a big part of the culture here — people meet up after work and just relax.
That corner shop is a popular liming spot for the local teenagers.
verbintransitiveinformalregional
present participle of 'lime': to relax and socialize with friends in an informal Caribbean style
Grammar: Used with 'be' to form the continuous: 'They are liming.' The base form is 'lime'.
Patterns
- be liming
- liming with someone
They were liming outside the rum shop until late.
She's always liming with her cousins on weekends.
Word forms
| base form | lime |
|---|---|
| third person singular | limes |
| past tense | limed |
| past participle | limed |
| -ing form | liming |
Common combinations
- go liming
- Let's go liming after the match.
- liming with friends
- He enjoys liming with friends on the weekend.
- a liming spot
- The park by the harbor is a well-known liming spot.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hanging out
- The general English equivalent, used everywhere; 'liming' is specific to Caribbean English.
- socializing
- More formal and neutral; it does not have the relaxed, Caribbean flavor of 'liming'.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: liming or liming (from 'lime')?
liming vs liming (from 'lime')
The same spelling also means 'adding lime to soil or water' in farming and gardening. Context makes the difference clear.
Practice
What does 'liming' mean in Caribbean English?
Choose one answer.
In Caribbean English, 'liming' is about relaxing and spending time with friends. The other options are either literal uses of 'lime' or unrelated activities.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “liming”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.