limbo
noun /ˈlɪmbəʊ/
/ˈlɪmbəʊ/
(plural limbos)
- [countable] a West Indian dance in which you lean backwards and go under a bar that is made lower each time you go under it
- [uncountable, singular] a situation in which you are not certain what to do next, cannot take action, etc., especially because you are waiting for somebody else to make a decision
- the limbo of the stateless person
- in limbo His life seemed stuck in limbo; he could not go forward and he could not go back.
Word Originsense 2 late Middle English: from the medieval Latin phrase in limbo, from limbus ‘hem, border, limbo’.sense 1 1950s: from limber.