limb
n. countablen. an arm or a leg of a person or animal, or a large main branch of a tree.
n. a jointed or articulated appendage of an animal body, such as a leg, arm, or wing; also used to describe a primary branch of a tree.
The cat stretched its long limbs after waking up.
The heavy snow caused a large limb of the oak tree to snap and fall onto the driveway.
The surgeon worked carefully to restore blood flow to the injured limb, hoping to preserve full motor function for the patient.
From Middle English lyme, lim, from Old English lim (“limb, branch”), from Proto-West Germanic limu, from Proto-Germanic limuz (“branch, limb”). Cognate with Old Norse limr (“limb”). The spelling with the silent unetymological -b first arose in the late 1500s. Compare crumb.
From Latin limbus (“border”).
Commonly used in the idiom 'out on a limb' to describe being in a vulnerable or unsupported position.