limbo

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Roman Catholic Church The abode of unbaptized but innocent or righteous souls, as those of infants or virtuous individuals who lived before the coming of Christ.
2. n. A region or condition of oblivion or neglect: Management kept her promotion in limbo for months.
3. n. A state or place of confinement.
4. n. An intermediate place or state.
5. n. A West Indian dance in which the dancers keep bending over backward and passing under a pole that is lowered slightly each time.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A supposed border-land of hell; a region which has been believed by many to exist on the borders of hell, and to be the appointed abode of those who have not received the grace of Christ while living, and yet have not deserved the punishments of wilful and impenitent sinners. See the phrases.
2. n. Any similar region apart from this world.
3. n. A prison or other place of confinement; any place where things of little or doubtful value are deposited or thrown aside.
4. n. A kind of coarse cotton cloth worn by South Africans.

Wiktionary

1. n. The place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven, notably those of the saints who died before the advent of Christ (limbus patruum) and those of unbaptized but innocent children (limbus infantum).
2. n. Any in-between place, state or condition of neglect or oblivion which results in an unresolved status, delay or deadlock.
3. n. A dance played by taking turns crossing under a horizontal bar or stick. The stick is lowered with each round, and the game is won by the player who passes under the bar in the lowest position.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. An spiritual region where certain classes of souls were supposed to await the last judgment.
2. n. Hence: Any real or imaginary place of restraint or confinement; a prison.
3. n. A state of waiting, or uncertainty, in which final judgment concerning the outcome of a decision is postponed, perhaps indefinitely; neglect for an indefinite time.
4. n. A border or margin.
5. n. A West Indian dance contest, in which participants must dance under a pole which is lowered successively until only one participant can successfully pass under, without falling. It is often performed at celebrations, such as weddings.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an imaginary place for lost or neglected things
2. n. the state of being disregarded or forgotten
3. n. (theology) in Roman Catholicism, the place of unbaptized but innocent or righteous souls (such as infants and virtuous individuals)