What is "extremities"

Extremity \Ex*trem"i*ty\, n.; pl. Extremities. [L. extremitas: cf. F. extr['e]mit['e].]

1. The extreme part; the utmost limit; the farthest or remotest point or part; as, the extremities of a country.

   They sent fleets . . . to the extremities of Ethiopia.
   --Arbuthnot.

2. (Zo["o]l.) One of locomotive appendages of an animal; a limb; a leg or an arm of man.

3. The utmost point; highest degree; most aggravated or intense form. ``The extremity of bodily pain.''
   --Ray.

4. The highest degree of inconvenience, pain, or suffering; greatest need or peril; extreme need; necessity.

   Divers evils and extremities that follow upon such a compulsion shall here be set in view.
   --Milton.

   Upon mere extremity he summoned this last Parliament.
   --Milton.

   Syn: Verge; border; extreme; end; termination.

early 15c., "hands and feet, uttermost parts of the body," plural of extremity. Meaning "a person's last moments" is from c.1600.

n. (plural of extremity English)

Extremities may refer to:

• Limb (anatomy), arms and legs, but extremities definitely includes:
  • Hand, a prehensile, multi-fingered organ located at the end of the forearm of primates
  • Foot, in many vertebrates, the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion
• Head, body part containing the brain and sense organs
• Appendage, an external body part that protrudes from an organism's body, such as a limb, tail, ear, antler, external genitalia or antenna
• Extremities (play), a 1982 play by William Mastrosimone
• Extremities (film), a 1986 film based on the play

Extremities is an off Broadway play by William Mastrosimone and directed by Robert Allan Ackerman. It opened at the Westside Theatre in New York on December 22, 1982 and ran for 325 performances.

Extremities is a 1986 American thriller film starring Farrah Fawcett, Alfre Woodard, Diana Scarwid and James Russo. It was adapted from the successful, yet controversial, 1982 off-Broadway play of the same name by William Mastrosimone, focusing on a woman who captures her stalker and rapist in her home and exacts revenge on him with her housemates.

Both Fawcett and Russo had appeared in the stage play (Fawcett taking over a role originated by Susan Sarandon), and Fawcett received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her performance in the film.