Limiting

ˈlɪmɪtɪŋ

verbmedium📊CommonAction
2 meanings3 questions

Definitions

2 meanings
1

Restricting or controlling the size, amount, or extent of something.

ˈlɪmɪtɪŋ

verbneutralmedium
Action

Present participle of limit (to restrict)

The company is limiting its spending to stay within budget.

💡 Simply: Imagine you're playing with LEGOs. Your mom says, 'You have to limit the number of bricks you use to build your tower.' It means you can't use ALL the bricks! This keeps things from getting out of control.

👶 For kids: To stop something from getting too big or too much.

More Examples

2

The government is limiting access to the park due to overcrowding.

3

The new regulations are limiting the freedom of expression.

How It's Used

Finance

"The bank is limiting the amount of money that can be withdrawn."

Technology

"The software is limiting the number of files that can be uploaded."

2

Having the effect of, or intended to cause, a limit or restriction.

ˈlɪmɪtɪŋ

adjectiveneutralAdvanced
Quality

Serving to limit something; restricting.

The limiting factor in the company's growth was a lack of funding.

💡 Simply: Sometimes, things have limiting factors. Like, if you're trying to build a tall tower out of blocks, the *limiting* thing might be how many blocks you have. That number of blocks *limits* how tall your tower can be.

👶 For kids: Something that stops something else from getting bigger or more.

More Examples

2

The government imposed limiting regulations on imports.

3

The limiting case would be if all options ran out.

How It's Used

Law

"The limiting factors of the statute of limitations are crucial in legal proceedings."

Science

"There were several limiting conditions in their experiment design."

Tip:Think of a fence that acts as a limiting boundary.

From Middle English *limit(en)*, from Old French *limiter* or Latin *limitare* ("to set bounds, restrict"), from *limes* ("boundary, limit").

The word 'limiting' began to be used in contexts relating to setting boundaries and restrictions in the late 17th century, evolving from its verb form 'to limit'.

Memory tip

Imagine drawing a border around something to keep it from getting too big.

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"boundary, limit"

limiting factorlimiting the uselimiting the scopelimiting conditionslimiting access

Common misspellings

limmitinglimitting

Usage

40%Spoken
60%Written