limit
limit
(lĭmʹĭt) noun
Abbr. lim.
1.
The point, edge, or line beyond which something cannot or may not proceed.
2.
limits The boundary surrounding a specific area; bounds: within the city limits.
3. A confining or restricting object, agent, or influence.
4. The greatest or least amount, number, or extent allowed or possible: a withdrawal limit of $200; no minimum age limit.
5. Games. The largest amount which may be bet at one time in games of chance.
6. Mathematics. A number or point k that is approached by a function f(x) as x approaches a if, for every positive number ε, there exists a number δ such that if . Also called limit point, point of accumulation.
7. Informal. One that approaches or exceeds certain limits, as of credibility, forbearance, or acceptability: He is the limit of irresponsibility.
verb
, transitive
limited
, limiting, limits
1.
To confine or restrict within a boundary or bounds.
2.
To fix definitely; to specify.
[Middle English limite, from Old French, border, from Latin līmes, līmit-, border, limit.]
lim
ʹitable adjective
Synonyms:
limit, restrict, confine, circumscribe. These verbs mean to establish or keep within specified bounds. Limit refers principally to the establishment of a maximum, as of quantity, degree, or time, beyond which a person or thing cannot or may not go: The Constitution limits the President's term of office to four years. "Liberty, too, must be limited in order to be possessed" (Edmund Burke). To restrict is to keep within prescribed limits, as of choice or action: "a pardon, so restricted that none were likely to be forgiven save those who had done no wrong" (John Lothrop Motley). The sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted to those over 21. Confine suggests limits that imprison, restrain, or impede: All prisoners will be confined to their cells. Interest in Asia is no longer confined to scholars. Circumscribe connotes an encircling or surrounding line that confines and especially that confines narrowly: "A man . . . should not circumscribe his activity by any inflexible fence of rigid rules" (John Stuart Blackie). See also synonyms at boundary.