limiting

adjective

lim·​it·​ing ˈli-mə-tiŋ How to pronounce limiting (audio)
1
a
: functioning as a limit : restrictive
limiting value
b
: being an environmental factor (such as a nutrient) that limits the population size of an organism
2
: serving to specify the application of the modified noun
this in "this book" is a limiting word
limitingly adverb

Examples of limiting in a Sentence

A limiting factor on our country's economic performance is its lack of resources. As a writer, I find the drama genre to be very limiting.
Recent Examples on the Web Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, says that successive privacy settlements over the years have become more limiting and more specific to account for the growing, near-constant surveillance of Americans by the technology around them. Paresh Dave, WIRED, 20 Dec. 2023 Though rising interest rates have begun to interfere with all kinds of energy development, the price of solar energy continues to drop, and there’s no obvious limiting factor to its spread. Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2023 But the biggest limiting factor for the human pilots is the video feed. IEEE Spectrum, 31 Aug. 2023 Finally, the permit process has been a big limiting factor in expediting CCS deployment. Soyoung Oh, The Conversation, 11 May 2023 The most limiting factor are the pods themselves, which are about the size of a small sedan and most often carried in pairs on the bed of a hulking three-axle transport, with another two towed behind on an attached trailer. Popular Mechanics, 31 Mar. 2023 But Hayes insists that Olds’s work is too distinctive to be contained by such a limiting term. Sam Anderson, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2022 Our pros love how this innovative jacket stayed warm without feeling bulky or limiting range of motion. Lexie Sachs, Good Housekeeping, 12 Aug. 2022 This was not the case with the Magic Leap 1, which had a very limiting field-of-view and buggy controller. Anshel Sag, Forbes, 9 June 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'limiting.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1644, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of limiting was in 1644

Dictionary Entries Near limiting

Cite this Entry

“Limiting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/limiting. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

limiting

adjective
lim·​it·​ing
: being an environmental factor (as food) that limits the size of a population of living things
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!