| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| limit |
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| SYLLABICATION: | lim·it |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  l m t |
| NOUN: | 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. abbr. lim Mathematics A number or point L that is approached by a function f(x) as x approaches a if, for every positive number  , there exists a number  such that |f(x)-L| < if 0 < |x-a| < . 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. | | TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: lim·it·ed, lim·it·ing, lim·its
1. To confine or restrict within a boundary or bounds. 2. To fix definitely; to specify. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English limite, from Old French, border, from Latin l mes, lmit-, border, limit. | | OTHER FORMS: | limit·a·ble —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 beyond which a person or thing cannot or may not go: The Constitution limits the President's term of office to four years. To restrict is to keep within prescribed limits, as of choice or action: The sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted to those over 21. Confine suggests imprisonment, restraint, or impediment: The children were confined to the nursery. Circumscribe connotes an encircling or surrounding line that confines, especially narrowly: “A man . . . should not circumscribe his activity by any inflexible fence of rigid rules” (John Stuart Blackie).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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