Definition of limit verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

limit

verb

/ˈlɪmɪt/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they limit	/ˈlɪmɪt/ /ˈlɪmɪt/
he / she / it limits	/ˈlɪmɪts/ /ˈlɪmɪts/
past simple limited	/ˈlɪmɪtɪd/ /ˈlɪmɪtɪd/
past participle limited	/ˈlɪmɪtɪd/ /ˈlɪmɪtɪd/
-ing form limiting	/ˈlɪmɪtɪŋ/ /ˈlɪmɪtɪŋ/

Phrasal Verbs

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limit something to stop something from increasing beyond a particular amount or level synonym restrict
- measures to limit carbon dioxide emissions
- The amount of money you have to spend will limit your choice.
- Try to limit the number of trips you make.
- to limit somebody's ability/freedom/power to do something
Extra Examples
- The guidelines include limiting the number of birds that can be kept in one cage.
- It's really important to limit the amount of fat in your diet.
- The room is small, which limits the size of table we can consider.
- He believes in limiting the power of government.
- There are laws which limit our freedom to act.
- In an effort to limit the damage to her career, she gave an interview.
- I don't know much about the subject, which limits my ability to comment.
- We try to limit the children's use of social media.
- The change in the law was designed to limit the scope for corruption.
- Rigid job descriptions can serve to limit productivity.
- They are working to limit oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
- Campaign spending was limited to a maximum of $500 000.
- Workshops are limited to a maximum of 25 participants.
- The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
- What are the factors limiting economic growth?
- Such agreements seek to limit the liability of air carriers.
- There are no regulations which limit the hours which ships' crews work.
- There is no evidence that the restrictions have limited the effectiveness of the advertising.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- drastically
- greatly
- seriously
- …
verb + limit
- attempt to
- seek to
- take steps to
- …
preposition
- to
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to stop yourself or somebody from having, using or doing more than a particular amount or number of something
- limit somebody/yourself You can use any material available—why limit yourself?
- limit somebody/yourself to something I've limited myself to 1 000 calories a day to try and lose weight.
- Families are limited to four free tickets each.
Extra Examples
- I limited myself to two small pieces of toast.
- For this design, he limited himself to basic geometric shapes.
- Few painters choose to limit themselves to only one type of subject.
- In this report, we limit ourselves to an examination of current legislation.
- There are many films I could mention but I will limit myself to just five.
- I try not to limit myself in what I think I can achieve.
- The writer does not limit herself to one time or place.
- We will have to limit you to two helpings each.
- During the last fuel crisis we had to limit people to £5 worth of fuel.
- Some shops were limiting customers to two loaves of bread each.
- Claimants are now limited to one emergency claim per year.
- The time restriction does limit us in terms of how many we can sell.
- The system limits us to 8-character passwords.
- With the premium account you are limited to four users.