limitation

/ˈlɪməˌteɪʃən/

/lɪmɪˈteɪʃən/

Other forms: limitations

A limitation is something that holds you back, like a broken leg that keeps you off the dance floor during prom season.

A limitation could also be a rule that restricts what you can do, like needing to be a certain height to ride a roller coaster at an amusement park. It can also be a circumstance that hampers you, like a dead car that keeps you from traveling very far from home. The noun limitation comes up a lot in the law, especially in the phrase "statute of limitations," which dictates how long after a crime someone can be prosecuted for committing it.

Definitions of limitation

1. noun

   an act of limiting or restricting (as by regulation)
   synonyms: restriction

   types:

   load-shedding

   cutting off the electric current on certain lines when the demand becomes greater than the supply

   arms control

   a limitation on the size and armament of the armed forces of a country

   hold-down

   a limitation or constraint

   freeze

   fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level

   clampdown

   sudden restriction on an activity

   hiring freeze

   a freeze on hiring

   price freeze

   a freeze of prices at a given level

   wage freeze

   a freeze of wages at a given level

   type of:

   regulating, regulation

   the act of controlling or directing according to rule
2. noun

   the quality of being limited or restricted
   “it is a good plan but it has serious limitations”

   type of:

   disadvantage

   the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position
3. noun

   the greatest amount of something that is possible or allowed
   “it is growing rapidly with no limitation in sight”

   synonyms: limit

   types:

   extremum, peak

   the most extreme possible amount or value

   cutoff

   a designated limit beyond which something cannot function or must be terminated

   lower limit, minimum

   the smallest possible quantity

   maximum, upper limit

   the largest possible quantity

   type of:

   indefinite quantity

   an estimated quantity
4. noun

   a principle that limits the extent of something
   synonyms: restriction, stricture

   types:

   narrowness

   a restriction of range or scope

   quantification

   a limitation imposed on the variables of a proposition (as by the quantifiers `some' or `all' or `no')

   restraint

   a rule or condition that limits freedom

   floodgate

   something that restrains a flood or outpouring

   type of:

   regulation, rule

   a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
5. noun

   (law) a time period after which suits cannot be brought
   “statute of limitations”

   type of:

   time limit

   a time period within which something must be done or completed