limitation

plural limitations

1. countableuncountableThe act of limiting or the state of being limited.
2. countableuncountableA restriction; a boundary, real or metaphorical, caused by some thing or some circumstance.

   He understood the exam material, but his fear was a limitation he could not overcome.

   4 more examples

   Getting into his wheelchair after his amputation, it felt like a limitation you could roll in.

   The coaches are similar to those of the Hampshire diesel-electric units, which went into service in September, 1957, but have 8ft 6in wide bodies, instead of 9ft, because of loading gauge limitations on the South Eastern Division.

   1962 December, “The Oxted Line diesel-electric multiple-units”, in Modern Railways, page 383

   Now, Nielsen is sending all hotel employees through EI training to help them become more open and confident, understand their own limitations and fears, and to boost their self-worth and comfort in dealing with other people.

   2011 November 9, Susanne Gargiulo, “Emotional intelligence in the workplace”, in CNN

   Telling a story is like an invitation for others to share their stories with you. That’s what I discovered at TED when I shared my story about a limitation that held me back from my dream.

   2013 June 2, Phil Hansen, “Art that embraces our limits”, in CNN

3. countableuncountableAn imperfection or shortcoming that limits something's use or value.

   1 more example

   Both the MI score and the t-score have their limitations. MI computes a logarithm representing the number of co-occurrences of words compared to their occurrences apart in the corpus, which can highlight rare collocations if the components tend not to occur with other words. The t-score formula is less susceptible to this but its numerical result cannot be meaningfully compared across corpora of different sizes.

   2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Position vectors, homologous chromosomes and gamma rays: Promoting disciplinary literacy through Secondary Phrase Lists”, in English for Specific Purposes, →DOI, page 5

4. countableuncountablelawA time period after which some legal action may no longer be brought.

   The lawyer obtained impunity by dragging his obviously guilty client's case beyond the ten-year limitation.

   Synonyms: prescription