{
    "term": "limit",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the greatest or smallest amount of something that is allowed",
            "sensetop": "limit on somethingwithin limitsover the limit",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They **imposed** a strict spending **limit**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "His speed was double the **legal limit**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Do not **exceed the** recommended **limit **of 6g of salt per day."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The EU has **set** strict **limits** on levels of pollution.",
                    "contextForm": "limit on something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to keep government spending within acceptable limits",
                    "contextForm": "within limits"
                },
                {
                    "text": "You can't drive—you're over the limit *(= you have drunk more alcohol than is legal when driving)*.",
                    "contextForm": "over the limit"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Banks may import currency without limit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They called for a limit on the use of pesticides."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Air pollution is in danger of breaching the limits set by the European Union."
                },
                {
                    "text": "If the £145 limit is breached customs can insist on the payment of import duty and VAT."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The package exceeded the weight limit for a normal first-class stamp."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There is an upper limit on spending."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The law placed a limit of 100 years on copyright."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Central government has set a limit on spending by local councils."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Four cups of coffee is my daily limit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Heat levels rose beyond the recommended limits."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I can offer you $50 but that's my absolute limit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I don't want to go over my overdraft limit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Most credit card issuers have set limits on how low rates can go."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The engine was still reading well above normal limits."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The level of radioactivity in the soil was found to be above recommended limits."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The price fell below the lower limit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The same emission limits apply to all engines."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There's a limit on the number of tickets you can buy."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There's a weight limit on the bridge."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We are forced to operate within relatively narrow limits."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "restriction",
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["outer", "northern", "southern"],
                "verb + limit": ["have", "approach", "near"],
                "preposition": [
                    "above a/​the limit",
                    "at a/​the limit",
                    "below a/​the limit"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a point at which something stops being possible or existing",
            "sensetop": "limit to somethingto the limitwithin the limits of somethingbeyond the limits of something",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She knew the limits of her power."
                },
                {
                    "text": "to **set/define the limits** of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to **push/test the limits** of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "It's a movie that stretches the limits of believability."
                },
                {
                    "text": "His arrogance **knew** *(= had)* **no limits**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There is a limit to the amount of pain we can bear.",
                    "contextForm": "limit to something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The team performed to the limit of its capabilities.",
                    "contextForm": "to the limit"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to push/test somebody/something to the limit"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I knew I had **reached my limit** and couldn't do any more."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They've done their best within the limits of their capability.",
                    "contextForm": "within the limits of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I saw things beyond the limits of my ability to describe.",
                    "contextForm": "beyond the limits of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I was almost at the limits of my patience."
                },
                {
                    "text": "His family business had reached the limits of possible expansion."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Every society defines the limits of acceptable behaviour."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He set very definite limits on what he would reveal about his private life."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Such restrictions would place severe limits on the music's wider cultural relevance."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She is testing the limits of architecture as we know it."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He pushed the limits of what the budget would bear."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Daring art sometimes tests the limits of the legally permissible."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We choose to accept challenges, to take risks, and to stretch limits."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He pushed me to the limit of my abilities."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She wants Zack to be free to explore his limits, experiment and try new things."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The industry was approaching the limits of expansion."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The new law has its limits."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Their designers have pushed the limits of technology in order to create something new."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There's a practical limit to how small a computer can be."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They did well within the limits of their knowledge."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They recognize the limits of conventional strategies."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Our finances have been stretched to the limit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The managers' skills and expertise were being tested to the limits."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There is no limit to what we can achieve."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["outer", "northern", "southern"],
                "verb + limit": ["have", "approach", "near"],
                "preposition": [
                    "above a/​the limit",
                    "at a/​the limit",
                    "below a/​the limit"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "the furthest edge of an area or a place",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "We were reaching the limits of civilization."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the **city limits** *(= the imaginary line which officially divides the city from the area outside)*"
                },
                {
                    "text": "islands on the outer limit of the continent"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Fishing beyond the twelve-mile limit is not permitted."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There was no school within a limit of ten miles."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Let us wonder what stops at the limits of the universe."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The trees are found only below a limit of 1 500 feet."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["outer", "northern", "southern"],
                "verb + limit": ["have", "approach", "near"],
                "preposition": [
                    "above a/​the limit",
                    "at a/​the limit",
                    "below a/​the limit"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be extremely annoying",
            "labels": "(old-fashioned, informal)",
            "examples": [],
            "topics": ["Personal qualities"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to attempt to go beyond what is allowed or thought to be possible",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "We aim to push the boundaries of what we can achieve."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She pushes her physical limits through various endurance challenges."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "there is no limit to what somebody can achieve, earn, do, etc.",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "With a talent like his, the sky's the limit."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Success"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to some extent",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I'm willing to help, within limits."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The children can do what they like, within limits."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "without a point at which something has to stop",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The debt is rising without limit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She's a free spirit and lives her life without limits."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈlɪmɪt/",
                "audio": "li/limit/limit__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈlɪmɪt/",
                "audio": "li/limit/limit__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from Latin limes, limit- ‘boundary, frontier’. The verb is from Latin limitare, from limes."
}