delimit

[ dih-lim-it ]
See synonyms for: delimitdelimiteddelimiting on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to fix or mark the limits or boundaries of; demarcate: A ravine delimited the property on the north.

Origin of delimit

1
1850–55; <French délimiter<Latin dēlīmitāre, equivalent to dē-de- + līmitāre to limit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use delimit in a sentence

  • Now in interest, the important delimiting quality is emotional tone.

    Creative Intelligence | John Dewey, Addison W. Moore, Harold Chapman Brown, George H. Mead, Boyd H. Bode, Henry Waldgrave, Stuart James, Hayden Tufts, Horace M. Kallen
  • The Decision may involve certain deductions or inferences, either delimiting or amplifying its nature.

    Sound Military Decision | U.s. Naval War College
  • This method of delimiting a meaning by calling out a certain attitude toward objects may be called denotative or indicative.

    How We Think | John Dewey
  • She caught at the delimiting phrase, “nice girls,” and glanced up again.

    The Readjustment | Will Irwin
  • Differences in metabolic adaptation, therefore, have played a role in delimiting climatic distribution of these species.

British Dictionary definitions for delimit

delimit

delimitate

/ (diːˈlɪmɪt) /


verb
  1. (tr) to mark or prescribe the limits or boundaries of; demarcate

Derived forms of delimit

  • delimitation, noun
  • delimitative, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012