limiting factor
Americannoun
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Physiology. the slowest, therefore rate-limiting, step in a process or reaction involving several steps.
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Biology. an environmental factor that tends to limit population size.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“As clusters scale, data transfer speeds are becoming a limiting factor, increasing the importance of optical components and materials,” he wrote.
From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026
A state investigation found that even if the reservoir had been full, the flow rate in the pipes “would have been a limiting factor in maintaining pressure and the system would have been quickly overwhelmed.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026
"Our research shows that iron is a limiting factor in phytoplankton's ability to make oxygen in vast regions of the ocean."
From Science Daily • Jan. 12, 2026
In Arya’s view, practical needs such as power, data-center space and water will be more of a limiting factor to the AI infrastructure build-out “than the desires/prognostications of disruptive AI companies.”
From MarketWatch • Oct. 13, 2025
That's really the limiting factor to life support.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
