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.
He cited the internal compute shortage as the limiting factor, which he predicted would clear up this year for his team.
From Barron's • Apr. 4, 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
“I think that’s gonna be cool and, you know, when we travel, that’s always sort of the limiting factor when we travel internationally.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 15, 2025
The global constraint principle explains that when one limiting factor -- such as a nutrient -- is alleviated, other constraints like enzyme production, cell volume, or membrane space begin to take over.
From Science Daily • Nov. 11, 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.
