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 AI’s computing needs get bigger, power density has become a limiting factor, Analog said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
However, the new findings clearly show that oxygen diffusion within flight muscle tracheoles is not the limiting factor.
From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026
Imagination was never the limiting factor for Poetic Kinetics creative director Patrick Shearn’s fourth project for Coachella.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
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
“The short life span has always been a prime limiting factor in education,” he told George and Julie.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
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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.