speed limit

American  

noun

• speed limits
  plural

1. the maximum speed at which a vehicle is legally permitted to travel, as within a specific area, on a certain road, or under given conditions.

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speed limit British  

noun

1. the maximum permitted speed at which a vehicle may travel on certain roads

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• speed limits
  plural

Etymology

Origin of speed limit

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

speed limit

Yet it barred Zoox taxis on roads with heavy rain, snow, large quantities of leaves or a speed limit of more than 45 miles an hour.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

The eight-carriage train was travelling at about 65 mph when it derailed - within the 70mph speed limit - and the driver had begun to brake as the train approached the site.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

“This easing labor market dynamic, counterintuitively, raises the implied speed limit for GDP growth,” DeBusschere argues, now potentially putting it above 2%.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

She pleaded guilty on Monday to breaking the 20mph speed limit near her home in Kingston-upon-Thames five times between November 2025 and April this year.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

For the world to be logically consistent, there must be a cosmic speed limit.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan