Limicolae 
lies Ckaradriidce and Scolftpacidce, or plovers and snipes, 
and their allies, as sandpipers, curlews, godwits, avosets, 
stilts, turnstones, oyster-catchers, etc. It is approximate- 
ly equivalent to the Lonyirontres and Pressirostres of Cu- 
vier. In Sundevall's system it is restricted to the snipes, 
tattlers, sandpipers, stilts, and avosets, and is thus little 
more extensive than the family Scolopacidai. Also called 
Debilirostres. 
2. In Femes, a group of chastopod worms con- 
taining those Scoleina which are maritime and 
characterized by having the looped canals 
highly developed and differentiated as seminal 
ducts: distinguished from ordinary earthworms 
or Terrieolfe. 
limicole (lim'i-kol), a. Same as limicoline. 
limicoline (H-mik'o-lin), a. and n. [As Limi- 
cola + -fne 1 .] I. a. Living on or in mud; spe- 
cifically, of or pertaining to the Limicolw, in 
either sense of that word. It is a common 
epithet of the large group of birds known as 
shore-birds, bay-snipe, etc. 
II. n. In ornith., a member of the Limicolce. 
limicolous (li-mik'o-lus), a. [As Limicola + 
-oils.] Living in mud; limicoline. 
In many Kmicolovs forms, as in earthworms. 
Encyc. Brit., XXIV. 678. 
Limidse (lim'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Lima + -idee."] 
A family of monomyarian acephalous bivalves 
or lamellibranch mollusks, typified by the ge- 
nus Lima, having the mantle-margins fringed 
with tentacular filaments, the foot finger-like, 
the lips tentaculate, and the shell obliquely 
oval, with the umbones eared, the anterior side 
gaping, and the posterior rounded. They live in 
the sand and generally burrow, but are able to move like 
scallops through the water by rapidly opening and clos- 
ing the valves. Many of them attach themselves by a bys- 
sus and form a sort of nest. The animal is generally of an 
orange or bright-red color. The species are numerous, and 
occur in most seas. Also Limadce. See cut under Lima. 
liminal (lim'i-nal), a. [< L. it-men (limin-), 
threshold (of. eliminate), + -ai.] Pertaining 
to the threshold or entrance ; hence, relating 
to the beginning or first stage ; inceptive ; in- 
choative. 
Every stimulus must reach a certain intensity before 
any appreciable sensation results. This point is known 
as the threshold or liminal intensity. 
J. Sully, Outlines of Psychol., p. 114. 
The liminal difficulties cannot be evaded without the 
most disastrous consequences to the body of the exposi- 
tion. Mind, IX. 428. 
liming (li'ming), n. [Verbal n. of lime 1 , .] 
1. The operation of treating with lime, or of 
sprinkling with slaked lime ; in leather-mamtf. , 
the steeping of hides in a solution of lime to 
remove their hair. 2. In bleaching, a solution 
of lime in water. 3. The smearing of twigs 
with lime to catch birds ; bird-liming. 
limit (lim'it), n. [< ME. limite, lymyte, < OF. 
limite, F. limite = Sp. limite = Pg. It. limite, < 
L. limes (limit-), a cross-path or balk between 
fields, hence a boundary, boundary line or wall, 
any path or road, border, limit; cf. iimen, a 
threshold. Cf. M*c 5 .] 1. A definite terminal 
or border line ; a boundary ; that which bounds 
or circumscribes in a material manner ; as, the 
northern limit of a field or town; the limits of a 
country. 
Whiche .ij. place be the lymytes or endes of the Holy 
Lande the longest wave. 
Sir It. Guylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 42. 
Here, the double-founted stream, 
Jordan, true limit eastward. Milton, P. L., xii. 145. 
Nor ceas'd her madness and her flight before 
She touch'd the limit of the Pharian shore. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., i. 
The spectrum extends in both directions beyond its 
visible limit*. Tyndatt, Light and Elect., p. W. 
2. A terminal line or point in general ; the ex- 
tent or reach beyond which continuity ceases ; 
a fixed term or bound as to amount, supply, 
continuance, inclusion, or the like: used of 
both material and immaterial things : as, to 
reach the limit of one's resources ; the limit of 
vision or of resistance; to set limits to one's 
ambition. 
All kinds of knowledge have their certain bounds and 
limits. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, i. 14. 
Dispatch ; the limit of your lives is out 
fr., Rich. III., Hi. 3.8. 
3458 
limitation 
The archdeacon hath divided it 
Into three limits very equally. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iii. 1. 73. 
limitaneoust (lim-i-ta'ne-us), a. [< L. limita- 
neus, situated on the borders, < limes (limit-), 
a boundary, limit: see limit, .] Pertaining 
The voyageur here also generally holds his place in the t i! m : rtl or hounds Jinilfii 1 7^1 
ont rank, explores and reports the quality and quantity , * : a , s j , ^ a " c <J' ltji - 
limitarian (lim-i-ta ri-an), , and . [< hnn- 
tari/ + -an.] I. a. Tending to limit or cir- 
cumscribe. 
II. n. One who limits; in theol., one who 
holds that a part of the human race only are to 
be saved: opposed to nnicersalist. Imp. Diet. 
limitary (lim'i-ta-ri), a. and n. [= P. limitaire, 
preliminary, < L'. limitaris, that is on the bor- 
der^ limes (limit-), a boundary, limit: see limit, 
n.] I. a. 1. Marking or maintaining a limit 
or boundary; limiting; restrictive. 
froi . . 
of timber in certain limits or lots. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 550. 
4f. A logical term. See the quotation. 
In this proposition, every man is a sensible body ; these 
two words, man and sensible body, are the terms, limits. 
or bounds, whereof as the said proposition is compounded, 
so into the same it is to be resolved, as into his uttermost 
parts that have any signification. 
BlundevUle, Arte of Logicke (1619). 
The Limits of my Paper will not give me leave to be par- 
ticular in Instances of this kind. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 297. 
Not without a few falls in the wrestle with Nature do 
we learn the limits of our own power, and the pitiless im- 
mensity of the power that is not ours. 
J. R. Seeley, Nat Religion, p. 27. 
3. That which is within or defined by limits; 
confine; district; region. 
At length into the limits of the north 
They came. Milton, P. L., v. 755. 
5. In math., the precise boundary between two 
continuous regions of magnitude or quantity ; 
especially, the point at which a variable upon 
which some function depends passes through 
infinity. It is frequently said to be the value that a 
variable quantity may indefinitely approach but can never 
reach a definition which, as tacitly assuming that the 
variable depends upon another which increases by succes- 
sive finite steps, introduces an inessential element, while 
altogether overlooking the essential one of continuity. 
6f. A limb, as a limit or extremity of the body. 
Hurried 
Here to this place, i' the open air, before 
I have got strength of limit. 
Shale., W. T., Hi. 2. 107. 
Thought it very strange that nature should endow so 
fair a face with so hard a heart, such comely limits with 
such perverse conditions. 
TUa.no, and Theseus, bl. lett., cited by Steevens. (Sares.) 
Ecliptic limits. See ecliptic. Equation Of limits. See 
equation. Limit of a planet, its greatest heliocentric 
latitude. Limit of distinct vision, the smallest or great- 
est distance from which the image of an object can be 
fixed upon the retina. Limit of elasticity. See elasti- 
city. Limit of the roots of an equation, a value greater 
than the greatest root or smaller than the smallest. Lim- 
its of a prison, jail limits, or simply limits. Seejofl. 
Limits of integration. See integration. Magnetic 
limit. See magnetic. Method or doctrine of limits, 
the doctrine that we cannot reason about infinite and in- 
finitesimal quantities, that phrases in mathematics con- 
taining these and cognate words are not to be understood 
literally, but are to be interpreted as meaning that the 
functions spoken of behave in certain ways when their 
variables are indefinitely increased or diminished, and 
that the fundamental formula of the differential calculus 
should be based upon the conception of a limit. (See def. 
f>, above.) The first of these positions is not now tena- 
ble : the hypothesis of infinite and infinitesimal quanti- 
ties is consistent, and can be reasoned about mathemati- 
cally. But the doctrine of limits should be understood 
to rest upon the general principle that every proposition 
must be interpreted as referring to a possible experience. 
The problems to which this method is applied belong to 
three types : the summation of series, the problem of tan- 
gents, and the problem of quadratures. (See series and 
problem:.) It is essentially the same as Newton's method 
of prime and ultimate ratios. Its rival is the method of 
infinitesimals, which is almost excluded from the text- 
books at present, but is more in harmony with recent ad- 
vances in mathematics. Three-mile limit. See mile. 
= Syn. 1. Confine, termination, bourn, precinct, boundary, 
frontier (see boundary) ; restriction, restraint, check. 
limit (lim'it), v. [< ME. limiten, < OF. limiter, 
F. limiter = Pr. Sp. Pg. limitar = It. limitare, 
< L. limitare, bound, limit, fix, determine, < 
limes (limit-), a boundary, limit: see limit, n. 
Cf. delimit."] I. trans. 1. To restrict within 
limits; bound; set bounds to. 
They . . . limited the Holy One of Israel. Ps. Ixxviii. 41. 
In all well-instituted commonwealths, care has been 
taken to limit men's possessions. 
Suiift, Thoughts on Various Subjects. 
2. To assign to a limit or confine ; fix within a 
limit; allot. 
Limit each leader to his several charge. 
Shak., Rich. III., v. 3. 25. 
The hopes and fears of man are not limited to this short 
life, and to this visible world. 
Macaulay, Gladstone on Church and State. 
3. To fix as a limit; assign exclusively or spe- 
cifically. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
Again, be limiteth a certain day. Heb. Iv. 7. 
And, as you do answer, I do know the scope 
And warrant limited unto my tongue. 
Shale., K. John, v. 2. 128. 
Their time limeted them being expired, they returned 
to ye ship. Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 82. 
Limiting case of a hypothesis involving continuity, a 
cose which is indefinitely near to cases which conform to 
the general conditions, and also to cases which violate 
these conditions. Thus, a tangent to a circle is a limiting 
case of a secant. See limit, n. , 6. Limiting points, with 
reference to the system of circles having a given radical 
axis, two points which have the same polars with reference 
to all the circles. 
Il.t intrans. To exercise any function, as 
begging, within a limited district: as, a limit- 
ing friar. 
They go ydelly a limiting abrode, living upon the sweat of 
other mens travels. Northbrooke, Dicing (1577). (Nares.) 
limitable (lim'i-ta-bl), a. [< limit + -<z&7e.] 
Capable of being limited, circumscribed, bound- 
ed, or restricted. 
Then, when I am thy captive, talk of chains, 
Proud limitary cherub. Mttton, P. L., iv. 971. 
Statements so palpably limitari/ of the Divine suprem- 
acy as I found on the face of Revelation. 
H. James, Sub. and Shad., p. 123. 
2. Subject to limitation ; restricted within lim- 
its; limited. 
What no inferior limitary king 
Could in a length of years to ripeness bring, 
Sudden his word performs. 
Pitt, tr. of First Hymn of Callimachus to Jupiter. 
A philosopher should not see with the eyes of the poor 
limitary creature calling himself a man of the world. 
De Quincey, Opium Eater. 
Il.t n. 1. That which constitutes a limit or 
boundary, as a stretch of land; a border-land. 
In the time of the Romans this country, because a lim- 
itary, did abound with fortifications. 
Fuller, Worthies, Cumberland. 
2. Same as limiter, 2. Seylin, Life of Laud, 
p. 210. 
limitate (lim'i-tat), a. [< L. limitalus, pp. of limi- 
tare, bound, limit: see limit,v.~] In hot., bounded 
by a distinct line, as the hypothallus in some 
lichens. 
limitation (lim-i-ta'shpn), n. [< ME. limita- 
cioun (in sense 6), < OF. limitaeion, F. limi- 
tation = Sp. limitaeion = Pg. limitac,So = It. 
limitazione, < L. limitatio(n-), a bounding, < 
limitare, pp. limitatus, bound: see limit, v.} 1. 
The act of bounding or circumscribing; the 
fixing of a limit or restriction. 
Mercy to him that shows it is the rule 
And righteous limitation of its act, 
By which Heav'n moves in pard'ning guilty man. 
Cmeper, Task, vi. 596. 
The checks naturally arising to each man's actions when 
men become associated are those only which result from 
mutual limitation. H. Spencer, Man vs. State, p. 101. 
2. The condition of being limited, bounded, or 
circumscribed; restriction. 
Am I yourself 
But, as it were, in sort or limitation ? 
Shak., 3. C., U. 1. 283. 
3. An opposing limit or bound; a fixed or pre- 
scribed restriction ; a restraining condition, de- 
fining circumstance, or qualifying conception: 
as, limitations of thought. 
Titus Quintius understood that he was appointed to have 
command of the army, without any other limitation than 
during the pleasure of the senate. 
Raleiyh, Hist. World, V. iv. 14. 
We are under physiological and cerebral limitations; 
limitations of association, want, condition. 
Bushnell, Nature and the Supernat , p. 51. 
Every limitation of a power is a prohibition to transcend 
it ; for, if it had not that effect, it would not be a limita- 
tion. N.A.Rev.,CX.XXlX..lS7. 
4f. That to which one is limited; that which 
is required as a condition. 
You have stood your limitation; and the tribunes 
Endue you with the people's voice. 
Shak., Cor., ii. 3. 145. 
God, then, not only framed Nature one, 
But also set it limitation 
Of Forme and Time. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 1. 
5. In law : (a) The period of time prescribed 
by law after which an action cannot be brought. 
Since the investigation of controversies becomes more dif- 
ficult with the lapse of time, and long delay to sue may 
imply either that satisfaction has been received or that 
all claim is abandoned, and as it is vexatious to revive 
stale claims, the law allows fixed periods, varying with the 
nature of the grievance, within which, if at all, a claim- 
ant must apply to the courts. The statutes fixing these 
periods are called statutes of limitations. From the limita- 
tion prescribed for actions to recover real property, it fol- 
lows that a practically secure title to land can be acquired 
by mere adverse possession for a sufficient time, (ft) In 
the law of conveyancing, the carving out of an 
estate less than a fee simple absolute (see fee 2 ) ; 
the prescribing of an ulterior direction for the 
devolution of an estate in case the estate of the 
primary grantee shall fail. If a deed or will gives 
property to A limiting his estate to his life, and on his 
death giving the property to B, the gift to B is a limitation, 
or limitation over. If the property is given to A so long as 
she remains unmarried, adding that In case she marries 
