MEANING
To set or identify the boundaries of a subject, area, or inquiry.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- delimit the scope
- delimit a study area
- delimit a category
On the page
The introduction delimits the inquiry to reforms introduced after independence.
Administrative records delimit the study area more precisely than oral accounts.
A definition should delimit a concept without excluding its central cases.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- delimit / delimits
- Past tense
- delimited
- Past participle
- delimited
- Present participle
- delimiting
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- delimit / delimits
- Present continuous
- am/is/are delimiting
- Present perfect
- have/has delimited
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been delimiting
- Past
- delimited
- Past continuous
- was/were delimiting
- Past perfect
- had delimited
- Past perfect continuous
- had been delimiting
- Future
- will delimit / delimits
- Future continuous
- will be delimiting
- Future perfect
- will have delimited
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been delimiting
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: academic. Often academic; boundaries may be conceptual rather than physical. Delimit specifies scope, whereas limit can also mean reduce. Verb inflections [base, third-person singular, past, past participle, -ing]: delimit, delimits, delimited, delimited, delimiting. Derived family (not inflections): delimitation.
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