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Webster's New World College Dictionary » restrictiveness
restrictiveness
Variant of restrictive
restrictive
definition
re·stric·tive (ri strik′tiv)
adjective
- restricting or tending to restrict; limiting restrictive regulations
- Gram. designating a modifier, as a word, phrase, or subordinate clause, that limits the reference of the word or phrase it modifies and thus is essential to the meaning of a sentence: it is not set off by punctuation “who laughed” in “the person who laughed is my friend” is a restrictive relative clause
Etymology: ME < MFr restrictif
Related Forms:
- restrictively re·stric′·tively adverb
- restrictiveness re·stric′·tive·ness noun
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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