Is this your crossword clue?
"restrictive" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often limiting (8 letters).
Definitions
(of tariff) protective of national interests by restricting imports
Word origin
From Middle French restrictif.
Used in a sentence
“The help tended to be officious, the rules, if heeded, restrictive, and the management meddlesome.”
“The pinnacle of the effort to fix restrictive meanings to a set of terminology can be found in two papers in American Speech by Feinsilver (1979, 1980).”
“[…] a couple of further differences between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses: (1) in contrast with restrictives, the wh-phrase in non-restrictives cannot be ellipted; […]”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Limiting”11 letters
Not quite right?
"Search similar patterns."
R__________