city limits vs limit

city limits and limit both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
city limits	Yes	No	No	No
limit	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, limit is a hypernym of city limits; that is, limit is a word with a broader meaning than city limits:

Other hypernyms of city limits include demarcation, demarcation line.

city limits (noun)	limit (noun)
the limits of the area occupied by a city or town	the greatest possible degree of something
	the boundary of a specific area
	as far as something can go
	the greatest amount of something that is possible or allowed
	the mathematical value toward which a function goes as the independent variable approaches infinity
	final or latest limiting point

city limits (verb)	limit (verb)
	restrict or confine within limits
	place limits on (extent or amount or access)
	decide upon or fix definitely