Adjacent Words

threshold definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the starting point for a new state or experience; "on the threshold of manhood"
2: the smallest detectable sensation [syn: threshold, limen]
3: the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close; "he stuck his head in the doorway" [syn: doorway, door, room access, threshold]
4: the sill of a door; a horizontal piece of wood or stone that forms the bottom of a doorway and offers support when passing through a doorway [syn: doorsill, doorstep, threshold]
5: a region marking a boundary [syn: brink, threshold, verge]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English thresshold, from Old English threscwald; akin to Old Norse threskj?ldr threshold, Old English threscan to thresh Date: before 12th century 1. the plank, stone, or piece of timber that lies under a door ; sill 2. a. gate, door b. (1) end, boundary; specifically the end of a runway (2) the place or point of entering or beginning ; outset <on the threshold of a new age> 3. a. the point at which a physiological or psychological effect begins to be produced <has a high threshold for pain> b. a level, point, or value above which something is true or will take place and below which it is not or will not

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) The beginning of that portion of the runway usable for landing.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a strip of wood or stone forming the bottom of a doorway and crossed in entering a house or room etc. 2 a point of entry or beginning (on the threshold of a new century). 3 Physiol. & Psychol. a limit below which a stimulus causes no reaction (pain threshold). 4 Physics a limit below which no reaction occurs, esp. a minimum dose of radiation producing a specified effect. 5 (often attrib.) a step in a scale of wages or taxation, usu. operative in specified conditions. Etymology: OE therscold, threscold, etc., rel. to THRASH in the sense 'tread'

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Threshold Thresh"old, n. [OE. threswold, [thorn]reshwold, AS. [thorn]rescwald, [thorn]erscwald, [thorn]erscold, [thorn]rescold, fr. [thorn]rescan, [thorn]erscan, to thresh; akin to Icel. [thorn]reskj["o]de, [thorn]r["o]skuldr, Sw. tr["o]skel, Dan. t[ae]rskel. See Thrash.] 1. The plank, stone, or piece of timber, which lies under a door, especially of a dwelling house, church, temple, or the like; the doorsill; hence, entrance; gate; door. 2. Fig.: The place or point of entering or beginning, entrance; outset; as, the threshold of life.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(thresholds) 1. The threshold of a building or room is the floor in the doorway, or the doorway itself. He stopped at the threshold of the bedroom... N-COUNT: usu sing 2. A threshold is an amount, level, or limit on a scale. When the threshold is reached, something else happens or changes. She has a low threshold of boredom and needs the constant stimulation of physical activity... Fewer than forty per cent voted–the threshold for results to be valid. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n, n N 3. If you are on the threshold of something exciting or new, you are about to experience it. We are on the threshold of a new era in astronomy. PHRASE: PHR n/-ing

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) Heb. miphtan, probably a projecting beam at a higher point than the threshold proper (1 Sam. 5:4,5; Ezek. 9:3; 10:4,18; 46:2; 47:1); also rendered "door" and "door-post."

(2.) 'Asuppim, pl. (Neh. 12:25), rendered correctly "storehouses" in the Revised Version. In 1 Chr. 26:15, 17 the Authorized Version retains the word as a proper name, while in the Revised Version it is translated "storehouses."

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

thresh'-old.

See HOUSE, II, 1, (7).

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Doorsill. 2. Entrance, gate, door. 3. Entrance, outset, beginning, commencement, start, opening.

Moby Thesaurus

French door, archway, back door, barway, beginning, border line, bound, boundary, boundary condition, boundary line, bourn, break boundary, breakoff point, brink, bulkhead, carriage entrance, ceiling, cellar door, cellarway, circumscription, commencement, compass, confine, cutoff, cutoff point, dawn, deadline, delimitation, determinant, division line, door, doorjamb, doorpost, doorsill, doorstep, doorstone, doorway, edge, end, entrance, entrance hall, entranceway, entry, entryway, extremity, finish, floor, foyer, front door, frontier, galilee, gate, gatepost, gateway, groundsel, hatch, hatchway, hedge, high-water mark, interface, limen, limit, limitation, limiting factor, line, line of demarcation, lintel, lobby, low-water mark, lower limit, march, mark, mete, mudsill, narthex, outset, point, porch, portal, porte cochere, portico, postern, propylaeum, pylon, scuttle, side door, sill, start, starting line, starting point, stile, stoa, storm door, target date, term, terminal date, terminus, time allotment, tollgate, trap, trap door, turnpike, turnstile, upper limit, verge, vestibule, window sill