Adjacent Words

Window definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WINDOW, n. [ G. The vulgar pronunciation is windor, as if from the Welsh gwyntdor, wind-door.]
1. An opening in the wall of a building for the admission of light, and of air when necessary. This opening has a frame on the sides, in which are set movable sashes, containing panes of glass. In the United Sates, the sashes are made to rise and fall, for the admission or exclusion of air. In France, windows are shut with frames or sashes that open and shut vertically, like the leaves of a folding door.
2. An aperture or opening.
A window shalt thou make to the ark. Genesis 6.
3. The frame or other thing that covers the aperture.
Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes.
4. An aperture; or rather the clouds or water-spouts.
The windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7.
5. Lattice or casement; or the network of wire used before the invention of glass. Judges 5.
6. Lines crossing each other.
Till he has windows on his bread and butter.
WINDOW, v.t.
1. To furnish with windows.
2. To place at a window. [Unusual.]
3. To break into openings. [Unusual.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
2: a transparent opening in a vehicle that allow vision out of the sides or back; usually is capable of being opened
3: a transparent panel (as of an envelope) inserted in an otherwise opaque material
4: an opening that resembles a window in appearance or function; "he could see them through a window in the trees"
5: the time period that is considered best for starting or finishing something; "the expanded window will give us time to catch the thieves"; "they had a window of less than an hour when an attack would have succeeded"
6: a pane of glass in a window; "the ball shattered the window" [syn: windowpane, window]
7: an opening in a wall or screen that admits light and air and through which customers can be served; "he stuck his head in the window"
8: (computer science) a rectangular part of a computer screen that contains a display different from the rest of the screen

Merriam Webster's

noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English windowe, from Old Norse vindauga, from vindr wind (akin to Old English wind) + auga eye; akin to Old English ?age eye — more at eye Date: 13th century 1. a. an opening especially in the wall of a building for admission of light and air that is usually closed by casements or sashes containing transparent material (as glass) and capable of being opened and shut b. windowpane c. a space behind a window of a retail store containing displayed merchandise d. an opening in a partition or wall through which business is conducted <a bank teller's window> 2. a means of entrance or access; especially a means of obtaining information <a window on history> 3. an opening (as a shutter, slot, or valve) that resembles or suggests a window 4. the transparent panel or opening of a window envelope 5. the framework (as a shutter or sash with its fittings) that closes a window opening 6. chaff 4 7. a range of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum to which a planet's atmosphere is transparent 8. a. an interval of time within which a rocket or spacecraft must be launched to accomplish a particular mission b. an interval of time during which certain conditions or an opportunity exists <a window of vulnerability> 9. an area at the limits of the earth's sensible atmosphere through which a spacecraft must pass for successful reentry 10. any of various rectangular boxes appearing on a computer screen that display files or program output, that can usually be moved and resized, and that facilitate multitasking • windowless adjective

Britannica Concise

Opening in the wall of a building for light and air, and sometimes to frame a view. Since early times, the openings have been filled with stone, wooden, or iron grilles, with panes of glass, or with other translucent material such as mica or, in the Far East, paper. A window in a vertically sliding frame is called a sash window: a single-hung sash has only one half that moves; in a double-hung sash, both parts slide. A casement window swings open on hinges attached to the upright side of the frame. Awning windows swing outward on hinges attached to the top of the frame; hopper windows swing inward on hinges attached to the bottom of the frame. Large, fixed (nonoperating) areas of glass are commonly called picture windows. A bay window (see oriel) is an exterior projection of a bay of a building which also forms an interior recess, providing better light and view than would a window flush with the building line. See also Diocletian window, rose window, shoji.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a an opening in a wall, roof, or vehicle etc., usu. with glass in fixed, sliding, or hinged frames, to admit light or air etc. and allow the occupants to see out. b the glass filling this opening (have broken the window). 2 a space for display behind the front window of a shop. 3 an aperture in a wall etc. through which customers are served in a bank, ticket office, etc. 4 an opportunity to observe or learn. 5 an opening or transparent part in an envelope to show an address. 6 a part of a VDU display selected to show a particular category or part of the data. 7 a an interval during which atmospheric and astronomical circumstances are suitable for the launch of a spacecraft. b any interval or opportunity for action. 8 strips of metal foil dispersed in the air to obstruct radar detection. 9 a range of electromagnetic wavelengths for which a medium is transparent. Phrases and idioms: out of the window colloq. no longer taken into account. window-box a box placed on an outside window-sill for growing flowers. window-cleaner a person who is employed to clean windows. window-dressing 1 the art of arranging a display in a shop-window etc. 2 an adroit presentation of facts etc. to give a deceptively favourable impression. window-ledge = window-sill. window-pane a pane of glass in a window. window-seat 1 a seat below a window, esp. in a bay or alcove. 2 a seat next to a window in an aircraft, train, etc. window-shop (-shopped, -shopping) look at goods displayed in shop-windows, usu. without buying anything. window-shopper a person who window-shops. window-sill a sill below a window. window tax Brit. hist. a tax on windows or similar openings (abolished in 1851). Derivatives: windowed adj. (also in comb.). windowless adj. Etymology: ME f. ON vindauga (as WIND(1), EYE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Window Win"dow, n. [OE. windowe, windoge, Icel. vindauga window, properly, wind eye; akin to Dan. vindue. ????. See Wind, n., and Eye.] 1. An opening in the wall of a building for the admission of light and air, usually closed by casements or sashes containing some transparent material, as glass, and capable of being opened and shut at pleasure. I leaped from the window of the citadel. --Shak. Then to come, in spite of sorrow, And at my window bid good morrow. --Milton. 2. (Arch.) The shutter, casement, sash with its fittings, or other framework, which closes a window opening. 3. A figure formed of lines crossing each other. [R.] Till he has windows on his bread and butter. --King.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Window Win"dow, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Windowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Windowing.] 1. To furnish with windows. 2. To place at or in a window. [R.] Wouldst thou be windowed in great Rome and see Thy master thus with pleach'd arms, bending down His corrigible neck? --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(windows) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A window is a space in the wall of a building or in the side of a vehicle, which has glass in it so that light can come in and you can see out. He stood at the window, moodily staring out... The room felt very hot and she wondered why someone did not open a window... ...my car window. N-COUNT 2. A window is a large piece of glass along the front of a shop, behind which some of the goods that the shop sells are displayed. I stood for a few moments in front of the nearest shop window. N-COUNT 3. A window is a glass-covered opening above a counter, for example in a bank, post office, railway station, or museum, which the person serving you sits behind. The woman at the ticket window told me that the admission fee was $17.50. N-COUNT 4. On a computer screen, a window is one of the work areas that the screen can be divided into. (COMPUTING) N-COUNT 5. If you have a window in your diary for something, or if you can make a window for it, you are free at a particular time and can do it then. Tell her I've got a window in my diary later on this week. N-COUNT: usu sing 6. see also French window, picture window, rose window 7. If you say that something such as a plan or a particular way of thinking or behaving has gone out of the window or has flown out of the window, you mean that it has disappeared completely. By now all logic had gone out of the window... PHRASE: V inflects 8. If you say that there is a window of opportunity for something, you mean that there is an opportunity to do something but that this opportunity will only last for a short time and so it needs to be taken advantage of quickly. (JOURNALISM) The king said there was now a window of opportunity for peace. PHRASE: window inflects, oft PHR for n, PHR to-inf

Easton's Bible Dictionary

properly only an opening in a house for the admission of light and air, covered with lattice-work, which might be opened or closed (2 Kings 1:2; Acts 20:9). The spies in Jericho and Paul at Damascus were let down from the windows of houses abutting on the town wall (Josh. 2:15; 2 Cor. 11:33). The clouds are metaphorically called the "windows of heaven" (Gen. 7:11; Mal. 3:10). The word thus rendered in Isa. 54:12 ought rather to be rendered "battlements" (LXX., "bulwarks;" R.V., "pinnacles"), or as Gesenius renders it, "notched battlements, i.e., suns or rays of the sun"= having a radiated appearance like the sun.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

win'-do.

See HOUSE, II, 1, (9).

Moby Thesaurus

aluminum foil, bay, bay window, bow window, casement, casement window, chaff, fan window, fanlight, grille, lancet window, lantern, lattice, light, louver window, oriel, pane, picture window, port, porthole, rose window, skylight, tinfoil, transom, wicket, window bay, window glass, windowpane