threshold
Use Threshold in a sentence
oʊld, ˈθrɛʃ noun
1.
the sill of a doorway.
2.
the entrance to a house or building.
3.
any place or point of entering or beginning: the threshold of a new career.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English threschold, Old English threscold, threscwald; cognate with Old Norse threskǫldr, dialectal Swedish träskvald; akin to thresh in old sense “trample, tread”; -old, -wald unexplained
before 900; Middle English threschold, Old English threscold, threscwald; cognate with Old Norse threskǫldr, dialectal Swedish träskvald; akin to thresh in old sense “trample, tread”; -old, -wald unexplained
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To threshold
00:10
Threshold
is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
threshold (ˈθrɛʃəʊld, ˈθrɛʃˌhəʊld) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | Also called: doorsill a sill, esp one made of stone or hardwood, placed at a doorway |
| 2. | any doorway or entrance |
| 3. | the starting point of an experience, event, or venture: on the threshold of manhood |
| 4. | psychol absolute threshold Compare difference threshold the strength at which a stimulus is just perceived: the threshold of consciousness |
| 5. | a. a level or point at which something would happen, would cease to happen, or would take effect, become true, etc |
| b. (as modifier): threshold price; threshold effect | |
| 6. | a. the minimum intensity or value of a signal, etc, that will produce a response or specified effect: a frequency threshold |
| b. (as modifier): a threshold current | |
| 7. | (modifier) designating or relating to a pay agreement, clause, etc, that raises wages to compensate for increases in the cost of living |
| Related: liminal | |
| [Old English therscold; related to Old Norse threskoldr, Old High German driscubli, Old Swedish thriskuldi] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
threshold
O.E. þrescold, þærscwold, þerxold "doorsill, point of entering," first element related to O.E. þrescan (see thresh), with its original sense of "tread, trample." Second element of unknown origin and much transformed in all the Gmc. languages;
in Eng. it probably has been altered to conform to hold, but the oft-repeated story that the threshold was a barrier placed at the doorway to hold the chaff flooring in the room is mere folk etymology. Cognates include O.N. þreskjoldr, Swed. tröskel, O.H.G. driscufli, Ger. dial. drischaufel.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
threshold thresh·old (thrěsh'ōld', -hōld')
n.
The place or point of beginning; the outset.
The lowest point at which a stimulus begins to produce a sensation.
The minimal stimulus that produces excitation of any structure, eliciting a motor response.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Easton
Bible Dictionary
Threshold definition
(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."
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Seniors who were beneath the affluence-test threshold would receive their private pension on top of full federal benefits.
Note, even with the toxicity caution this is below that threshold.
If the post rate rises above some predetermined threshold, then the system decides that this event has occurred.
Most scientists agree that beyond some critical threshold, climate change is irreversible and probably catastrophic.
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
