threshold

[ thresh-ohld, thresh-hohld ]
See synonyms for threshold on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the sill of a doorway.

  2. the entrance to a house or building.

  1. any place or point of entering or beginning: the threshold of a new career.

  2. Also called limen. Psychology, Physiology. the point at which a stimulus is of sufficient intensity to begin to produce an effect: the threshold of consciousness; a low threshold of pain.

Origin of threshold

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English threschold, Old English threscold, threscwald; cognate with Old Norse threskǫldr, dialectal Swedish träskvald; akin to thresh in earlier sense “trample, tread”; -old, -wald element of obscure origin

Words Nearby threshold

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use threshold in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for threshold

threshold

/ (ˈθrɛʃəʊld, ˈθrɛʃˌhəʊld) /


noun
  1. Also called: doorsill a sill, esp one made of stone or hardwood, placed at a doorway

  2. any doorway or entrance

  1. the starting point of an experience, event, or venture: on the threshold of manhood

  2. psychol the strength at which a stimulus is just perceived: the threshold of consciousness Compare absolute threshold, difference threshold

    • a level or point at which something would happen, would cease to happen, or would take effect, become true, etc

    • (as modifier): threshold price; threshold effect

    • the minimum intensity or value of a signal, etc, that will produce a response or specified effect: a frequency threshold

    • (as modifier): a threshold current

  3. (modifier) designating or relating to a pay agreement, clause, etc, that raises wages to compensate for increases in the cost of living

Origin of threshold

1
Old English therscold; related to Old Norse threskoldr, Old High German driscubli, Old Swedish thriskuldi

Other words from threshold

  • Related adjective: liminal

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012