sill
1 Americannoun
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a horizontal timber, block, or the like serving as a foundation of a wall, house, etc.
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the horizontal piece or member beneath a window, door, or other opening.
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Geology. a tabular body of intrusive igneous rock, ordinarily between beds of sedimentary rocks or layers of volcanic ejecta.
noun
noun
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a shelf at the bottom of a window inside a room
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a horizontal piece along the outside lower member of a window, that throws water clear of the wall below
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the lower horizontal member of a window or door frame
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a continuous horizontal member placed on top of a foundation wall in order to carry a timber framework
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a flat usually horizontal mass of igneous rock, situated between two layers of older sedimentary rock, that was formed by an intrusion of magma
Other Word Forms
- sill-like adjective
- undersill noun
Etymology
Origin of sill
before 900; Middle English sille, Old English syl, sylle; cognate with Low German süll, Old Norse syll; akin to German Schwelle sill
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“They write words on the sill between them and wipe them off, their palms and feet dark with dust.”
From Los Angeles Times
Christopher clambered up onto the sill and, inch by inch, lifted the window higher.
From Literature
Video footage from inside their Riverside home showed water levels reaching just below the window sill, after the the Six Mile Water River burst its banks.
From BBC
Natalie grabbed the sill of the high window from the outside and pulled herself up—easier now that the water was higher—and saw her mother’s frightened face.
From Literature
The owl stared at her long and hard before at last opening its wings and, with an impatient flutter, landing beside her on the sill.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
