ceil

[ seel ]
See synonyms for: ceilceiledceiling on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to overlay (the ceiling of a building or room) with wood, plaster, etc.

  2. to provide with a ceiling.

Origin of ceil

1
1400–50; late Middle English celen to cover, to panel < ?

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

How to use ceil in a sentence

  • To make sure of his game he had likewise ceiled the upper room all around, including the enclosure of the stairs.

    The Staircase At The Hearts Delight | Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs)
  • Shoji next are opened, disclosing often the dull green mosquito net hung from corner to corner of the low-ceiled sleeping rooms.

    The Dragon Painter | Mary McNeil Fenollosa
  • With the pleasure and security of the palace, the ceiled house, came the wish of the devout soul to erect a temple to God.

  • The low-ceiled dining-room suddenly shrank about the big-boned, long legged hill man.

    Greyfriars Bobby | Eleanor Atkinson
  • Albert and Ralph found themselves, with four smaller Hoyers, in an enormous low-ceiled room with many windows.

    Boyhood in Norway | Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

British Dictionary definitions for ceil

ceil

/ (siːl) /


verb(tr)
  1. to line (a ceiling) with plaster, boarding, etc

  2. to provide with a ceiling

Origin of ceil

1
C15 celen, perhaps back formation from ceiling

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