threshold

American  

[thresh-ohld, thresh-hohld] / ˈθrɛʃ oʊld, ˈθrɛʃ hoʊld /

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.

4. 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.

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threshold British  

/ ˈθrɛʃˌhəʊld, ˈθrɛʃəʊld /

noun

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 the strength at which a stimulus is just perceived Compare absolute threshold difference threshold

   the threshold of consciousness

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

   2. ( as modifier )

      threshold price

      threshold effect

6. 1. the minimum intensity or value of a signal, etc, that will produce a response or specified effect

      a frequency threshold

   2. ( 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

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Etymology

Origin of threshold

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

Explanation

A threshold is what you step across when you enter a room. A threshold takes you from one place into another, and when you're about to start something new, you're also on a threshold. A threshold is a point of departure or transition. Graduation can mark a threshold — when you graduate from circus school, you're standing at the threshold of your new career as a trapeze artist. Another kind of threshold is a limit or boundary. If you have a high threshold for pain, you can tolerate a lot of it, and your dentist can drill away without worrying about your squirming and howling.

Example Sentences

However, the heat will remain across Wales, the West Country and south-west England and still likely in heatwave threshold.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

SK Hynix was the second South Korean company to cross the $1-trillion threshold after Samsung Electronics 005930 7.19%increase; green up pointing triangle , whose market value surpassed the mark earlier this month.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

"It highlights precise, long-range, automated conventional firepower capable of overwhelming the South even below the nuclear threshold," Hong added.

From Barron's • May 27, 2026

“While markets certainly will continue to rise and fall, the pain threshold where policymakers step in to support collapsing markets is probably lower than it used to be,” they said in the note.

From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026

Somehow, now that I had once crossed the threshold of this house, and once was brought face to face with its owners, I felt no longer outcast, vagrant, and disowned by the wide world.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

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