lintel
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of lintel
1350–1400; Middle English lyntel < Middle French lintel, dissimilated variant of *linter < Latin līmitāris originally, belonging to or indicating a boundary; later taken as synonym of līmināris originally, of the threshold. See limit, -ar 1
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.
Finding a Miyake event in wood from a Mesoamerican structure—such as a lintel in the Maya temple Tikal in Guatemala, whose construction is recorded in the Long Count—would settle the matter.
From Science Magazine • Apr. 13, 2023
He stopped outside the house where Maya Angelou once lived, admiring the ivy that tumbled from the lintel.
From New York Times • Oct. 22, 2021
I immediately banged my head on the lintel above the tiny front door of the 400-year-old cottage.
From Washington Post • Sep. 20, 2018
I’ve known landlords to be held horizontally over the front edge of the sway, with their feet only just touching the lintel of the pub’s doorframe, stretching for the hood.
From The Guardian • Apr. 30, 2018
"Mind your head, lad," said Duffle a moment too late, for Shasta had already bashed his forehead against the low lintel of the door.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
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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.