sill

[ sil ]

/ sɪl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sill ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a horizontal timber, block, or the like serving as a foundation of a wall, house, etc.

the horizontal piece or member beneath a window, door, or other opening.

Geology. a tabular body of intrusive igneous rock, ordinarily between beds of sedimentary rocks or layers of volcanic ejecta.

Nearby words

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

Related formssill-like, adjectiveun·der·sill, noun

Definition for sill (2 of 2)

Sill

[ sil ]

/ sɪl /

noun

Mount, a mountain in E central California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 14,153 feet (4314 meters).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sill

We stood in the open doors with one foot resting on the sill and an elbow cocked on the roof, looking cool.
P.J. O’Rourke on Grabbing the Keys to Happiness|P. J. O’Rourke|January 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Another journalist begged him to do a sill walk live on stage then and there, but he demurred.
Monty Python—Not Dead Yet|Tom Sykes|November 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The sill is freezing in the winter and stultifyingly hot in the summer.
The Bag Lady Papers Cont'd|Alexandra Penney|December 22, 2008|DAILY BEAST
He was pointing at the flask found in Walters pocket and now standing on the sill of a window in the station.
Fighting the Sea|Edward A. Rand

There were two or three creamy wild-lilies in a broken glass on the sill.
Atlantic Monthly, Vol. XII. July, 1863, No. LXIX.|Various
He did not come over the sill, but spoke sharply to his men.
The Fifth Queen Crowned|Ford Madox Ford
With a daring heart the venturer from Grand Portage went in across the sill.
The Maid of the Whispering Hills|Vingie E. Roe
It was flung open and a man staggered blindly over the sill, reeling and clutching at his breast with both gnarled, sinewy hands.
The Fifth Ace|Douglas Grant

British Dictionary definitions for sill

sill

/ (sɪl) /

noun

a shelf at the bottom of a window inside a room

a horizontal piece along the outside lower member of a window, that throws water clear of the wall below

the lower horizontal member of a window or door frame

a continuous horizontal member placed on top of a foundation wall in order to carry a timber framework

a flat usually horizontal mass of igneous rock, situated between two layers of older sedimentary rock, that was formed by an intrusion of magma

Word Origin for sill

Old English syll; related to Old Norse svill sill, Icelandic svoli tree trunk, Old High German swella sill, Latin solum ground

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

Word Origin and History for sill

sill

Old English syll "beam, threshold, large timber serving as a foundation of a wall," from Proto-Germanic *suljo (cf. Old Norse svill, Swedish syll, Danish syld "framework of a building," Middle Low German sull, Old High German swelli, German Schwelle "sill"), perhaps from PIE root *swel- (3) "post, board" (cf. Greek selma "beam"). Meaning "lower horizontal part of a window opening" is recorded from early 15c.