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.
"I looked out the window and the water was lapping at the bottom of the window sill," he recalled.
From BBC
Hilary Parkinson, the forensic scientist who examined the scene, found "splashes of blood" on the sill and floor around the window used for entry and a bloodstained brick.
From BBC
But even if I couldn’t rattle off the names of a dozen characters, I would sill think that Optimus Prime and Bumblebee should be allowed to remain standing in Georgetown.
From Washington Post
It might be through an open door or a window sill.
From Salon
The writer quickly hurries home but finds nothing amiss, except some tiny paper fragments scattered on the floor and window sill.
From Washington Post
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.
