windowsill

American

[win-doh-sil] / ˈwɪn doʊˌsɪl /

Or window sill

noun

the sill under a window.

windowsill British

/ ˈwɪndəʊˌsɪl /

noun

a sill below a window

"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

Etymology

Origin of windowsill

First recorded in 1695–1705; window + 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.

Tablets on the windowsill gather dust, remnants of an abandoned online school project.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

For a punchier pasta, try al limone: a dish that’s all zip and silk, bright as spring sunlight on a windowsill.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2025

But one good memory stands out: a spring day I went to visit my husband at his rehab center and saw two Black Santa figures waiting for me on his windowsill.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 16, 2025

“The glass itself possesses a water-like quality,” she said, adding that she likes to keep the vases on a windowsill, where sunlight passes through and casts shadows that “dance and shift like ripples.”

From Seattle Times • May 28, 2024

The brick window ledge of the windowsill cut into my hands as the fire escape fell away to careen to the ground.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023