Threshold

//ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld// noun

noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.
  2. 2
    the sill of a door; a horizontal piece of wood or stone that forms the bottom of a doorway and offers support when passing through a doorway wordnet
  3. 3
    An entrance; the door or gate of a house. broadly

    "Shy. You that did voide your rume vpon my beard, / And foote me as you ſpurne a ſtranger curre / Ouer your threſhold, […]"

  4. 4
    the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close wordnet
  5. 5
    Any end or boundary. broadly
Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    the smallest detectable sensation wordnet
  2. 7
    The outset of something; the point of entry, or the beginning of an action. figuratively

    "I arrived at last, did obeisance to my uncle, and told him everything. He thought it over and said: ' […] At the threshold of death, how dare I give you permission to go to England, to cross the seas? But I will not stand in your way. It is your mother's permission which really matters. If she permit you, then godspeed! Tell her I will not interfere. You will go with my blessings.'"

  3. 8
    a region marking a boundary wordnet
  4. 9
    The start of the landing area of a runway.
  5. 10
    the starting point for a new state or experience wordnet
  6. 11
    The quantitative point at which an action is triggered, especially a lower limit.
  7. 12
    The wage or salary at which income tax becomes due.
  8. 13
    The point where one is mentally or physically vulnerable in response to a provocation or to other nuisances.

Synonyms

All synonyms
brinkdoorsilldoorsilldoorstepdoorwayarchway

Antonyms

All antonyms
lintel

Example

More examples

"The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail — its roof may shake — the wind may blow through it — the storm may enter — the rain may enter — but the King of England cannot enter — all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!"

Etymology

From Middle English threschwolde, threscholde, from Old English þresċold, þerxold, þrexwold (“doorsill, entryway”), from Proto-Germanic *þreskudlaz, *þreskūþlijaz, *þreskwaþluz, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną, *þreskwaną (“to thresh, (originally) to tread”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, turn”). Cognate with Low German Drüssel (“threshold”), dialectal German Drischaufel, Drissufle, Trüschübel (“threshold”), Danish tærskel (“threshold”), Norwegian terskel (“threshold”), Swedish tröskel (“threshold”), dialectal Swedish träskvald (“threshold”), Icelandic þröskuldur (“threshold”). Pronunciations such as “thresh-hold” are un-etymological and result from analogy with hold.

Related phrases

Darwinian thresholdMicawber thresholdabsolute thresholdcycle thresholddisplaced thresholdelection thresholdepidemic thresholdpain thresholdthreshold brakingthreshold effectthreshold of originalitythreshold potential

More for "threshold"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.