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Glite Dictionary
doorsill

doorsill

1 3.7
The flat bottom part of a doorway that you step over to go into a room or building
  • noun
  • /ˈdɔːrˌsɪl/
translation icon : umbral
  • The carpenter replaced the worn doorsill to ensure a smooth transition between the rooms.
  • a high doorsill

Examples

  • She carefully stepped over the doorsill to avoid tripping as she entered the house.

  • "She put one foot tentatively across the doorsill.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • People are going back and forth across the doorsill.

    Blog text (20)

  • On the doorsill, they stumbled over something.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Without hesitation, I step over the high doorsill, meant to keep evil spirits out.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Could Dannyboy be behind the produce deposits at her doorsill?

    Fiction book (1990)

  • And truth was, since crossing the doorsill of this place, they couldn't help noticing what you would call an "atmosphere."

    Inherent Vice (2014)

  • Kathryn lowered the umbrella and collapsed it as she stepped over the doorsill.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Someday we may grow rooms intact, right from the root, customized down to the doorsills and window sizes.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • She was standing on the wide mahogany doorsill of a house in Bogota, a house inhabited by the Mowrys for the past three years.

    Fiction book (1999)

Synonyms

doorstep
vsdoorsill
126 1.0

The step at the bottom of a door that you cross to go inside

is mainly the built horizontal support between interior spaces rather than a step
threshold
vsdoorsill
38 3.3

A strip at the bottom of a doorway you step over

is the horizontal support piece that separates rooms and allows passage

Surface Forms

doorsill singular
doorsills plural

Morphology

doorsill = door + sill (transparent) = door + sill

A direct compound of two concrete nouns whose combined meaning (the bottom horizontal piece of a doorway) follows straightforwardly from the parts.

Etymology

Doorsill comes from the common words door and sill, and sill comes from an old English word meaning 'seat' or 'base'. So a doorsill is the 'base' at the bottom of a doorway that you step over, much like a windowsill is the bottom ledge of a window.