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THRESHOLD
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
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
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("threshold" is a kind of...):
sill (structural member consisting of a continuous horizontal timber forming the lowest member of a framework or supporting structure)
Holonyms ("threshold" is a part of...):
door; doorway; room access; threshold (the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close
Example:
he stuck his head in the doorway
Synonyms:
door; doorway; room access; threshold
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("threshold" is a kind of...):
entrance; entranceway; entree; entry; entryway (something that provides access (to get in or get out))
Meronyms (parts of "threshold"):
case; casing (the enclosing frame around a door or window opening)
door (a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle)
doorcase; doorframe (the frame that supports a door)
doorsill; doorstep; threshold (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)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "threshold"):
exterior door; outside door (a doorway that allows entrance to or exit from a building)
Holonyms ("threshold" is a part of...):
wall (an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The smallest detectable sensation
Synonyms:
limen; threshold
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("threshold" is a kind of...):
aesthesis; esthesis; sensation; sense datum; sense experience; sense impression (an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "threshold"):
absolute threshold (the lowest level of stimulation that a person can detect)
difference limen; difference threshold; differential limen; differential threshold (the smallest change in stimulation that a person can detect)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A region marking a boundary
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes
Hypernyms ("threshold" is a kind of...):
bound; boundary; edge (a line determining the limits of an area)
Sense 5
Meaning:
The starting point for a new state or experience
Example:
on the threshold of manhood
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("threshold" is a kind of...):
beginning; commencement; first; get-go; kickoff; offset; outset; showtime; start; starting time (the time at which something is supposed to begin)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Present simple (first person singular and plural, second person singular and plural, third person plural) of the verb threshold
Context examples:
For adults one common threshold is a PR interval greater than 0.20 seconds.
(AV Block First Degree, NCI Thesaurus)
If we haven't already entered a new Arctic, we are certainly on the threshold.
(Warming at the poles will have global consequences, National Science Foundation)
The agonist action results in a raised pain threshold and increased tolerance to pain.
(Buprenorphine Hydrochloride, NCI Thesaurus)
Our technology significantly increases the resistance threshold against harmful radiation compared to today's technologies, which rely on absorbing radiation with thick filters.
(Protecting Astronauts from Radiation in Space, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
These alterations in behavior could be predicted by a simple computational adjustment to the threshold model.
(Researchers discover neural code that predicts behavior, National Institutes of Health)
According to the researchers, this threshold is higher than the standard cutoff for diagnosing folate deficiency (less than 10 nm/L).
(Proper maternal folate level may reduce child obesity risk, NIH)
Calorie restriction was found to improve risk factors for the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and related deaths well below clinical risk thresholds.
(Moderate calorie restriction in young and middle-aged adults significantly reduces heart and metabolic risk factors independent of weight loss, National Institutes of Health)
Dyclonine reversibly binds to activated sodium channels on the neuronal membrane, thereby decreasing the neuronal membrane's permeability to sodium ions, leading to an increased threshold for excitation.
(Dyclonine, NCI Thesaurus)
PAG/CSK may increase the signaling threshold for initiating an immune response, keeping lymphocytes in a resting state.
(Phosphoprotein Associated with GEMs, NCI Thesaurus)
The reduction of potentiation prevents cortical seizure foci spreading to adjacent areas, stabilizing the threshold against hyperexcitability.
(Phenytoin, NCI Thesaurus)
