| / English Dictionary |
CEILING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The overhead upper surface of a covered space
Example:
he hated painting the ceiling
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("ceiling" is a kind of...):
upper surface (the side that is uppermost)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ceiling"):
overhead ((nautical) the top surface of an enclosed space on a ship)
Holonyms ("ceiling" is a part of...):
hall; hallway (an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open)
room (an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(meteorology) altitude of the lowest layer of clouds
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("ceiling" is a kind of...):
altitude; height (elevation especially above sea level or above the earth's surface)
Domain category:
meteorology (the earth science dealing with phenomena of the atmosphere (especially weather))
Sense 3
Meaning:
Maximum altitude at which a plane can fly (under specified conditions)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("ceiling" is a kind of...):
altitude; height (elevation especially above sea level or above the earth's surface)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ceiling"):
absolute ceiling (the maximum altitude at which an airplane can maintain horizontal flight)
combat ceiling; service ceiling (altitude above which a plane cannot climb faster than a given rate)
Sense 4
Meaning:
An upper limit on what is allowed
Example:
they established a cap for prices
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("ceiling" is a kind of...):
control (the economic policy of controlling or limiting or curbing prices or wages etc.)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ceiling"):
glass ceiling (a ceiling based on attitudinal or organizational bias in the work force that prevents minorities and women from advancing to leadership positions)
Context examples:
It was a large, stately apartment, with purple chairs and curtains, a Turkey carpet, walnut-panelled walls, one vast window rich in slanted glass, and a lofty ceiling, nobly moulded.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Traddles sat upon the sofa affecting to read the paper with his eyes on the ceiling; and I looked out of the window to give early notice of Mr. Micawber's coming.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
And then their uncle comes in, and tosses them up to the ceiling in a very frightful way!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Clustering behind him we saw in the yellow field of light a wall of broken basalt which extended to the ceiling.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a very large and high chamber, with carved oak ceiling, oaken panelling, and a fine array of deer’s heads and ancient weapons around the walls.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I went into another room, where the walls and ceiling were all hung round with cobwebs, except a narrow passage for the artist to go in and out.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Vladimir Dinets, who led the study, said the boas hang from the ceiling of cave entrances at dusk and dawn, when bats either enter or leave the cave.
(Snakes Hunt in Groups, Study Suggests, VOA)
Al-Anani said a cartouche carved on the ceiling bears the name of King Thutmose I of the early 18th dynasty.
(Discovery of Two Tombs Dating Back 3,500 Years Announced in Egypt, VOA)
Tom understood his father's thoughts, and heartily wishing he might be always as well disposed to give them but partial expression, began to see, more clearly than he had ever done before, that there might be some ground of offence, that there might be some reason for the glance his father gave towards the ceiling and stucco of the room; and that when he inquired with mild gravity after the fate of the billiard-table, he was not proceeding beyond a very allowable curiosity.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
He tested how much of the garden was visible; he examined the floor, the ceiling, and the fireplace; but never once did I see that sudden brightening of his eyes and tightening of his lips which would have told me that he saw some gleam of light in this utter darkness.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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