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windown.

Brit. /ˈwɪndəʊ/, U.S. /ˈwɪndoʊ/
Forms: early Middle English windoge, early Middle English windohe, Middle English wendo, Middle English wendow, Middle English windou, Middle English wondowe, Middle English wyndewe, Middle English wyndoue, Middle English wyndouwe, Middle English wynt-douwe, Middle English–1500s wyndo, Middle English–1500s wyndoe, Middle English–1500s wyndou, Middle English–1500s wyndow, Middle English–1600s windo, Middle English–1600s windowe, Middle English–1600s wyndowe, Middle English– window, 1500s vynndovs (plural), 1500s wendoye, 1500s wyendo, 1500s wyndaw, 1500s wyndoy, 1500s–1600s windoe, 1500s–1600s wyndoo, 1600s wynder, 1600s 1800s– winder (English regional (northern and southern)), 1800s winda (English regional (Yorkshire)); Scottish pre-1700 vindow, pre-1700 vyndo, pre-1700 vyndow, pre-1700 wendo, pre-1700 windo, pre-1700 windoe, pre-1700 windoue, pre-1700 windowe, pre-1700 windoy, pre-1700 wndow, pre-1700 wondo, pre-1700 wondou, pre-1700 wondow, pre-1700 wyndew, pre-1700 wyndo, pre-1700 wyndou, pre-1700 wyndow, pre-1700 wyndowe, pre-1700 1700s vindo, pre-1700 1700s– window, pre-1700 1800s wundo, 1700s– windie, 1800s wundaw, 1800s– winda, 1800s– wundow, 1800s– wundy, 1900s windey, 1900s wondy, 1900s wunda, 1900s– windae, 1900s– windi, 1900s– windy, 1900s– wundae; Irish English (chiefly northern) 1800s windee, 1800s wundey, 1800s– winda, 1800s– windie, 1800s– windy, 1900s– weenda, 1900s– windae, 1900s– wunda, 1900s– wundy.
Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian.
Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic, Icelandic vindauga (now chiefly ‘opening, vent’), Norwegian (Bokmål) vindu , (Nynorsk) vindauge , Old Swedish vindögha , Old Danish windugh , vinduæ , etc. (Danish vindue )) < the early Scandinavian cognate of wind n.1 + the early Scandinavian cognate of eye n.1 Compare windown n.The Scandinavian borrowing superseded the earlier Old English ēagduru , lit. ‘eye-door’, and ēagþyrel , lit. ‘eyehole’ (see eyethirl n.). All three Germanic words probably originally denoted the opening in the gable of an early medieval wooden hall (compare eye n.1 9), which allowed smoke to escape and also admitted some daylight. Until the 16th cent., window also coexisted with fenester n., which is ultimately of Latin origin (having originally denoted an opening in the wall of a timber-framed or stone building of Mediterranean style); corresponding Latin borrowings have replaced the earlier words for ‘window’ in the other West Germanic languages and thence also in Swedish; compare also ( < early Scandinavian) Early Irish fuindeóc (see winnock n.) and ( < Latin) Welsh ffenestr (14th cent.). Specific forms. The Middle English form wynt-douwe may show recognition of the word's origin as a compound; compare the early modern reinterpretations windore n. and wind-door n. Forms reflecting reduced stress of the second syllable are attested from the 17th cent. (e.g. wynder and winder). Scots (and Irish English) forms in -ie , -y , etc., show remodelling of the ending after -y suffix6. Specific senses. In sense 9 after post-classical Latin fenestra natural opening in a bone (1562 or earlier), specific use of classical Latin fenestra window (see fenestra n.). In geological use (see sense 11) after German Fenster, specific use of Fenster window (see fenster n.).
I. An opening in the wall or roof of a building, and related senses.
1.
a. An opening in the wall or roof of a building, for admitting light or air and allowing people to see out; esp. such an opening fitted with a frame containing a pane or panes of glass (or a similar transparent substance); the glazed frame intended to fit such an opening, sometimes with hinges, a sliding mechanism, etc., so that it may be opened or closed. Also: a similar opening in the side of a ship, train, car, or other vehicle.Frequently with modifying word specifying the building, room, vehicle, etc., of which the window is part; the more common examples are covered at the first element, e.g. cabin window, car window, carriage window, church window, kitchen window, office window, parlour window, train window, etc. Also as the second element in compounds denoting a window of a particular form or function, e.g. bay window, bow window, clerestory window, dormer window, drop-window, French window, glass window, opera window, oriel window, picture window, rose window, sash window, transom window: see the first element or separate main entries.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > [noun] > window
eyethirleOE
eilthirlc1225
windowc1230
windown?a1289
fenesterc1290
fenestral1399
winnock1492
tresance1510
windore1542
lighta1586
wind-door1606
ventana1672
winder1683
glaze1699
mezzanine1731
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 215 (MED) Ȝef þet ei þing wriheð þi neb from monnes ehe, beo hit wah beo hit clað i wel i tund windowe, wel mei duhen ancre of oðer wimplunge.
c1300 St. Nicholas (Laud) 35 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 241 To a derne wyndouwe softeliche seint Nicholas gan gon.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 1362 Atte wondowe sche lynede out.
a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) i. 130 (MED) Þan stode sche lokyng owt at a wyndown.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin x. 140 Merlin..opened the two wyndowes towarde the gardyn, for he wolde that thei hadde lyght ther-ynne.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth viii. sig. D.iv In the nyght let the wyndowes of your howse, specially of your chambre bee closed.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ii. i. 44 But soft, what light forth yonder window breakes? View more context for this quotation
1645 L. Sarson Anal. I. Timoth. I. 15 183 The epocha of the 40 dayes, at the end of which Noah opened the window of the ark.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 191 As a Thief..In at the window climbes. View more context for this quotation
1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies II. xxxiii. 16 Sheldon espied us, out of a Window.
1781 W. Cowper Retirem. 498 Trees are to be seen From ev'ry window.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxiii. 162 Against some of the windows..the snow was also piled, obscuring more than half their light.
1892 Austral. Law Times 13 294/1 The deceased put his head out of the window of the carriage.., and was struck and killed by the open door of a carriage of a train passing in the opposite direction.
1932 E. Bowen To North xxiv. 231 She went into the scullery;..she opened the window.
1986 J. Collins Hollywood Husbands (1987) xlvii. 233 Heaven, who had been idly gazing out the window of his Ferrari, jumped to attention.
2006 Independent on Sunday 18 June (Review Suppl.) 54/2 Three large windows that allow the light to stream in and you to look out over the communal gardens.
b. A pane of glass (or a similar transparent substance) filling a window frame; a windowpane. Cf. earlier glass window n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > pane
light1387
fenestral1399
panel1399
pane1466
window glassa1586
window1605
window-light1655
windowpane1750
1605 R. F. tr. F. Dedekind Schoole of Slovenrie ii. vii. 75 Then breake the pots and windowes all, this cannot much offend, For this next day, the glazier shall have something for to mend.
1650 Perfect Diurnall No. 4. 40 There were three Gentlemen in company and received no hurt, the Room standing, onely the windows shattered.
1754 P. Bradshaw Family Jewel (ed. 7) Suppl. 129 Put a little Whiting into Water, wet a Rag or Spunge with it,..and rub your Windows with it.
1826 N.-Y. National Advocate 19 Jan. 2/4 Eight or ten ruffians..went into a tavern, milled the landlord, broke the windows of a house.
1873 M. M. Wood in E. T. Stevens & C. Hole Useful Knowl. Reading Bks. (Girls' 4th Standard) 154 Various means are adopted..for cleaning windows, but the chamois-leather rubbers..are certainly the best.
1937 H. Gifford et al. When I'm cleaning Windows (sheet music) I go cleaning windows to earn an honest bob; For a nosey parker it's an interesting job.
1972 Daily Tel. 24 Nov. (Colour Suppl.) 7/3 The kids had broken a window.
2004 P. F. Hamilton Pandora's Star x. 290 The soundblast alone shattered every window on the cars and vans and buses below.
2. Chiefly in in the window.
a. The area of a room behind or beside a window.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > [noun] > window > aperture for
in the windowa1350
window hole1701
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 62 In a wyndou þer we stod we custe vs fyfty syþe.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds xx. 9 Sum ȝong man, Euticus bi name, sittinge on the wyndow [L. super fenestram].
c1480 (a1400) St. Christina 19 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 398 Incense laid in a wyndo by.
1543 in Hist. MSS Comm.: 10th Rep.: App. Pt. V (1885) 410 in Parl. Papers 1884–5 (C. 4576-I) XLII. 1 No man..shall have no kynd of merchandiz in ther houssis shopis or wyndous to be sold to strangers.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) ii. i. 36 Searching the Window for a Flint, I found This Paper. View more context for this quotation
1648 Bp. J. Hall Breathings Devout Soul xix. 29 Whiles I have but a spider in my window, or a bee in my garden, or a worm under my feet.
1757 Hist. Two Mod. Adventurers II. 195 The Sashes were thrown up, and they were all sitting in the Windows.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward II. ix. 195 An old romaunt..which lay beside him in the window.
1909 ‘Q’ True Tilda x. 125 There was a line of white houses, and one had red flowers in the window.
2004 M. Murphy Don't wake me at Doyles (2006) xviii. 353 I would spend hours standing in the window, watching people going about their business.
b. A space behind the window of a shop where goods are displayed for sale. Cf. shop window n. to dress a window: see dress v. 22d. Cf. window dresser n., window dressing n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > shop-front > shop window
shop window1415
in the window1700
show window1785
display window1934
1700 T. Brown Amusem. Serious & Comical x. 111 In a Barber's Shop I saw a Beau so overladen with Wig that there was no difference between his Head, and the Wooden one that stood in the Window.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting II. iii. 106 A picture he had drawn being exposed in the window of a shop on Snow-hill.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. II. 144 The articles of stock, which are displayed in some profusion in the window.
1905 H. G. Wells Kipps i. ii. §2 Carshot, the window-dresser..nagged persistently..until the window was done.
1966 H. Davies New London Spy (1967) 87 The eggs in the window are good and dirty from the farm.
2013 Daily Mail (Nexis) 21 Dec. He wanted to buy her a nice piece of jewellery, and he had in mind a silver bracelet that he had seen in the window of the jeweller..in Brighton's Lanes.
3.
a. A wooden shutter for a window. Usually in plural: a pair of shutters. Frequently with modifier, as shutting windows, wooden windows. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > fittings or ornaments of windows > shutter
fall window1422
lock1440
window?c1500
lid1535
winnock-bred1546
window lid1591
counter-window1600
shut1611
shuttle1614
window-broad1628
window-shut1649
window shutter1665
window board1683
shutter1720
fallboard1742
jalousie1766
storm shutter1834
rain door1867
amado1873
sunbreak1891
brise-soleil1944
?c1500 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 48 (note) Asser,..a burde, siche as dores & wyndows be made of.
1606 T. Dekker Seuen Deadly Sinnes London iii. sig. D2 All the Citty lookt like a priuate Play-house, when the windowes are clapt downe.
1655 Compl. Clark 343 In the chamber over the parlour 2. fair shutting windowes.
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 271 Great bivalve wooden Windows.
1758 Acct. Life & Adventures W. Page 32 As soon as they were in the Coach, she pulled up both the wooden Windows, protesting she should get cold, it was such a foggy Evening.
1839 Lives Most Eminent Literary & Sci. Men of France II. 287 ‘Do you wish the windows to be closed,’ said one of the men seated beside her in the carriage. ‘No... I fear the eyes of no one, and will not hide myself.’
1927 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 70/3 I began to build cage wagon bodies in the orthodox fashion with iron bars, shutter windows, and detachable sides.
1999 R. B. Graves Lighting Shakespearean Stage vi. 155 Private plays were rarely performed with the shutting windows closed.
†b. figurative. In plural. The eyelids. Obsolete.Only in, or with allusion to, Shakespeare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [noun] > eyelid
breec890
eye-breeOE
eyelida1200
browc1200
lid (of the eye)c1220
palpebre?a1425
window1593
brow-lid1594
fin1604
under-lid1611
palpebra1634
cilia1715
eye-peeper1786
Madonna lid1863
eyewinker1923
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Diij Her two blew windowes faintly she vpheaueth. View more context for this quotation
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. v. 69 Eare I let fal the windowes of mine eies. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) ii. ii. 22 The Flame o' th' Taper Bowes toward her, and would vnder-peepe her lids. To see th' inclosed Lights, now Canopied Vnder these windowes, White and Azure lac'd With Blew of Heauens owne tinct.
1889 H. R. Haggard Cleopatra ii. iii, in Illustr. London News 23 Feb. 236/3 She..with a stifled moan sat up and opened the windows of her eyes.
4. An opening in a wall or screen through which customers are served in a bank, ticket office, or similar building.Originally with reference to the window in a post office where members of the public hand over packages, make inquiries, etc.; recorded earliest in window man n. at Compounds 2 (see also window clerk n.).
ΚΠ
1687 in Cal. Treasury Bks. 1685–9 (1923) VIII. iii. 1284 Mr. Underhill Breese, windowman and alphabet keeper.
1785 Gen. Evening Post 4 Oct. Another window for the receiving letters at the General Post-office was opened in the yard leading to Abchurch and Sherborn lanes, and the Post-Masters General have appointed John Hallet, Esq; Clerk to receive the same.
1829 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 301/1 When a foreign letter is put into the Post-office in the country, it is tendered at the window of the Post-office in the country, and paid for. It then comes up in what is called the paid bill to London.
1845 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 15 Apr. I..proceeded to the second-class ticket window; I had my purse in my hand.
1913 Pacific Reporter 129 363/1 Some customers were already standing in line taking their turns in reaching the cashier's window to pay their gas bills.
1969 N.Y. Times 18 Mar. 38/4 The musical..had an estimated sale of $25,000 at the 46th Street Theater box-office window yesterday.
2007 Independent 26 Mar. 33/1 The list is almost as long as the queue at the one window open for service.
II. Something resembling a window (in sense 1) in shape, appearance or function.
5.
a. figurative. A sensory organ, esp. the eye, regarded as a portal between the mind, soul, heart, etc., and the outside world. Now chiefly in the eyes are the windows of the soul at eye n.1 Phrases 4d, and uses alluding to or deriving from this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sense organ > [noun]
windowc1230
organala1500
sense?1504
sensator1615
sensory1624
sensitory1649
sensatory1673
sense organ1826
sensoriolum1843
the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > [noun]
eyeeOE
eilthirlc1225
windowc1230
naked eye1651
bare eye1664
naked sight1698
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 34 (MED) Hwa se wule hire windowes witen wel wið þe uuele, ha mot ec wið þe gode.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 154 (MED) Þise vif wyttes..byeþ þe wyndowes huerby comþ in þe dyaþ ofte to þe zaule.
c1390 W. Hilton Expos. Qui habitat & Bonum Est (1954) 33 (MED) Sperre þe wyndouwes of þi bodilich wittes..and sech vre lord in þi þouȝt.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Melibeus (Hengwrt) (2003) §454 Thow hast suffred hem entre in to thyn herte, wilfully, by the wyndowes of thy body.
?1543 T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe ii. f. x The eyes..are the wyndowes of the mynde, for bothe ioye and anger..are seene..through them.
?1566 J. Alday tr. P. Boaistuau Theatrum Mundi sig. R v b There faire eyes that are the windowes of all the bodie, and glasses of the soule.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 824 Beholde the window of my hart, mine eye. View more context for this quotation
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila iii. xxx. 41 Those Lights, the radiant Windows of her Minde.
1771 W. Evans tr. R. Prichard Welshman's Candle 179 Often, through the window of the eye, The soul-corrupting mischief enters in.
1869 Pennsylvania School Jrnl. Sept. 82/2 If the eye is the heart's window, the face is its open show-board.
1983 R. Kugelmann Windows of Soul i. 47 When we want a man to speak the truth, we ask him to ‘look me in the eyes and say that’. The truth of the other shines through the windows of the soul.
1991 M. Heim in M. Benedikt Cyberspace (1993) 75 Computers stick the windows of the soul behind monitors.
b. Hence simply: an eye. Usually in plural.Originally literary and poetic; slang or colloquial in later use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [noun]
eyeeOE
the fleshly eyec1175
balla1400
window1481
glazier1567
light1580
crystal1592
orb1594
glass1597
optic1601
twinkler1605
lampa1616
watchera1616
wink-a-peeps1615
visive organa1652
ogle1673
peeper1691
goggle?1705
visual orb1725
orbit1727
winker1734
peep?1738
daylights?1747
eyewinker1808
keeker1808
glimmer1814
blinker1816
glim1820
goggler1821
skylight1824
ocular1825
mince pie1857
saucer1858
mince1937
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 102 Whan ye here after shal slepe ye nede not to shette but one wyndowe, where another muste shette two.
1619 S. Purchas Microcosmus viii. 88 How curiously are these Windowes glased with the Horny tunicle..called Cornea.
1633 J. Shirley Bird in Cage iv. i. sig. H2 I cannot keepe These windowes open, I must sleepe.
1860 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2) Windows, the eyes, or ‘peepers’.
1887 J. M. Drinkwater Rizpah's Heritage xxii. 223 He desires the purest heart to look out of those beautiful blue windows!
1902 C. L. Cullen More Ex-Tank Tales 38 One of the most extraordinary pair of blue-gray windows I ever saw in a man's head.
1979 ‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie & Me 117 I'm gonna blow out your windows, Pig, for kicks, if you keep pinning me.
6. figurative.
a. A gateway through which a particular state, condition, etc., can be entered, accessed, or understood; (also) a means of letting in knowledge or gaining insight.
ΚΠ
a1400 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 56 (MED) Tow art wyndow of hewen mirth.
c1425 (c1400) Prymer (Cambr.) (1895) 12 Þou art maad wyndowe of heuene, þat soreuful men entre as sterris.
c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) (1970) 24 (MED) Feith is..the yate of paradis, the wyndowe of lijf.
a1475 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 187 Loke owt at the wyndows of kyndnesse.
1542 T. Becon Newes out of Heauen sig. C.vi Neyther is ye preching of christ & his benefytes, a wyndow to all kynd of carnal liberte & dissolute lyuyng.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme cxxxix. 7 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 234 Yea closest clossett of my thought Hath open windowes to thine eyes.
1651 N. Biggs Matæotechnica Medicinæ Praxeωs Ep. Ded. sig. b4 A life wholly addicted to studies and practice in the mechanick operations of Pyrotechnal Science, ought to open the windows of its Intellect Eastward.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. ii. 254 If I open the windows of reason then Psyche can discern good and evil and I leave it in her power to choose between them.
1839 Methodist Mag. July 304 The Bible..is the window through which the Christian beholds his long-sought rest.
1921 J. F. Willis Bibliophily iii. 21 The Great Books..are windows that discover boundless fields for soul-refreshment and for soul-expansion.
2007 Climber Apr. 34/3 [This climbing route is] on the cusp of the arena of Extreme routes so it's a window through which you glimpse another lifetime of routes to climb.
b. With into, on, on to, to. A means of gaining knowledge or understanding of something unknown or obscure; that which affords insight.
ΚΠ
1588 L. Humphrey View Romish Hydra vii. 185 I come not hither..to wish a window into euery mans hart and conscience, to see euery mans secret faults.
1625 Bp. J. Hall Wks. viii. 951 If thou hadst a window into his heart, thou shouldest see him tormented with horrors of conscience.
1659 T. Fuller Appeal Iniured Innocence iii. 59 Now an exact Diary is a Window into his Heart who maketh it.
1704 C. Taylor Funeral Serm. 12 This Faculty [sc. conscience] is also, that Window into the Soul, thro' which God causes his Face to shine upon good Men.
1858 Littell's Living Age 30 Jan. 288/1 His eyes at rest on his mother's face, a window into heaven.
1893 Publishers' Circular 30 Sept. 357/2 A great school-book publisher has to concern himself with books of the most elementary kind.., and each is another window on the world of thought and action.
1947 Sat. Rev. 11 Oct. 30/2 James Thomas Flexner reads the testimony of more than one hundred and sixty paintings..and each canvas becomes a window into the past.
1986 N.Y. Times 11 Feb. c5/1 Comets are believed to be remnants of primitive matter..and thus are a window to the origins of the solar system.
1997 Nature 10 Apr. 559/1 Advances in human brain imaging have opened a window on the anatomy of higher cognitive functions.
2005 M. Kluckner Vanishing Brit. Columbia 120 The auto courts and motels of the Fraser Canyon are a window onto an early era of tourism and travel.
7.
a. In plural. Openings in the firmament through which rain was thought to pour. Chiefly in the windows of heaven (also the sky, the firmament). [After post-classical Latin cataractae caeli, lit. ‘floodgates of heaven’ (Vulgate), itself after Hellenistic Greek καταρράκται τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (Septuagint), itself after Hebrew 'ărubbōṯ haššāmayim, lit. ‘windows of heaven’ (all in plural). Compare cataract n. 1 and (with quot. a1425) also gutter n.1 1.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > rain > [noun] > place from which rain is said to fall
the windows of heavena1425
cataracts1430
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Gen. vii. 11 The wyndowis of heuene [a1382 E.V. guters of heuen] weren opened, and reyn was maad on erthe.
c1425 (c1400) Prymer (Cambr.) (1895) 67 (MED) Depþe clepiþ depþe, in þe vois of þi wyndowis.
1549 T. Cooper Lanquet's Epitome of Crons. i. f. 9v The lord shut the doore of the arke, and incontinent the springes of the sea burst out, the windowes of heauen opened, the rain fel continually .xl. dayes, and .xl. nyghtes.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 849 The deep, who now had stopt His Sluces, as the Heav'n his windows shut. View more context for this quotation
a1758 J. Henderson Divine Medit. & Contempl. (1763) ii. 33 Yea, what though the windows of heaven seem to be opened for a storm, or the fountains of the deep broke up for a deluge..a soul..can rejoice.
1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood xxx The rain was worse than ever,..the wind was not cold, but the windows of heaven were opened.
1869 E. M. Goulburn Pursuit of Holiness i. 1 [Elijah] shut up the windows of the sky by his prayers, and by his prayers re-opened them.
1918 W. Anderson et al. Roots of War ii. 26 And then, suddenly, ‘the windows of heaven were opened’ to pour down not rain, but a deluge of blood.
2011 J. C. Stringer Bloodred Tree xv. 133 As the massive vertical tsunami came raining back down, the great windows of the firmament opened as well.
b. An opening or gap in an object; esp. (a) one affording a view into or through the object; (b) †each of the small openings in the side or top of a salt cellar, censer, or similar vessel (obsolete); (c) †a blank space left in a document (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > resembling a window
window?a1425
society > communication > writing > written text > layout > [noun] > blank space in document
window1533
space1565
blankc1570
lacuna1663
lacune1701
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 38 Þat tabernacle has na wyndowes.
1459 Inventory Fastolf's Goods in Paston Lett. (1904) III. 169 j. saltsaler..with many wyndowes.
1517 in Archaeologia (1908) 61 84 A tabernacle of golde with vij wyndowes of birell for the sacrament.
c1530 in J. Gutch Collectanea Curiosa (1781) II. 311 Oone Sensour parcell gilte withe Windowes gilte and thoppar Boolls.
1533 T. Cranmer Let. in Remains (1833) I. 37 That your said collation have a window expedient to set what name I will therein.
1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. Nj How many wyndowes [L. nodos] they muste make to theyr shooes.
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 160 In the Pillars or piles of the Arches are Windoes (as it were) to receive the Water when it is high and full.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 476 A large, well-made lamp, having side windows.
1894 S. R. Bottone Electr. Instr. Making (ed. 6) 52 The..finished fixed sheet, with its ‘windows’, central aperture, and side strips.
1963 A. Greenbank Instr. Rock Climbing x. 106 The problems of squeezing through small ‘windows’..are more amusing than serious.
1986 On Board June 80/3 Roll the sails taking care not to crease the window.
2002 D. Cook Robot Building for Beginners xxiv. 476 Carve out a window in the lid for the sensors to be able to see the floor.
†8. A gate or valve controlling the flow of water in a cistern, heat in a furnace, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > control(s) > [noun] > valve
cockc1483
window1576
stopcock1584
register1612
shut1651
valve1659
flap1824
shut-off1869
stop-tap1895
stop-gate1902
1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health iii. f. 162 An apte hole..which may one whyles shutte, and another whyles open,..through the helpe of a certayne plate or wyndowe of yron [L. laminae ferreae].
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vii. 317 Euery House openeth their Cisterne window, and receiueth as much water, as is able to suffice them till the next Inundation.
9. Anatomy. Either of the two openings between the middle ear and the inner ear; = fenestra n. 1.See oval window n. at oval adj.2 and n.1 Compounds 3, round window n. at round adj. Compounds 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sense organ > hearing organ > parts of hearing organ > [noun] > other cavities
window1615
vestibulum1704
vestibule1728
navicular fossa1802
saccule1836
utricle1837
membranous vestibule1842
fenestra1844
utriculus1847
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 603 Betwixt these two windows aboue the lower hole is there a little knub or protuberation.
1794 Sporting Mag. Nov. 66/2 The fenestræ or windows are either oval or round; and it is by means of these two apertures the barrel communicates with the labyrinth.
1837 J. V. C. Smith Class-bk. Anat. (ed. 3) 173 To hear, it is necessary that the stapes, attached to the parchment window, should move to and fro.
1945 E. G. Boring Psychol. for Armed Services v. 106 At the base of the cochlea, between it and the middle ear, there are two windows, each covered with a membrane.
2006 Austral. Doctor (Nexis) 6 Oct. Intracranial pressure that may be transmitted to the inner ear, causing an outward ‘explosive’ force on the two windows.
10. colloquial or slang. Something which resembles a windowpane.
†a. In plural. A lattice pattern made with sugar on bread and butter. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > garnishing > [noun] > icing or sugar coating > on bread
window1712
1712 W. King Let. in Art of Cookery (ed. 2) 53 The Fav'rite Child..makes great clutter, Till he has Windows on his Bread and Butter.
†b. A soap bubble made between finger and thumb. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing agents > [noun] > water or solutions > types of solution > soap and water > soap-bubble
soap-bubble1800
window1859
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. Geoffry Hamlyn II. xv. 307 Putting the forefinger and thumb of each hand together, as if he was making ‘windows’ with soapsuds.
c. In plural. Spectacles. Also (as a count noun): a monocle; = windowpane n. 3. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > ophthalmology or optometry > aids to defective vision > [noun] > spectacles
spectaclec1386
a pair of spectacles1423
ocularies?a1425
barnaclea1566
eye1568
sight-glasses1605
glass eye1608
prospective glass1616
sights1619
prospectivea1635
nose-compasses1654
glass1660
lunettes1681
peeper1699
eyeglass1760
specs1807
winker1816
gig-lamps1853
nose-riders1875
window1896
cheaters1920
the world > health and disease > healing > ophthalmology or optometry > aids to defective vision > [noun] > eye-glass or monocle
eyeglass1593
glass eye1721
quizzing glass1800
quizzer1806
ogling-glass1843
monocle1873
monoculus1892
window1896
Piccadilly window1897
windowpane1923
1896 G. Ade Artie xiii. 118 W'y, t'e fellow dat wears de windows in his face.
1949 R. Park Poor Man's Orange xvii. 181 Why don't you take off them black windows?
1956 E. F. Moran & L. Reid Tugboat xviii. 303 He was about to place his monocle in his eye when the others smiled from behind their ‘windows’.
1968 H. Lit Unbelievable Dict. Hip Words 52 Windows, eye glasses.
11. Geology. An opening, produced by erosion, in the stratum in a region of overfolding or overthrusting, exposing a younger stratum beneath; = fenster n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > discontinuity or unconformity > [noun] > cavity or opening
loch1767
vug1818
pipe1839
pocket1850
vogal1855
window1908
fenster1925
1908 H. B. C. Sollas & W. J. Sollas tr. E. Suess Face of Earth III. viii. 350 The basement is exposed in a ‘window’ near the middle of the southern border of this region.
1939 A. K. Lobeck Geomorphol. xvii. 605 So called windows or fensters are produced by the erosion of plateau areas, so that the youngest strata of an underlying nappe are exposed at the bottom of the valley thus formed.
1980 Sci. Amer. Oct. 131/2 The presence of sedimentary rocks in the windows of the Blue Ridge indicates that the crystalline rocks there overlie sedimentary material.
2008 S. Voigt et al. in T. McCann Geol. Central Europe II. xv. 970/2 Metamorphic Penninic (mainly South Penninic) Cretaceous strata are present in the Tauern Window and other Penninic windows in the Eastern Alps.
12. A transparent panel on an envelope through which the name and address on the letter, etc., inside can be seen. Also more generally: a transparent panel in a package, wallet, etc., through which the contents can be seen.Recorded earliest in window envelope n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > correspondence > letter > [noun] > cover or envelope > window in
window1910
the world > matter > light > transparency or translucence > [noun] > object or medium > panel in package, etc.
window1938
1910 Financial Times 14 Feb. 3/6 Makes 27 varieties of folds, including those required for the ‘Outlook’ or ‘Window’ envelope.
1914 U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals Rep. 125 205 September 9, 1862, a patent was issued to J. S. Brown for an envelope containing a window for display of a business card or an address.
1938 D. E. A. Charlton Art of Packaging 94 The latest..improvement..[paper] napkins visible through a cellophane window.
1977 C. McCarry Secret Lovers iii. 40 Wilson..flipped the plastic windows to make certain that all the papers were still in the wallet.
2010 G. Davidson Perfect Lett. & Emails iii. 23 If you are using a window envelope, make sure that the whole address is clearly visible through the window.
13.
a. On an overlay paperweight: a facet cut through the opaque layer, allowing the interior to be viewed.
ΚΠ
1920 Connoisseur 58 226/1 One particularly beautiful kind of paperweight..consists of..a bouquet of exquisite floral designs, which, after being inserted into a bulb of clear glass, the whole has been coated with opaque white glass, and this in turn has been coated with turquoise blue glass, through which six circular windows have been cut.., through which the bouquet is seen.
1967 P. G. Wodehouse Company for Henry iii. 45 Clichy double overlay weight,..the sides cut with five circular windows and the top flattened by a large window, star-cut base.
2002 J. A. Mackay Antiques at Glance: Glass 24 Other types [of paperweights] include bouquets and overlays, the latter having windows ground and polished into the sides and top of the globe.
b. A facet of a transparent or semi-transparent gemstone through which the interior can be seen. In later use also: a defect in a cut gemstone in which two facets are cut at such an angle that light can pass through the gemstone, reducing its brilliance.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > [noun] > part of precious stone > facet > specific
table1653
lozenge1750
window1942
1942 P. Grodzinski Diamond & Gem Stone Industr. Production xi. 169 Two plane surfaces and two facets (windows) are cut on the diamond.
1973 ‘K. Royce’ Spider Underground v. 84 One of the sapphires had a slight window on one side which reduced its value, but the emeralds and rubies were clear.
2009 L. Grande & A. Augustyn Gems & Gemstones 280 (caption) Piece of natural rough Amber from Mexico, with a small window polished into part of the surface to reveal the quality of the material.
14. A military code name for: strips of metallic foil or similar material released in the air by an aircraft in order to interfere with radar detection; = chaff n.1 4. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > aircraft weapons or equipment > [noun] > device to interfere with radar
window1942
chaff1945
1942 Ld. Cherwell in Oxf. Mag. (1963) 9 May 283/1 If you go into the meeting and try to get ‘Window’ used, you'll find me and Tizard united against you.
1962 A. P. Rowe Let. in R. V. Jones Most Secret War (1978) iv. 41 What I want to emphasize is that from no one at no time did I hear a breath of anything like window.
1980 M. Middlebrook Battle of Hamburg viii. 125 It is not known which aircraft dropped the first bundle of Window.
2010 J. Roeder A-26 Invader Units of World War 2 iii. 36 Three aircraft were sent to release ‘window’ to ensure some safety from flak over the target.
15. A continuous range of electromagnetic wavelengths for which (a region of) the atmosphere or some other medium is relatively transparent.Frequently with modifying word specifying the medium or range of wavelengths in which the window occurs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > [noun] > wavelength > range for which medium is transparent
window1942
1942 Sci. News-Let. 42 25/1 A new ‘window’ in the atmosphere has been discovered by Dr. Arthur Adel... He has reported the extension of the observable spectrum in the infra-red region from wave-lengths 14 mu..to 24 mu.
1949 Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc. 30 233/1 Dr. Buettner indicated as one problem the measurement of solar radiation near 0·21μ, where absorption due to ozone decreases and that due to oxygen increases, forming a ‘window’ in the solar spectrum.
1969 Guardian 6 Feb. 9 The earth's infra-red ‘windows’ are at wavelengths of 1 to 2 and 8 to 14 microns.
1974 Sci. Amer. Apr. 71/3 The most recently opened window on the galactic center is at X-ray wavelengths.
2010 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107 9049/1 Lengthening the carbon chain leads to larger overall absorption in the IR window.
16.
a. An interval of time in which a spacecraft must be launched in order to accomplish a given mission, as determined by the position of its destination relative to the point from which it is launched; = launch window n. at launch n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > [noun] > portion of suitable time or window
time slot1942
window of opportunity1942
window1962
window of vulnerability1979
society > travel > air or space travel > space flight > [noun] > a space shot or flight > launching of spacecraft > period suitable for
window1962
launch window1965
1962 Rev. Space Res. (Nat. Acad. Sci. Publ. 1079) Suppl. S-8 Because of the limited opportunities to launch a spacecraft to a planet and the small size of the window at each opportunity, we plan to use dual launchings for each mission.
1973 Times 15 May 1/5 There will be tomorrow only a 10-minute ‘window’—the period in which the rocket must be launched to reach the appropriate orbit.
1986 New Scientist 22 May 27/2 Their next window is June 1987—still too early for the shuttle.
1999 R. X. Meyer Elements Space Technol. v. 197 It may be necessary to control the time at which the spacecraft passes its ascending node, narrowing the window.
2012 B. Evans Trag. & Triumph in Orbit iii. 467 When the two spacecraft finally launched several years later,..they did so in separate windows: Galileo in October 1989, Ulysses in October 1990.
b. An interval of time which affords an opportunity to perform a particular action, or within which a particular action must be performed. Cf. window of opportunity n. at Phrases 5, window of vulnerability n. at Phrases 5.
ΚΠ
1974 Earth-Sci. Rev. 10 257/1 Because carbon-14 dating is accurate to about 40,000 years, there is a mutual ‘window’ on dating that extends from 10,000 to 40,000 years, in which both methods apply.
1985 Times 7 Dec. 19/6 The articles of association normally give the directors a window of anything from two to five years for the redemption.
1990 Daily Tel. 20 Nov. 19/3 The three-month window when the infection has stuck but cannot be detected.
2014 Good Housek. Apr. 215/1 There's only an occasional short window for a safe landing by boat because of bad weather and high winds.
c. A period of spare time between activities or appointments; esp. a time when someone is available to do something, esp. meet up with someone. Often in window in one's schedule (also diary).
ΚΠ
1977 P. Dickinson Walking Dead i. iii. 43 Foxe started the day's routine, injecting the low-dose group. Then came a small ‘window’ which he normally used for paper-work.
1983 Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) 2 Aug. 10/2 Johnson requested the recently-completed script to fill a ‘window’ in the players' schedule.
1994 J. Harvey Beautiful Thing (2002) 59 Tony (looking over her shoulder at chart): Sharon can do Thursday lunch. Stick Warren up there, gives you the night off. Sandra: Tony... Tony: You need a window in your diary.
2002 E. Buchan Revenge of Middle-aged Woman (2003) xxiii. 293 ‘I have a window, as the publicist would put it. Can we meet for a meal, or something?’
2012 R. Stewart Rod (2013) Introd. 1 The..tour kicked off in June and is scheduled to run until May the following year, but there is a window in the schedule and I'm heading home.
d. Originally U.S. Any of a number of successive releases of a film, recording, etc., corresponding to different media or formats, which are staggered in order to maximize profit at each release and minimize commercial competition between formats; (also) the period of such a release.Often with modifying word specifying the format.
ΚΠ
1978 Vue 24 July 385 (heading) The pay television window—Disney's newest marketplace.
1984 PR Newswire (Nexis) 26 Apr. The first such national programming service to offer a pay-per-view window for selected feature movies prior to their subscription television run.
1992 B. M. Owen & S. S. Wildman Video Econ. 29 The first American cable window is generally for release to pay channels such as HBO, and in the second cable window the film will be carried by basic cable services.
2002 Chicago Tribune 18 Mar. iv. 8/6 Digital film distribution... represents a new..‘window’ of release, to be added to theatrical debuts, home video and DVDs,..and free cable networks.
2014 Guardian (Nexis) 10 Nov. Bay used to work at Amazon's digital video business, so he knows that market well—where release ‘windows’ are commonplace.
17. Computing.
a. In computer graphics: (originally) the part of an image produced by a computer that is displayed on a monitor; (in later use) the area of an image that is displayed in a viewport (cf. sense 17b).
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > hardware > peripherals > [noun] > monitor > display or screen
screen1925
screen display1928
window1966
matrix1983
1966 Computer Jrnl. 9 22/1 The display ‘window’ can be moved one grid space in any of four directions.
1974 Proc. IEEE 62 473/1 An arbitrary rectangular window is used to define how much of the picture should appear on the screen, and a rectangular viewport specifies where on the screen it should be positioned.
1982 J. E. Scott Introd. Interactive Computer Graphics vii. 124 The size and location of the window are expressed in user coordinates because the window is specified in relation to the drawing.
1994 PC Mag. 17 May 271/2 Both the window and the viewport have horizontal and vertical extents and an origin that define the transform.
2006 J. J. McConnell Computer Graphics i. 12 The window and viewport can be of different sizes, in which case the image is squashed or stretched.
b. In computer graphics: a (typically rectangular) region of a display screen in which a selected portion or view of an image can be displayed; = viewport n. 2. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > hardware > peripherals > [noun] > monitor > display or screen > area
viewport1968
window1974
1974 Proc. AFIPS Conf. 43 251/1 The display screen is divisible into rectangular, possibly overlapping ‘windows’.
1983 MicroComputer Printout Sept. 57/2 A similar, but more flexible system allows you to split the screen into two windows for viewing different sections of the model at once.
c. A rectangular, typically framed area of the display screen that is produced by a graphical user interface in order to display information, an image, or an interface for an application.
ΚΠ
1977 Computer Mar. 34/1 (caption) Multiple windows allow documents containing text and pictures to be created and viewed.
1986 Infoworld 12 May 52 (caption) PC Outline offers several features that its competitors do not, including multiple windows.
1999 T. O'Reilly et al. Windows 98 in Nutshell iv. 104 Once you've opened the window, you can delete, rename, or drag and drop files and shortcuts here.
2009 Indiana Gaz. 27 June 10/1 The window popped up on my computer screen as I booted up my system.
d. In form Windows. A proprietary name for: (originally) any of various versions of a window-based graphical user interface for MS-DOS released by the Microsoft Corporation; (in later use also) any of various operating systems and their respective versions released by the Microsoft Corporation.
ΚΠ
1983 Business Wire (Nexis) 10 Nov. Hyperion, one of the leading compatible portable business computers, announced its intention to endorse Microsoft Windows, a highly sophisticated operating software environment for personal computers.
1991 Fortune 25 Feb. 12/3 Bill Gates is surprised at the torrid sales of the Windows..operating environment.
2000 Guardian (Electronic ed.) 30 Nov. If possible, buy a Windows 98SE/Me PC that is also offered with Windows 2000 and preferably Unix (eg Linux).
2015 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 19 Mar. c4 Windows is the dominant operating system on desktops and laptops in China.

Phrases

P1. to open a (also the etc.) window to (also for): to facilitate the entry or emergence of, give an opportunity or occasion for (something undesirable or harmful); (in later use chiefly) to provide an opportunity for (progress or improvement of some kind). Cf. window of opportunity n. at Phrases 5, to open a door to or for at door n. 3.In early modern English more common than to open a door to, but less common in modern English, with regard to both welcome and unwelcome possibilities. [Compare classical Latin quantam fenestram ad nequitiem patefeceris, lit. ‘how great a window you open for wickedness’ (Terence Heauton Timorumenos 481) and also post-classical Latin fenestra aperta (figuratively) opportunity, something which provides an opportunity, lit. ‘open window’ (7th cent. with reference to sin).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > an opportunity > give opportunity for [verb (transitive)]
to open a (also the etc.) window to (also for)1534
1534 W. Turner tr. J. von Watt Of Olde God & Newe sig. Givv Whan Pipine..sawe so great a wyndowe opened [L. vidit fenestram..apertam], and so great an occasyon gyuen to hym self, for to inuade the realme.
1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ Countercuffe sig. Di To open such a windowe to the deuill, as they were presently giuen ouer as a pray to the iawes of hell.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus iii. 556 Anarchie openeth the windowe to all licentiousnesse.
1659 B. Walton Considerator Considered iii. 41/2 It would open a window for busie wits to deprave the Scripture, and to turn it into any sence.
1700 S. Patrick Comm. Fifth Bk. Moses iv. 62 There was no excess,..nor any defect, which might open the Window to any Vice, or make them careless in the Practice of Vertue.
1779 R. Tickell Opposition Mornings 61 I disliked that part of the minutes which opens a window to coalition.
1860 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (1870) VI. xxxiii. 391 He had opened a window to false doctrines.
1965 L. B. Johnson in Public Papers Presidents U.S. (1966) 429/1 We tried to open a window to peace, only to be met with tired names and slogans.
2015 H. G. Beger et al. Pancreatic Cancer, Cystic Neoplasms & Endocrine Tumors p. xvii The increasing interaction of basic science, gastroenterology, and surgery has opened the window to understanding many of the basic molecular mechanisms of pancreatic diseases.
†P2. in at (also by) the window. With reference to things which happen stealthily or go unnoticed.
a. Born out of wedlock; illegitimate. Chiefly in to come in at (also by) the window. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1551 R. Crowley Pleasure & Payne sig. Ciiv And youe were gladde to take them in Bycause you knewe that they dyd knowe That youe came in by the wyndowe.
1608 T. Middleton Famelie of Love iv. ii. sig. F4 Woe worth the time that euer I gaue sucke to a Child that came in at the window.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) i. i. 171 Something about a little from the right, In at the window, or else ore the hatch. View more context for this quotation
1664 C. Cotton Scarronides 40 He had her not by's Wife, But by a Fish-wench he was kind to, And so she came in at the Window.
b. Used more generally to refer to attaining or holding a position, achieving an end, or exerting an influence by stealthy or underhand means. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > go or come in [verb (intransitive)] > surreptitiously or subtly
to steal (some one or something) ina1555
shuffle1565
slink1567
to come in at (also by) the window1590
insinuate1600
wimble1605
screw1614
sneak1680
oil1925
1590 G. Gifford Short Treat. against Donatists of Eng. 43 Those Ministers which haue no power with theyr people to receyue in, and to cast out, hauing come in by the windowe, are Antichristian, and subiect to Antichrist.
a1631 J. Donne 50 Serm. (1649) xxv. 211 God was present; And though the Devill (by their corruption) were there too, yet, the Devill came in at the window, God at the dore.
a1681 R. Allestree Whole Duty of Mourning (1695) i. 7 Since then Death by Sin crept in at the Window, or rather at the Ear, which is prone to listen to Evil Counsel.
c. Proverb. loves comes in at the window but goes out at the door and variants. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1611 J. Gruter Florilegii Ethicopolitici ii. 181 Love cometh in at the windowe, and goeth out att the dore.
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 28 Love creeps in at window, but goes out at doore.
1649 Z. Bogan in F. Rous & Z. Bogan Archæologiæ Atticæ (ed. 3) iv. v. 158 The proverb that Love comes in at the Window and goes out at the Dore, may not absurdly be understood of the eyes.
1732 T. Fuller Gnomologia No. 3285 Love comes in at the Window, and flies out at the Door.
P3. colloquial (originally U.S.).
a. to go (also be thrown, etc.) out (of) the window: (of a plan or pattern of behaviour) to be discarded; to cease to be used or exist, to disappear.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (intransitive)] > be dismissed or rejected
to go whistle1453
to go hanga1616
pluck1772
to be left in the basketa1845
to go (also be thrown, etc.) out (of) the window1913
to be out (of) the window1938
to get knotted1963
1913 Elem. School Teacher 13 368 Why, that special knowledge and practical knowledge would be thrown out of the window.
1946 Sun (Baltimore) 6 July 4/1 As a guide, past experience went out the window early this year when the number of retirements suddenly increased.
1964 S. M. Miller in I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. 300 The concept of ‘unemployables’ was largely thrown out the window.
1969 G. Donaldson Fifteen Men xi. 184 ‘The Uncle Louis kissing babies went out of the window this afternoon’, said Green.
1983 Daily Tel. 9 Feb. 17/4 The old message that it was good for weight watchers to eat a slice of cheese on a cream cracker has gone out of the window.
2011 Guardian 19 July (G2 section) 5/3 The result is that right and wrong go out of the window.
b. to be out (of) the window: to have been discarded or destroyed; to be no longer used or in existence; to have disappeared.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (intransitive)] > be dismissed or rejected
to go whistle1453
to go hanga1616
pluck1772
to be left in the basketa1845
to go (also be thrown, etc.) out (of) the window1913
to be out (of) the window1938
to get knotted1963
1938 Proc. Acad. Polit. Sci. 17 75 The 1932 doctrine that, in an emergency, the federal government must see to it that nobody starves in this country is out the window.
1939 H. L. Ickes Secret Diary (1954) III. 3 Steve Early..said that the ‘brain trust was out of the window’.
1945 Sun (Baltimore) 1 Oct. 4-0/3 Production of specialty goods—such as birthday and wedding cakes—was ‘out the window’.
1968 F. Lundberg Rich & Super-rich iv. 173 As FDR himself said, ‘the New Deal is out the window.’
1977 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. xiii. 24/3 The old rule-of-thumb of putting insulation with a resistance rating of 19 in your attic (R-19) is ‘out the window’.
1986 J. Batten Judges 297 The Indian Act's section 94 was out the window.
2003 S. North Bones to Pick viii. 141 Sneeze and a year's research is out the window before you can say godblessyou.
P4. to look through a hempen window: see to look through —— 1c at look v. Phrasal verbs 2.
P5. Noun phrases with of.
window of opportunity n. originally U.S. a chance to take action towards achieving a goal; (usually) spec. a favourable but transient opportunity that must be seized immediately if it is not to be missed; the interval of time for which this opportunity exists (cf. sense 16b).The specific use emerges in the late 1970s, apparently in the usage of the United States government, esp. with regard to the Cold War; cf. window of vulnerability n.Often paired with the verbs close or open, indicating whether or not such an opportunity is available.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > [noun] > portion of suitable time or window
time slot1942
window of opportunity1942
window1962
window of vulnerability1979
the world > action or operation > advantage > an opportunity > [noun]
chance1297
occasiona1382
leisurec1386
opportunitya1387
advantage1487
portunity1516
in the nick1565
mean1592
vantage?1592
occasionet1593
overture1610
hinta1616
largeness1625
convenience1679
tid1721
opening1752
offer1831
slant1837
show1842
showing1852
show-up1883
window of opportunity1942
op1978
society > armed hostility > military equipment > arming or equipping with weapons > [noun] > arms race > period of time
window of opportunity1942
window of vulnerability1979
1942 Washington Post 11 Nov. 10/4 It might seem like a window of opportunity to Senator Norris, and it might open a door of hope for all the world.
1972 Pacific Stars & Stripes (Tokyo) 4 July 13/2 They feel they are opening a window of opportunity to these young men; an opportunity to break out of their parochial environment.
1978 Roswell (New Mexico) Daily Rec. 26 Dec. 2/6 [With reference to legislation regulating the activities of United States intelligence agencies] ‘I think the window of opportunity is still open,’ said Bayh, chairman if the Intelligence Committee.
1980 N.Y. Times 22 Sept. a27/2 To intimidate the Americans with a Soviet ‘window of opportunity’ to knock out Minuteman missiles.
1985 Sunday Times 16 June 60/8 Regional bank bosses know that..they must rush to acquire their neighbours, to make the most of their window of opportunity.
2005 G. Sheffield & J. Bourne in D. Haig War Diaries & Lett. 1914–18 Introd. 31 In early August, Haig recognised that the window of opportunity had closed, and began to work towards a major set-piece attack in mid-September.
window of vulnerability n. originally U.S. a period or moment at which one is particularly vulnerable to attack or (more generally) at risk.Originally with reference to the theory in the Cold War that the 1980s would see the Soviet Union have a period of military advantage over the United States and specifically that American land-based missiles would be easy targets for a Soviet attack.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > [noun] > portion of suitable time or window
time slot1942
window of opportunity1942
window1962
window of vulnerability1979
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > liability to harm, loss, etc. > period of vulnerability
window of vulnerability1979
society > armed hostility > military equipment > arming or equipping with weapons > [noun] > arms race > period of time
window of opportunity1942
window of vulnerability1979
1979 J. Tower in Mil. Implications Treaty on Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms & Protocol Thereof (SALT II Treaty): Hearings (U.S. Congr. Senate Comm. Armed Services) I. i. 168 We are facing a window of ICBM vulnerability during the period of 1982 to 1986.]
1979 PBS NewsHour (transcript of TV programme) (Nexis) 6 Aug. We face what the government people call a window of vulnerability, which simply means from the years '82 to '86 we would be inferior to the Soviet Union in strategic capability, we'd be very vulnerable.
1981 N.Y. Times 3 Oct. 13/1 Mr. Reagan..enlarged upon the meaning of his oft-repeated theme about the ‘window of vulnerability’.
1992 F. McLynn Hearts of Darkness iii. xii. 255 This provided a ‘window of vulnerability’ which the Eesa tribe of Somalis proceeded to exploit.
2013 New Yorker 9 Sept. 80/2 The window of vulnerability after taking a drug—the interval during which doping could be detected—was called ‘glow-time’.

Compounds

C1.
a. attributive, designating parts of a window, or material and implements used in a window's construction. See also windowpane n. 1.
window casement n.
ΚΠ
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 55 The Fore-end of the Tympan is made of Iron... This Iron is somewhat thinner and narrower than an ordinary Window-Casement.
1788 J. L. de Lolme Observ. Taxes upon Windows or Lights 65 They tax iron and wooden window casements, wooden window frames and sashes.
1993 N.Y. Times 5 Sept. v. 8/2 Each half-timbered building with its quirky slate roof and curious window casements was now a pizza parlor, crêperie or snack bar.
window head n.
ΚΠ
1670 tr. P. Le Muet Art of Fair Building (caption) The Doore & Window heads [F. Les linteaux].
a1732 T. Boston Memoirs (1776) viii. 173 I espied above the window-head two little old books.
1835 R. Willis Remarks Archit. Middle Ages vi. 65 A row of small sunk pannels upon the space between the dripstone and the window head.
2007 J. Singh in M. Tutton & E. Hirst Windows iii. xi. 285 If the roof on a bay-window is defective, water will inevitably penetrate through the window head.
window jamb n.
ΚΠ
1708 J. James tr. C. Perrault Treat. Five Orders of Columns ii. viii. 129 The breaking, or returning, the Mouldings on the Corners of Doorcases, and Window-jambs [Fr. les coins des chambranles], with a Knee (as our Workmen term it).
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. li. 302 The slit-deal lining of the window-jambs.
1906 W. R. Ware Amer. Vignola II. 16 The window jamb is often supported by a console.
2002 Nat. Home July 41/1 The architects flared a bathroom window jamb to bring in more light.
window nail n.
ΚΠ
1350 in H. T. Riley Memorials London (1868) 262 [2600 of] wyndounail... [23000 of] rofnail.
1503 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1900) II. 355 For xijc windo nales quhilk ȝeid to the wrichtis in Cambusnethane.
1699 D. Higgs True Relation of bewitching Young Girle in Ireland 7 It began first to rowl it self about, and nixt to Vomit Horse Dung, Needles, Pins, Hairs, Feathers, bottoms of Threed, Pieces of Glass, Window Nails draven out of a Cart or Coach wheels, [etc.].
1866 J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices I. xx. 499 Window-nails..exhibit a rise in price which is even more striking than that by which other articles of this kind are affected.
2001 I. Scott in M. Biddle et al. Henry VIII's Coastal Artillery Fort at Camber Castle iv. 174/2 The nails purchased for Hadleigh Castle included 4000 black door nails, 7600 black window nails, 1500 door nails with tinned heads and 2000 window nails with tinned heads.
b. attributive, designating furnishings used on windows or in window recesses.
window blind n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > screen > [noun] > other types of
speer1379
traverse1400
transom-lattice1689
blind1730
window blind1730
spire1768
Venetian window-blind1769
window shade1789
tatty1792
tat1810
Japanese screen1872
fusuma1880
curtain1895
mosquito door1929
tuku-tuku1936
fly-wire door1952
table screen1971
1730 H. Fielding Tom Thumb ii. ii. 10 Ha! the Window-Blinds are gone, A Country Dance of Joys is in your Face.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. ii. 11 The yellow window-blind of Pubsey and Co. was drawn down upon the day's work.
2004 C. Connelly Attention All Shipping (2005) 3 The orange glow of a streetlight filtered through the slats of my window blind.
window carpet n.
ΚΠ
1535 Inventory Wardrobe Katharine of Arragon 29 in Camden Misc. (1855) III Two blacke windowe carpettis.
1771 H. Steward Catal. Furnit. Francis Laprimaudaye 23 Wilton carpet, four yards and half square, allowing for the hearth space, and window carpet.
1998 A. Munro Love of Good Woman 25 She had taken off her shoes to walk on the window carpet.
window clasp n.
ΚΠ
1821 C. H. Townsend Poems 197 The Wind's wild fingers grasp, With the fury of a fiend, the rattling window-clasp.
a1865 E. C. Gaskell Wives & Daughters (1866) II. v. 45 The window-clasp was unused and stiff.
1983 E. Boland Journey The wind shifted and the window clasp opened, banged and I woke up.
window cushion n.
ΚΠ
?a1549 Inventory Henry VIII (1998) I. 300/1 Item viij cusshions..whereof vj be lyned with lether and thother two be wyndowe cusshyons on bothe sides.
1813 Kotzebue's Journey from Berlin to Paris in W. F. Mavor Gen. Coll. Voy. & Trav. XXVI. 62 In a manufactory which he visited, they were making window-cushions for Buonaparte.
2012 E. Elliott Dark Knight iv. 62 You nap often enough on the window cushions. They should make you an adequate bed for the next few nights.
window hanging n.
ΚΠ
1771 Memorial Mrs A. Cunningham, 9 One calico bed, consisting of four curtains, window hangings, and every thing else belonging to said bed.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. lii. 87 The tattered window-hangings.
1990 S. Bamford Blind Trust iv. 40 The window hangings had been made for Marie Antoinette's apartments.
c. attributive with reference to openings or frames for windows of a particular shape. Cf. window frame n., window opening n. at Compounds 2.
window arch n.
ΚΠ
1713 in Cal. Virginia State Papers (1875) I. 175 The Rubbing, Cutting, & Setting ye Window Arches.
1880 W. A. Scott Robertson Crypt Canterbury Cathedral 54 The Eastern crypt has twelve tall pointed window arches, unglazed.
2005 M. Fletcher Making of Wigan i. 22 Today, only two of the four pillars that once supported the tower, a small section of wall and a window arch, are all that remain.
window circle n.
ΚΠ
1862 Rep. Court of Claims 1861–2 II. 250 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (37th Congr. 2nd Sess.: House of Representatives Rep. C.C. 291) All the exterior of the building, with the exception of the pilasters and door-jambs and window circle heads.
1865 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 21 The towers musical, quiet-walled grove, The window-circles.
1932 J. L. Mitchell Lost Trumpet xviii. 267 The window circle collected all of us... Looking through the window I saw the day very close by then.
window square n.
ΚΠ
1699 J. Wallis Let. 10 Oct. in S. Pepys Private Corr. (1926) I. 189 The sun-shine does appear with the distinct figure of the window-squares upon the ground within doors.
?1787 Artist's Repository & Drawing Mag. 2 95 The nearest corner of the top of the window-square.
1956 D. Gascoyne Night Thoughts 24 Behind the rows of window-squares.
2013 M. Biggins tr. F. Lipuš Errors Young Tjaž v. 87 He popped out the last, resistant remains of the panes before slashing the empty window squares to ribbons.
d. Objective. See also window cleaner n.
window breaker n.
ΚΠ
1683 Remarks upon E. Settle's Narr. 8 The Gentlewoman complained of his ill usage to a Friend... Her complaints were not fruitless. For the Gentleman..soon call'd the Valiant Window-breaker to an account.
1770 Ann. Reg. 1769 75/2 At the session of the peace at Guildhall, one of the window-breakers on Mr. Wilkes's birth day was tried.
1903 ‘O. Henry’ in McClure's Mag. July 333/1 We'll get that cannon..and fire some window-breakers with it.
2015 K. Meader Flirting with Fire xii. 173 He dropped it to the floor, its job as window breaker done.
window breaking n.
ΚΠ
1674 ‘Mr. C.’ Bristol Drollery sig. A3v I will take you off your window-breaking tricks.
1750 Love at First Sight 215 A certain Person, living in or near Orange-Street, Red-Lion-Square, hath set up a new Trade, i.e. Window Breaking.
1862 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola in Cornhill Mag. Aug. 163 With much dancing, with much street jesting, and perhaps with not a little stone-throwing and window-breaking.
1923 Jeweler's Circular 10 Jan. 61/3 The prisoner has been making a specialty of window breaking and robbery.
2009 L. Keller Triumph of Order ii. iv. 77 Window breaking, along with lamppost smashing, stone throwing, and barricade bashing, had become the hallmarks of London's public protests.
window cleaning n.
ΚΠ
1850 Cottage Gardener 4 335/2 This expenditure is all that I have to make in return for..our window-cleaning and coal-shifting.
1908 F. M. Kingsley And so they were Married vii. 93 Window-cleaning and rugs the janitor attends to, of course.
2009 Mirror (Nexis) 12 Dec. 43 If you're trying to clean up the glass on a greenhouse or cold frame, rather than using expensive windowcleaning materials, try an old rag dipped in a solution of vinegar and water.
window-mender n.
ΚΠ
1856 tr. L. C. J. F. Desnoyers Hist. Jean-Paul Choppart xviii. 140 After a tumult, the bill of the lamp and window menders.
1912 R. Strong Sensations of Paris xiii. 207 The window-mender is almost as strident as the cobbler, while the plumber, whether itinerant or not, has a peculiar whistle.
1989 Independent (Nexis) 27 Mar. 18 Window-menders carrying ready-cut panes on frames on their backs.
window smasher n.
ΚΠ
1820 Galignani's Messenger 19 Feb. 4/1 The window smashers..are certainly worthy the strict looking after of the Police.
1909 Daily Chron. 15 Dec. 7/7 The police state that the window smashers were not local men.
2015 Armidale Express (Nexis) 21 July (headline) Teen window smasher given a second chance.
window smashing n.
ΚΠ
1831 Bell's Life in London 8 May (headline) The late Window Smashing.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 12 Dec. 9/4 Much window-smashing took place.
2013 J. Beaumont Broken Nation iv. 334 On two nights in September, the city and inner suburbs of Melbourne erupted in more window smashing.
window washing n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing other specific things > [noun] > windows
window washing1836
1836 Scioto (Ohio) Gaz. 31 Aug. November, the season of dejection,..when window-washing is the only species of amusement at all popular among housekeepers.
1910 W. James Mem. & Stud. (1911) xi. 291 To coal and iron mines,..to dishwashing, clothes-washing, and window-washing..would our gilded youths be drafted off.
2012 G. M. Presbey in J. L. Marsh & A. J. Brown Faith, Resistance, & Future 225 He is relegated to window washing, and later moved to a farm.
e. Appositive, designating a door or wall consisting chiefly of glass.
window door n.
ΚΠ
1792 T. Jefferson Let. 16 Dec. in Papers (1990) XXIV. 747 I found the garden house made with a window-door at each end.
1926 D. H. Lawrence Plumed Serpent xi. 181 Ramón..closed the window-doors.
2010 S. Wales Echo 2 Feb. Money will be spent on replacing window doors and shop fronts.
window wall n.
ΚΠ
1914 McClure's Mag. Sept. 171 (advt.) ‘Fenestrated’ factories control the sunlight. They have window-walls open to light and air, but proof against fire and the elements.
1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 34/7 (advt.) Recreation room..with ‘window wall’ walkout to patio and garden.
1977 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. xii. 10/2 Two large terraces which can be entered through window walls provide a breathtaking lake view.
2013 New Yorker 28 Jan. 10/2 The décor is almost anonymously modern, with geodesic-globe lighting and window walls.
C2.
window bar n. (a) a bar, or each of a number of bars, fixed over a window, chiefly to prevent occupants from falling out or intruders from gaining access; also figurative; (b) a bar used to secure shutters when closed; (c) a bar dividing panes of glass in a window; a muntin; a mullion.Sense (a) is the usual sense.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > glazing or dividing bar
monial1332
sodlet1332
stay-bar1399
transom1502
mullion1556
munnion1571
calm1577
leading1597
window bar1612
stroke1684
came1688
leads1705
saddle-bar?1733
transom-shaft1813
sash bar1837
baluster1844
baluster column1844
supermonial1846
supermullion1846
astragal1858
wagtail1940
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > [noun] > bolt or bar
shuttle971
barc1175
esselc1275
slota1300
sperel13..
ginc1330
staple-bar1339
shotc1430
shuttingc1440
shutc1460
spar1596
counter-bar1611
shooter1632
drawbar1670
night bolt1775
drop-bolt1786
snibbing-bolt1844
stay-band1844
window bar1853
heck-stower1876
barrel bolt1909
latch bolt1909
panic bolt1911
1612 S. Sturtevant Metallica xv. 108 Diuers Emporeutickes for many-fould vses and purposes, as namely into kniues, horse-shooes, Iron-weapons, windowe barres, window case-ments.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 117 Those Milke pappes That through the window Barne [sic] bore at mens eyes.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. i. 14 Only fit for sleight uses, as Window-Bars, Brewers-Bars, Fire-Bars, &c.
1734 W. Salmon Palladio Londinensis i. vi. 62 Hammered Work, as Chimney Bars, Stays, upright Window Bars, Iron Fenders.., and all black work of the same Nature.
1798 Repertory Arts & Manuf. 8 163 A hole or cavity, through which pieces of metal may be drawn, as aforesaid, for window-bars, ornaments, mouldings, borders, and curtain-rods.
1842 Ld. Tennyson May Queen (new ed.) Concl. x, in Poems (new ed.) I. 172 And once again it came, and close beside the window-bars, Then seem'd to go right up to Heaven.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House lii. 497 The massive iron window-bars and iron-bound door.
1867 A. Ashpitel Treat. on Archit. 125/1 The window bar or mullion was twisted into shapes and forms which have been lately called (but not very happily) bar-tracery.
1935 T. S. Eliot Murder in Cathedral i. 42 Is the window-bar made fast, is the door under lock and bolt?
1998 C. M. Harris Amer. Archit. 221/2 Muntin..also called a glazing bar, muntin bar, sash bar, or window bar.
2004 Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 13/4 The two window bars had been cut by a pair of bolt croppers found in the garage.
window-based adj. (a) (Telecommunications) designating a method of regulating the rate at which data is transmitted between two nodes of a network in which the receiving node regularly informs the sender of how much data it can store in addition to that currently being processed; (b) (Computing) designating a graphical user interface, operating system, etc., which uses windows (sense 17c) to display information, images, and interfaces for applications.
ΚΠ
1979 Computer 12 25/1 The protocol included window-based flow control and a large but finite sequence number space.
1984 InfoWorld 26 Mar. 13/2 Its native operating system will be a new one designed by the company [sc. Amiga corporation], which Morse said will be ‘window-based’.
2000 J.-L. Costeux in E. Gelenbe Syst. Performance Eval. vii. 98 It [sc. TCP] implements a window-based end-to-end flow control mechanism.
2015 Q. Docter CompTIA IT Fund. Study Guide iii. 121 Also in 1981, Xerox introduced the Star workstation. It had the first window-based graphical user interface.
window bay n. the bay or recess formed in a room by a bay window (bay window n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > types of window > [noun] > bay or oriel window > recess of
oriela1400
window bay1597
embayment1848
1597 R. Parry Sinetes Passions sig. F3v More bright then sun thou stand'st in window bay, And to thy light the sûnne may not come neere.
1861 D. G. Rossetti Let. June (1965) II. 406 I offered to paint figures of some kind on the blank spaces of one of the gallery window bays.
1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love i. 3 Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen sat..in the window-bay of their father's house.., working and talking.
2003 Aberdeen (S. Dakota) Amer. News (Nexis) 26 Sept. ff3 The stone veneer wainscoting and porch post supports show character, along with the eye-catching copper roof over the side window bay.
window bill n. a poster or advertisement for display in a window.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publishing or spreading by leaflets or notices > [noun] > placarding, postering, or billing > a placard, notice, or bill > types of
window bill?1790
showcard1826
officiality1843
window card1846
star bill1876
one-sheet1895
stickyback1903
hanger1905
wanted poster1925
dazibao1960
wall-poster1962
?1790 J. Rozea, Letter-Press & Copper-Plate Printer (single sheet) (advt.) Tobacco-Marks, Lodging and Window-Bills, Confectioners and Perfumers Labels, &c. ready printed at the Office.
1868 Era Almanack p. xi Theatrical posters, window bills, show cards, portraits, &c.
1965 Spectator 29 Jan. 124/1 Window-bills went up in streets where they had never formerly been seen.
1992 D. Butler & A. Ranney in Electioneering xiii. 282 Posters and window-bills are less and less in evidence.
window-bottom n. chiefly English regional (north midlands) = windowsill n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > window-sill
sill1428
leaning-place1530
leaning-board1533
window-sole1570
leaning1663
stool1663
window ledge1679
window stoola1684
windowsill1703
window board1722
window shelf1795
window-bottom1820
window stone1822
1820 A. Nesbit Compl. Treat. Pract. Land-surveying (ed. 2) v. 247 The door-ways should be left open; the window-bottoms represented by omitting to shade them with oblique lines.
1877 J. Hartley Halifax Clock Almanack 43 Sam made a grab at it, an it flew to th' winder-bottom.
1914 D. H. Lawrence Prussian Officer & Other Stories 162 The daffodils in the white window-bottoms shone across the room.
1960 Times 24 Oct. 12/6 Altar and every window-bottom would be bright with rosy apples.
window box n. a long, narrow box in which flowers and other plants are grown, placed on or attached to an outside windowsill.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > flower-pot or tub
garden pot1592
flowerpot1598
pot1615
forty-eight1808
jardinière1841
thumb-pot1851
flower-box1876
window box1895
planter1948
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > fittings or ornaments of windows > window-box
window box1895
1895 ‘M. Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Dec. 144/1 A watering-pot in her hand and window-boxes of red flowers under its spout.
1939 E. Bowen Coll. Impressions (1950) 64 A window-box gay with pink ivy-leaf geraniums.
2014 Daily Tel. 14 Feb. 32/2 (advt.) In summer months the gardens and window boxes are ablaze with colour.
† window-broad n. Scottish Obsolete a shutter for a window; frequently in plural; cf. later window board n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > fittings or ornaments of windows > shutter
fall window1422
lock1440
window?c1500
lid1535
winnock-bred1546
window lid1591
counter-window1600
shut1611
shuttle1614
window-broad1628
window-shut1649
window shutter1665
window board1683
shutter1720
fallboard1742
jalousie1766
storm shutter1834
rain door1867
amado1873
sunbreak1891
brise-soleil1944
1628 in A. Macdonald & J. Dennistoun Misc. Maitland Club (1843) III. ii. 372 The window brodis hie and low to be layit over.
1776 Dainty Davie ii, in D. Herd Anc. & Mod. Sc. Songs II. 215 It was in and through the window-broads, And a' the tirlie wirlies o'd.
1860 A. Whamond James Tacket iii The window consisted of four small panes and two ‘window brods’.
1913 J. Service Memorables Robin Cummell 2 The wind was tirlin' at the pin, an' rattlin' on the window-brod.
window-broken adj. (of a building) having broken windows.
ΚΠ
1859 A. Helps in Fraser's Mag. Sept. 348/2 Window-broken, rat-deserted..houses.
1873 Reformed Church Messenger 26 Feb. 3/2 There was Joe Hunt, who lived in a small, unpainted, window-broken house.
1975 New Pittsburgh Courier 11 Jan. 9/2 The Wilkinsburg First Ward eyesores, the abandoned, window-broken apartment buildings at Swissvale and Glenn, will be torn down.
window card n. a card displayed in a window, bearing an advertisement or other notice.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publishing or spreading by leaflets or notices > [noun] > placarding, postering, or billing > a placard, notice, or bill > types of
window bill?1790
showcard1826
officiality1843
window card1846
star bill1876
one-sheet1895
stickyback1903
hanger1905
wanted poster1925
dazibao1960
wall-poster1962
1846 Manch. Examiner 4 Apr. 7/5 He..observed a large number of packages, with the genuine window card hanging over them.
1910 Blackwood's Mag. Apr. 575/2 In ill-lit little streets blue with John Burns's window-cards.
1965 F. Sargeson Mem. Peon v. 115 There was a window-card that advertised board and lodging.
2012 J. Graves Bluegrass Bluesman ii. 13 In those days you could hang up a window card or something, and it didn't make no difference who you were, you'd have a crowd anyway.
window casing n. originally and chiefly U.S. a window frame.
ΚΠ
1784 G. Washington Let. 17 Jan. in Papers (1992) Confederation Ser. I. 50 I have seen rooms with gilded borders; made I believe of Papier Maché fastned..round the Doors & window Casings.
1869 Daily Cleveland (Ohio) Herald 29 July 2/5 The lightning..entered the office of the Western Union Telegraph..followed the window casing to the opening and jumped to the side walk.
1901 Gaz. & Bull. (Williamsport, Pa.) 16 July A tool for forming pulley mortises in window casings.
1996 M. D. Russell Sparrow v. 38 George had spent the early weeks of freedom..taking..curatorial pride in the smoothly working wooden window casings,..the tidiness of the workrooms.
window clerk n. a person employed at a post office to work at the window where members of the public hand over packages, make inquiries, etc.; (later also more generally) a salesperson in a shop or other retail business who sells from a window, as opposed to the counter; cf. window man n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > official of the post > other postal officials
window man1687
window clerk1770
stamper1850
blind man1864
blind reader1864
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > shopkeeper > shopworkers
shopman1662
window clerk1770
clerka1790
shop attendant1813
shoppie1818
shop assistant1821
shop-walker1825
counter-jumper1829
show-woman1848
assistant1853
counterman1853
counter-skipper1858
floor-walker1876
floor manager1887
window man1887
frontsman1896
inworker1909
lot attendant1934
sales clerk1934
1770 Lloyd's Evening Post 15 Oct. 367/2 Mr. Peers is appointed Window Clerk and Alphabet Man, in the room of Mr. Green, deceased.
1864 W. Lewins Her Majesty's Mails 239 In larger towns where one clerk is specially retained for these duties, he is known as the ‘window clerk’, as it devolves upon him to answer all..inquiries.
1910 Times of India 5 Feb. 10/5 A window-clerk and sorter in the Bombay General Post Office was tried for stealing a postal article.
2005 Lowell (Mass.) Sun (Nexis) 1 July With only a thin line of trees preventing the rival drive-through window clerks from staring each other down, this new Starbucks will try to appeal to the coffee drinker on the go.
2007 J. Mannion Everything Guide to Govt. Jobs vi. 85 Postal service clerks, also known as window clerks, sell stamps, money orders, and mailing envelopes and boxes.
window cling n. U.S. a reusable sticker designed to adhere to the inside of a window by means of static cling.
ΚΠ
1990 Orange County (Calif.) Register 1 July s3/10 Lot 11:..1 ash tray, 2 track lights, 5 window cling-ons.]
1991 News (Frederick, Maryland) 11 Sept. a10/1 (advt.) Window Clings. Spooky halloween window decorations.
2001 P. Mazar School Year Church Year 47 Seasonal window clings..should be stored face-up on their original sheets.
2013 N.Y. Times Mag. 30 June 37/2 Lowry ticked through the marketing box. ‘We've got T-shirts,..window clings, dispensary bags, posters.’
window cloth n. rare after 17th cent. a curtain hung at a window, typically one of pair (usually in plural); = window curtain n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > covers or hangings > [noun] > hangings > curtain > window-curtains
window cloth1374
window curtain1600
1374 in J. Raine Corr., Inventories, Acct. Rolls, & Law Proc. Priory of Coldingham (1841) p. lxxvi In torali j hayr, j vynduclath.
1446 in J. Raine Corr., Inventories, Acct. Rolls, & Law Proc. Priory of Coldingham (1841) p. lxxxiv In ustrino..iij wyndowclaytis, ij ferlottis.
1585 R. Sadler Let. Jan. in A. Clifford State Papers R. Sadler (1809) II. lxxxii. 489 Some dornix to make..window clothes for her chambre.
1620 G. Markham Farwell to Husbandry xiii. 104 Laying the corne on faire window cloathes or couerlids, lay it in the heat of the Sun, and so dry it againe till it be so hard that it will grind.
1896 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 29 May 5/6 When he blew out the lamp it exploded, setting fire to the window clothes, portion of the bed clothing, and a miniature altar.
2008 H. E. Martinez Dict. Air Trav. & Tourism Activities 172 Curtains, window clothes made from lightweight materials to allow light filtering through.
window curtain n. a curtain hung at a window, typically one of pair (usually in plural).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > covers or hangings > [noun] > hangings > curtain > window-curtains
window cloth1374
window curtain1600
1600 Inventory of R. Boteler 9 Mar. in W. F. Shaw Liber Estriae (1870) 225 Three window curtaines.
1713 G. Berkeley in Guardian 7 May 2/1 My Couches, Beds, and Window-Curtains are of Irish Stuff.
1870 C. Dickens Edwin Drood i. 1 Through the ragged window-curtain, the light of early day steals in from a miserable court.
1920 E. Wharton Age of Innocence i. xii. 99 A little house beyond Lexington Avenue in which beribboned window curtains and flower-boxes had recently appeared.
1998 J C Penney Home Coll. Catal. 66 Marbleized stripe shower and window curtains accented by a diamond border.
window display n. a display of goods in a shop window.
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society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > shop-front > shop window > display in
window display1845
trim1899
1845 North Amer. & Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia) 19 Aug. Parkinson, in Chesnut street, has a most provoking window display of fine, luscious bunches of grapes.
1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 9/2 A blaze of warm, glowing colours, elaborate window displays..usher in..the autumn shopping season.
2012 A. Moore Lighthouse x. 111 Afterwards, browsing the clothes shops, Ester found herself looking at a window display, at a mannequin wearing a strapless dress.
† window-dropper n. Obsolete rare a person who climbs out of a window and drops to the ground below.In quot. as an example of a hazardous action inspired by romantic passion.
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the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > [noun] > dropping or falling vertically > one who drops from a window
window-dropper1753
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > stealthy movement > [noun] > one who moves stealthily > when dropping from window
window-dropper1753
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison VI. 65 The wall-climbers, the hedge and ditch-leapers, the river-forders, the window-droppers.
window envelope n. an envelope with an opening or transparent panel in the front through which the name and address on the letter within is visible.
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society > communication > correspondence > letter > [noun] > cover or envelope > types of
postage envelope1840
mourning envelope1856
return envelope1856
stamped (and) addressed envelope1873
entire1897
window envelope1910
Mulready1912
flown cover1930
S.A.E.1939
Jiffy bag1956
1910‘Window’ envelope [see sense 12].
1923 Glasgow Herald 7 Apr. 14 The use of ‘window’ envelopes for the transmission of medical records.
2003 D. Sless in M. J. Albers & B. Mazur Content & Complexity iii. 64 For many older people, inserting a document properly into a window envelope can be a major task.
† window fine n. Obsolete (apparently) a fine paid by a person who is not a burgess of a town or city in order to be allowed to display goods for sale in his or her window.
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society > authority > punishment > fine > [noun] > other fines
forfangc1250
green wax1440
window fine1529
biscot1662
1529 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 180 xiiij d. pro le wyndow fyne.
window flower n. a flower placed near a window, for decoration or display; usually in plural; also figurative.
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1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 54 Juliet leaning Amid her window-flowers.
1877 J. R. Mollison New Pract. Window Gardener vi. 43 Yielding an amount of pleasure, interest, and affection which we never imagined window flowers to have the power of arousing.
1920 Century May 47/1 A narrow-paned display of window flowers that is as delicate and fugitive as the sentiment of the Japanese flower ceremonies.
2009 Antioch Rev. 22 420 The people above her watered their window flowers with so much water that it ran down over her windows that she had just cleaned.
window frame n. a supporting frame for the glass of a window.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > window-frame
form1463
case1517
window frame1627
gasement1628
window case1660
casement1662
sash1681
chassis1691
Venetian frame1833
1627 W. Duncomb tr. V. d'Audiguier Tragi-comicall Hist. our Times iv. 73 A table being betweene them, upon which Clarangeus had set his window frame [Fr. chassis].
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 241 Window-sells (sometimes call'd Window soils,) which are the bottom pieces in a Window-frame.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xi. 101 A tear trembled on his sentimental eye-lid, like a rain-drop on a window-frame.
1923 Today's Housewife Aug. 8/1 A line of blue..is painted around the outer edge of the frame of the door, along the top heading of the skirting board, and around the window frame.
2015 M. Ropal When you Leave xiv. 148 The window frame was nearly tall enough so that I could stand up straight within it.
window garden n. a collection of pots or boxes laid out on a windowsill for the cultivation of plants, typically for growing a decorative display of flowers.In quot. 1649 in allusion to Pliny the Elder's description of Roman citizens creating imitation gardens in their windows ( Nat. Hist. 19. 19). The exact nature of these imitations is uncertain: painted scenes, hanging baskets, and window boxes have all been suggested by scholars.
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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > [noun] > other types of garden
grounda1500
knot-garden1519
back-garden1535
summer garden1589
spring garden1612
spring gardena1625
water gardena1626
walled gardena1631
wildernessa1644
window garden1649
botanic garden1662
Hanging Gardens1705
winter garden1736
cottage garden1765
Vauxhall1770
English garden1771
wall garden1780
chinampa1787
moat garden1826
gardenesque1832
sunk garden1835
roof garden1844
weedery1847
wild garden1852
rootery1855
beer-garden1863
Japanese garden1863
bog-garden1883
Italian garden1883
community garden1884
sink garden1894
trough garden1935
sand garden1936
Zen garden1937
hydroponicum1938
tub garden1974
rain garden1994
1649 C. Hoole Easie Entrance Lat. Tongue 263/1 Window-garden, Hortus imaginárius.
1884 G. W. Cable Dr. Sevier xii. 81 The asylumed window of ‘St. Anna's’ could glance down into it over their poor little window-gardens.
1934 Amer. Home July 68g/1 The exhibit of unusual plant varieties to achieve an artistic decorative effect in window gardens or rockeries.
2001 S. Florio-Ruane Teacher Educ. & Cultural Imagination ix. 136 City dwellers whose sole experience with agriculture was a small window garden.
window gardening n. the cultivation of plants in window gardens or window recesses, typically for decorative purposes.
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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > [noun] > types of gardening
curtilagec1430
kitchen gardening?1700
landscape-gardeninga1763
picturesque gardeninga1763
window gardening1801
landscape architecture1840
rock gardening1840
market gardening1852
water gardening1870
wild gardening1870
olericulture1886
market work1887
trucking1897
tub-gardening1904
landscaping1930
greenswardsmanship1936
godwottery1937
sand gardening1960
xeriscaping1987
1801 Cottage Gardener 27 June 186/2 I kept looking up to the windows and balconies as I went along, to see what new arrangement I could spy out for ‘window-gardening’.
1935 H. F. Macmillan Trop. Planting & Gardening i. x. 77 Window-gardening is now a prominent feature in many towns in temperate countries.
2014 Oxf. Times (Nexis) 4 Dec. I have been reduced to window gardening due to the shorter days.
window-gaze v. intransitive to gaze through a window; spec. to window-shop; cf. window gazing adj. and n.
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society > trade and finance > buying > buy [verb (intransitive)] > visit (and buy in) shops > window-shop
shop gaze1872
window-shop1890
window-gaze1900
1900 Hearth & Home 11 Jan. 395/2 After these extravagances we took a little walk and window-gazed.
1959 Spectator 21 Aug. 218/3 As you walk the busy streets and window-gaze.
2015 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 1 June a14 Let someone else do the driving, chat with your neighbour, or just window gaze as the city rolls by.
window gazer n. a person who gazes through a window; spec. one who stops to look at a window display in a shop; cf. window-gaze vb., window gazing adj. and n.
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1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 492 Hir sonnes glutonous, hir daughters window gazers.
1828 A. M. Porter Coming Out in J. Porter & A. M. Porter Coming Out & Field of Forty Footsteps II. 3 Thronged..with parcel-carriers and window-gazers.
1900 Canad. Shoe & Leather Jrnl. Nov. 641/2 The pedestrian has become, by force of habit, a window gazer.
2014 N.Y. Post (Nexis) 22 Nov. 25 Bloomingdale's... Free hot chocolate for window gazers!
window gazing adj. and n. (a) adj. (usually hyphenated) that gazes through a window; (b) n. the action of gazing through a window; spec. window shopping; cf. window gazer n.
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society > trade and finance > buying > [noun] > shopping > window-shopping
window gazing1659
browsing1836
window-shopping1875
1659 J. Howell Prov. Spanish Tovng 13/2 in Παροιμιογραϕια A window-gazing wife, wring off her neck if thou wilt have her good.
1836 J. F. Cooper Sketches Switzerland II. xxv. 163 Window-gazing, on the score of refinement, is very much on a level with knitting.
1949 M. Steen Twilight on Floods iv. vi. 614 Up the Haymarket to Regent Street for an orgy of window-gazing.
1961 R. Graves More Poems 42 Window-gazing, at one time or another In the course of travel.
1963 Royal Air Forces Q. Summer 105 The air quartermaster interrupts the reverie of a window-gazing passenger with light refreshments.
2000 E. D. Rappaport Shopping for Pleasure (2001) 155 The window-gazing crowd.
2007 Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) (Nexis) 24 Nov. m6 The annual holiday shopping season is here, and that means store cruising, window gazing and bargain hunting for many.
window grate n. a grating used to cover a window; cf. grate n.1 1.
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1614 N. Breton I would & I would Not sig. D4v See him looke in at our window-Grate.
1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain iii. xix. 159 A wicket window-grate.
2013 P. M. Salmon Murder & Mayhem on Staten Island i. 19 The jailers believed he was going to break through the wall, remove the window grate and then escape.
window guard n. any of various screens or barriers designed to be fixed over a window, chiefly to prevent occupants from falling out or intruders from gaining access.
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1797 J. Hanson Short Statem. Facts 10 I answered, that I charged..framed window guards, 4½d.
1886 Harper's Mag. July 196/1 Barred window-guards intercept the sunlight.
1977 Irish Times 2 Sept. 11/7 The thieves gained entry by climbing up an outside window guard and through a skylight.
2011 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 22 Aug. b5/2 Window guards—bars that allow windows to open but keep children from falling—cost about..$40 per window.
window guidance n. [after Japanese madoguchi-shidō ( < madoguchi teller's window, lit. ‘window opening’, also used to denote over-the-counter transactions + shidō guidance, direction)] Finance a form of credit control practised by the Bank of Japan from the 1950s to the early 1990s by which lending limits were given to commercial banks as guidelines rather than as legally binding restrictions; (by extension) a similar practice followed elsewhere.
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society > trade and finance > management of money > solvency > [noun] > credit > restriction of
credit squeeze1920
window operation1961
window guidance1964
1964 Econ. Picture Japan (Keidanren) iv. 53 For several years after the War, the financial policy of the Bank of Japan was characterized more or less by a qualitative control policy or a selective loans system or a so-called ‘window guidance’.
1977 47th Ann. Rep. Bank Internat. Settlem. 60 In Japan the authorities kept ‘window guidance’ ceilings on bank credit expansion in force as a precaution.
2003 R. Werner Princes of Yen vi. 65 Thanks to tight window guidance, the economy slowed.
2015 R. M. Schramm Chinese Macroeconomy & Financial Syst. vii. 172 In the United States, the Fed has not provided anywhere near the level of window guidance found in China.
window hole n. = window opening n.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > [noun] > window > aperture for
in the windowa1350
window hole1701
1701 T. Bowrey Dict. Eng. & Malayo sig. S2/1 A Lattice, Tinkap.—or Window hole, Nātang.
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xxxiv. 295 When we got to the cabin, we took a look..and on..the north side—we found a square window-hole.
2001 J. Boyle Galloway Street 209 I take a few last potshots in case there's any renegades or snipers still holed up behind the boarded windowholes in Brown's Place.
† window hook n. North American Obsolete (probably) the fixed part of the hinge of a vertically hinged window frame, or casement (see casement n. 2a); cf. hook n.1 4a.
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1638 in Mayflower Descendant Oct. 211 It i doore lock 3 syth rings small window hookes.
1659 Harvard College Bk. 1, in Publ. Colonial Soc. Mass. (1925) XV. 10 It[em] for window-hookes…—04[d.].
1708 in Minutes Common Council City N.Y. 1675–1776 (1905) II. 349 In the Gerrett three Bolts one Window hooke and seaven pains of Glass.
window jack n. North American a type of scaffolding attached to a window opening to enable work to be carried out on the outside of the window; cf. earlier window cleaner n. 2.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > ladder > scaffolding > [noun] > for cleaning or painting windows
window cleaner1836
window jack1843
cripple1887
1843 Boston Courier 8 May (advt.) The Tools of trade of a Painter and Glazier, consisting of ladders, standing casks, tin cans, window jacks, [etc.]
1958 Washington Post 11 Jan. a9/3 That man is violating safety regulations by standing on a ladder. He should be using window jacks.
2014 Code of Federal Regulations: 29: Labor (Office of Federal Register, U.S.) (rev. ed.) 294/1 Window jacks shall not be used to support planks placed between one window jack and another.
window-leaf n. [compare leaf n.1 7b] now rare each of a pair shutters for a window; usually in plural.
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1466 in E. Hobhouse Church-wardens' Accts. (1890) 104 For angyng of wyndow-levys in the treser-howse vjd.
c1547 MS Harl. 1419 f. 58 Twoo wyndowe leves.
1628 Inventory in E. Lega-Weekes Some Stud. in Topogr. Cathedral Close, Exeter (1915) 52 Wth casements, glasse dorrs & lockes & kayes, wth two Window leaves in the kitchen.
1758 W. Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornwall 57 In the Smith's shop the window-leaves shook, and the slating of the house cracked.
1959 R. Howard tr. A. Robbe-Grillet Jealousy in Two Novels (1965) 62 Between the two window-leaves, as through the half-open right one, is framed the left side of the courtyard.
window ledge n. a windowsill, esp. a large or exterior windowsill.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > window-sill
sill1428
leaning-place1530
leaning-board1533
window-sole1570
leaning1663
stool1663
window ledge1679
window stoola1684
windowsill1703
window board1722
window shelf1795
window-bottom1820
window stone1822
1679 Dreadful News from Southwark 3 It [sc. a thunder-bolt] likewise cut away a piece of the window ledge, about Three Inches broad.
1775 R. Twiss Trav. Portugal & Spain 322 In most parts of Spain crickets are kept in small wire cages, placed on the window ledges.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 2nd Ser. 135 The miserable shadow of a man..which crouches beneath a window-ledge, to sleep where there is some shelter from the rain.
1965 G. Jones Island of Apples i. iii. 38 I slipped back upstairs,..and sat down on the bedroom window ledge.
2005 C. Cleave Incendiary 101 There were 2 grey pigeons on the window ledge.
window licker n. (a) a person who peers closely into or out of a window, pressing his or her face to the glass (rare except as implied in sense (b)); (b) offensive (often as a term of abuse) a person who is severely mentally or physically disabled; (in extended use) a person regarded as simple-minded or incapable. [With sense (a) compare French lèche-vitrine , lèche-vitrines ‘window shopping’, lit. window-licking (1959); in sense (b) from a derogatory stereotype of a disabled child who presses his or her face against a school-bus window (see quot. 1995).]
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1986 Med. Econ. 12 May 133/1 A window-shopping excursion is an eye-opener.... The Faubourg is much the favorite of the local ‘léche vitrines’ (literally, window lickers) who enjoy the chic displays.
1995 Re: I am single..AND? in ba.singles (Usenet newsgroup) 2 Aug. Matti is a window licker on the little yellow retard bus.
1997 Traffic Safety July 17/3 Neverman frequently spots..‘window-lickers’—unbelted kids with faces pressed to the glass.
2013 Vanity Fair Sept. 214/3 None of the 10 Dukes of Richmond have been mouth-breathing window lickers. All have served their nation.
2016 Hull Daily Mail (Nexis) 21 Mar. 7 A bus driver was overheard mocking disabled children... The man said he drove ‘window lickers’, before attempting an impression.
window lid n. [compare lid n. 1b] rare after 17th cent. a shutter or similar screen for a window.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > fittings or ornaments of windows > shutter
fall window1422
lock1440
window?c1500
lid1535
winnock-bred1546
window lid1591
counter-window1600
shut1611
shuttle1614
window-broad1628
window-shut1649
window shutter1665
window board1683
shutter1720
fallboard1742
jalousie1766
storm shutter1834
rain door1867
amado1873
sunbreak1891
brise-soleil1944
1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Gelosia Iealousie, also a window lid.
a1697 J. Aubrey in W. J. Thoms Anecd. & Trad. (1839) 96 Whereas his former physitian shutt up his windows,..he did open his window lids, and let in the light.
1840 I. Steward Interdict I. xv. 269 We entered the closet and lifted the window-lid impatiently.
2015 C. Galfard Universe in your Hand iii. ii. 121 As your plane starts its descent..you stretch and yawn, slide open the window lid and look out.
† window-light n. [compare light n.1 9] Obsolete (a) a window opening or windowpane, esp. as the subject of the window tax (usually in plural); (b) (in plural, with the) = window tax n.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > pane
light1387
fenestral1399
panel1399
pane1466
window glassa1586
window1605
window-light1655
windowpane1750
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > tax > types of tax > [noun] > property tax > window tax
window yield1347
window-light1655
window tax1696
window money1700
1655 F. Raworth Jacobs Ladder Ep. Ded. The house of the foolish builder might possibly glister as gloriously when the Sun shone, as the house of the wise builder, and have as many Stories, and as great Window-lights.
1711 London Gaz. No. 4876/3 Window Lights stopped up after Michaelmas last..are subject to the Duty on Window Lights.
1758 Herald 2 Mar. 153 A new tax..to be levied on those who pay the window lights.
a1777 S. Foote Cozeners (1778) i. 10 The collector of the window-lights in Falkland's Island.
1801 T. Peck Norwich Direct. 4 Surveyor of the Window-Lights, &c. for Yarmouth District.
window lock n. a device for locking a window securely shut; (also) a device of this type which can also lock a window in a fixed open position.
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1844 North Amer. & Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia) 23 Oct. 1/7 P. Hazard deposits models of his patent window locks.
1969 Times 17 May 5/5 (advt.) Guard against burglars! Window lock keeps windows securely locked in position—even when open!
2008 K. Robison Securing your Home v. 62 Window locks can be easily manipulated with simple items such as clothes hangers, saw blades and screw drivers.
† window look n. Obsolete a look or glance through a window.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > a look or glance > [noun] > through window
window looka1586
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) i. sig. H3 These shepheards two..Whose mettall stiff he [sc. Cupid] knew he could not bende With hear-say, pictures or a window looke.
window man n. (originally) a man employed at a post office to work at the window where members of the public hand over packages, make payments and inquiries, etc.; (later also more generally) a salesman in a shop who sells from a window, as opposed to a counter; cf. window clerk n.
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society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > official of the post > other postal officials
window man1687
window clerk1770
stamper1850
blind man1864
blind reader1864
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > shopkeeper > shopworkers
shopman1662
window clerk1770
clerka1790
shop attendant1813
shoppie1818
shop assistant1821
shop-walker1825
counter-jumper1829
show-woman1848
assistant1853
counterman1853
counter-skipper1858
floor-walker1876
floor manager1887
window man1887
frontsman1896
inworker1909
lot attendant1934
sales clerk1934
1687 in Cal. Treasury Bks. 1685–9 (1923) VIII. iii. 1284 Mr. Underhill Breese, windowman and alphabet keeper.
1718 J. Chamberlayne Present State Great Brit. (ed. 25) ii. iii. 165 A List of the Officers of the General-Post-Office in Lombard-Street... Window-Man for the By-Days.
1850 Q. Rev. June 113 The Postmaster-General, by printed ‘Notices’..remonstrated with the public; his recommendations, however, were not only unheeded, but the window-men, who..repeated them, were..insulted.
1887 Daily News 6 July 8/7 Cheesemongers.—Wanted, by Advertiser, Situation as Manager, Windowman, or Scalesman.
1964 San Francisco Chron. 7 May 14/3 The Mayor observed that federal regulations prohibit the city staking the Post Office to a night clerk. Supervisor George Moscone suggested Monday that the city pony up the $482.50 monthly salary for a night window man.
1992 1990 Census of Population: Classified Index Industries & Occupations (U.S. Bureau of Census) O-212/1 Window clerk,..Window man.
window manager n. Computing a programme that controls the placement, appearance, and behaviour of windows within a graphical user interface.
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1977 Data Base Winter 48/1 The program requests a window from the window manager.
1996 A. F. Sanders in P. W. Ross Handbk. Software for Engineers & Scientists vii. 103 UNIX supports the X Window System and the two most popular window managers: Open Windows.., from Sun Microsystems, and Motif.
2014 M. Helmke et al. Ubuntu Unleashed iii. 58 Ubuntu makes it fairly painless to switch to another window manager or desktop environment.
window martin n. the house martin, Delichon urbicum; = window swallow n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Hirundinidae > genus Delichan (house-martin)
martinet1440
martina1525
marlet1530
house martin1767
window swallow1791
window martin1793
eaves-martin1833
1793 Bee 26 June 283 It has long been a desideratum among naturalists, to decide with certainty, whether swallows in general, and the window martin in particular, remain in a torpid state during the winter, or are birds of passage.
1860 H. B. Tristram Great Sahara vi. 100 The swallow and the window-martin thread the lanes.
2005 Cornishman (Nexis) 3 Nov. 46 Aptly named Eaves Swallow, Window Martin and Martlet, the house martin has won a place in our affections by nestling on our homes in their neat mud nests.
window mirror n. a mirror fixed outside a window enabling a person inside to view objects or activities outside.
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1832 Christian Intelligencer 13 Jan. 7/4 (heading) Window Mirrors.—To almost every house in Rotterdam, and sometimes to every window of a house on the first floor, there is fixed a single or double looking glass, or reflector.
1961 Tulane Drama Rev. 6 ii. 17 The little window-mirror which showed the man who dared not go out himself what was happening down on the street.
2010 N. Lebowitz tr. H. Pontoppidan Lucky Per ii. 23 At the same time, in the window mirror at the front of the apartment, his wife came into view.
† window money n. Obsolete = window tax n.
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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > tax > types of tax > [noun] > property tax > window tax
window yield1347
window-light1655
window tax1696
window money1700
1700 O. Heywood Diary 3 Sept. in Autobiogr., Diaries, Anecd. & Event Bks. (1885) IV. 228 Naylor Hopkin came for window-mony, 5sh.
1717 Enq. State Union of Great Brit. 268 The Window-Mony, which has been introduced subsequent and in place of the old Chimney or Hearth Mony.
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy I. xxiii. 165 If the fixure of Momus's glass, in the human breast..had taken place,..This foolish consequence would certainly have followed,—That the very wisest..of us all..must have paid window-money every day of our lives.
1845 W. Baggaly Juggernaut Popery 7 Had Sir Robert Peel been there, he would have seen why such people do not pay window money in Ireland.
window-mount v. transitive to mount (a drawing, photograph, etc.) so that it is visible through a window cut in the mount.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [verb (transitive)] > mount > in specific manner
window-mount1900
1900 19th Century Apr. 619 Many years later we had them [sc. drawings] window-mounted with great care.
1992 T. Porter & S. Goodman Treasury of Graphic Techniques ii. 53/3 For the presentation stage each print was window-mounted behind a card.
2012 L. Zeegen Fund. Illustr. (ed. 2) v. 133 Resist the temptation to window-mount images, it always looks over-laboured and unnecessary.
window opening n. an opening for a window in a wall.
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a1593 C. Marlowe Massacre at Paris (c1600) sig. A4 v Stand in some window opening neere the street, And when thou seest the Admirall ride by, Discharge thy musket.
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §929 The scuncheons (the beveled parts, splays, or elbows, of the inside of a window opening, where the shutters are placed).
a1878 G. G. Scott Lect. Mediæval Archit. (1879) I. 136 The walls..are replaced by window-openings decorated with stained glass.
2002 N.Y. Times Mag. 28 Apr. 111/1 (advt.) Round arched window openings and cast iron lintels with decorative bear head bolts.
window operation n. Finance = window guidance n.Superseded by window guidance during the 1960s.
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society > trade and finance > management of money > solvency > [noun] > credit > restriction of
credit squeeze1920
window operation1961
window guidance1964
1961 Monthly Econ. Rev. (Bank of Japan) Sept. 9/1 The practice of the Bank of Japan in giving guidance to client commercial banks regarding their fund position and operation..has come to be..known as ‘window operation’.
1965 H. T. Patrick in W. W. Lockwood State & Econ. Enterprise in Japan xii. 609 In 1954..and especially in 1957 and 1961–1962, the Bank of Japan had to resort to direct credit rationing... The term for this is madoguchi shidō. The Bank of Japan does not like to have this technique called credit rationing, referring to it instead as ‘window operation’, a more literal translation.
2014 K. Kwarteng War & Gold iii. xiii. 199 The ‘window guidance’ or ‘window operation’ which typified the relationship of the Bank of Japan to the commercial banks.
† window oyster n. Obsolete = window shell n.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Placunidae > member of
window shell1801
window oyster1815
1815 E. J. Burrow Elements Conchol. 197 [Genus] Anomia... [Species] Placenta. Chinese window Oyster.
1907 Mining Jrnl. 27 July 114/2 Provision has been made for the protection of pearl oysters, including the ‘window’ oysters, in the territorial waters of the colony.
† window-peeper n. colloquial Obsolete an assessor for the window tax; = window surveyor n.
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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > tax > types of tax > [noun] > property tax > window tax > one who inspects assessment of
window-peeper1729
1729 P. Walkden Diary 2 July (1866) (modernized text) 34 This morning, Richard, son of Robert Dunderdale, came and told that the window peeper was in the parish, and we, having ten windows, must make one up at pay 6s. a year.
c1735 in J. D. Leader Rec. Sheffield (1897) 362 Paid Mr. John Smith for the presents of knives, &c., made to the window peeper, 10s. 6d.
1824 W. Carr Horæ Momenta Cravenæ 19 Thouz seea bobberous an keckahoop wi' thy twelve groats, and seea ta'en up wi' thy quality, at thouz quite an clear forgotten t' lile whipper snapper window-peeper.
1872 W. Besant & J. Rice Ready-money Mortiboy I. ii. 53 I should have made a first-rate window-peeper in the old tax days.
window post n. any of the vertical parts of the architrave or framework of a window.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > window-frame > parts of
snacket1611
window post1658
box frame1693
pocket1881
runway1898
pocket-piece1901
shutter-rebate1901
1658 J. Lyon App. touching Refl. Dialling 1 (heading) in J. Collins Sector on Quadrant (1659) A hole in any pane of glasse, or a knob or Nodus upon any side of the window or window-post.
1745 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) VIII. 211 They..broke the window-posts, and threw them into the house.
1915 Electric Railway Jrnl. 18 Dec. 1221/2 A continuous steel inside sheathing, bolted to the side sills and the window posts.
2015 R. Pfluger & K. Bräunlich in Energy Efficiency Solutions for Hist. Buildings v. 161 A perforated plate or a cover plate in front of the window post is suggested for the exhaust air outlet.
window recess n. the recess formed in a room by a bay window; cf. window bay n.
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1789 J. Christie Catal. Houshold Furnit. Duchess of Kingston 8 A pair of inlaid walnut commodes as fixed in the window recess's.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist II. xxxv. 281 Oliver walked into the window-recess.
1987 B. Moore Colour of Blood xviii. 134 A handsome mahogany table sat in a window recess.
window sash n. = sash window n.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > types of window > [noun] > sash window
sash window1686
sash light1700
window sash1703
sash-casement1759
sashed window1816
Yorkshire light1892
guillotine-window1898
1703 in Markham's Master-piece (ed. 16) sig. A (advt.) To make Window Sashes as transparent as Glass.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxv. 391 Threw up the window-sash.
1990 B. Pronzini Jackpot ix. 72 I hauled up the window sash, stood naked in front of another day's worth of the late-spring fog.
window screen n. (a) an ornamental device of any kind for filling a window opening, e.g. latticework or stained glass; (b) originally and chiefly U.S. a screen of wire mesh designed to keep out insects while a window is open.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > architectural ornament > [noun] > door or window ornaments
frontal1578
antepagment1658
frieze-panel1678
chambranle1692
rybat1720
placard1728
window screen1772
window dressing1774
midwall shaft1872
lambrequin1883
frieze-rail-
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > fittings or ornaments of windows > screen
window screen1772
1772 Brit. Mag. & Gen. Rev. Feb. 184/2 They left the window-screen in the said Davis's watch-box, whilst he was asleep therein.
1822 Amer. Farmer 13 Dec. 304/2 (advt.) Wove wire for window screens, and wire safes.
1850 T. Inkersley Styles Archit. France 338 Below the window-screen extends a suite of projecting canopies.
1890 C. H. Moore Devel. & Char. Gothic Archit. ix. 304 Chartres [cathedral]..singularly fortunate in retaining its magnificent jewel-like window-screens.
1907 St. Nicholas May 614/1 We tried to buy wire netting—the sort we use for window screens at home.
2012 M. Tully Searching for Hope iv. 28 It was the rattiest [apartment building] of the bunch, with torn window screens and trash strewn in the small lawn out front.
2014 N. Schibille Hagia Sophia & Byzantine Aesthetic Experience ii. 64 Large window screens and lunette windows pierce the exterior walls of the aisles and galleries.
window scrim n. a thin, gauze-like, typically cream or white fabric used to make curtains, blinds, etc.; (also) a blind or curtain made from this fabric; = sense scrim n. 2.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric with specific qualities > [noun] > thin, light, or delicate > for other uses
balloon cloth1849
scrim1880
balloon fabric1881
window scrim1887
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > covers or hangings > [noun] > hangings > curtain > net or lace curtain
lace curtain1824
net curtain1851
scrim1880
window scrim1913
1887 Paoli (Indiana) Republican 25 May (advt.) Window holland and window scrim at Braxtan's.
1913 Muskogee (Okla.) Times-Democrat 12 Mar. These [materials] are usually used in connection with either lace curtains or plain or fancy window scrims.
1969 J. D. A. Widdowson & H. Halpert in H. Halpert & G. M. Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 149 Muslin or scrim, window scrim.., you know, like you'd have for a curtain; you could see out through it.
2006 M. J. Crosbie Houses of God 100 Window scrims modulate natural light.
† window-set adj. Obsolete having windows; windowed.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > [adjective] > window > having windows
windowed?a1425
glazed1591
window-set1632
windowy1832
fenestrated1849
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. x. 443 This palatiat cloyster is quadrangled foure stories high, the vppermost whereof, is window-set in the blew tecture.
window shade n. a screen, curtain, canopy, etc., used to block the light passing through a window.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > screen > [noun] > other types of
speer1379
traverse1400
transom-lattice1689
blind1730
window blind1730
spire1768
Venetian window-blind1769
window shade1789
tatty1792
tat1810
Japanese screen1872
fusuma1880
curtain1895
mosquito door1929
tuku-tuku1936
fly-wire door1952
table screen1971
1789 J. Abercrombie Hot-house Gardener 45 A large sheet covering of painted canvas is used, contrived to roll up on a long pole-roller..in the manner as may be observed in the shop window-shades in London, and other places, in summer.
1810 Act 50 George III (Public Local & Personal Acts, c. 41) 55 Any..window-shades, blinds, or other projections.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 20 Oct. 7/4 If you want window shades for your home, we will be pleased to send our men and give you an estimate.
1978 S. Brill Teamsters iv. 127 Though darkened by the drawn windowshade it was a comfortable room.
2002 Dog Fancy Mar. 16/3 Human passengers also will find plenty of amenities, such as rear-seat window shades and plush carpet floor mats.
window shaft n. (a) a skylight or light well; (b) a tall, narrow window opening; cf. window slit n.; (c) Architecture a narrow column embedded in the arch of an ornamental window; cf. shaft n.2 5a.
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1714 W. Alingham Epitome of Geom. 164 In Roofing we make no deductions for Window Shafts or Sky Lights, because they are more trouble to the Workman, than the Stuff is worth that would cover them.
1787 J. Byng Diary 5 Aug. in Torrington Diaries (1934) I. 297 The House has long been deserted, and has neither roof nor doors, tho' many of the stone window-shafts remain.
1837 Galignani's New Paris Guide (new ed.) 300 The windows all rest upon a series of arches supported by detached columns, which form a kind of panel-work, to the height of 12 feet above the floor, and are there separated from the bases of the window-shafts above by a cornice-moulding.
1839 H. W. Longfellow Hyperion II. iv. i. 114 A mysterious light streams through the painted glass of the marigold windows, staining the cusps and crumpled leaves of the window-shafts.
1910 Pan-Amer. Mag. Dec. 75/1 The deep, slanted, window shafts look down to an inner court-yard.
1980 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 124 73/1 A blocked cellar window shaft that originally rose through the south wall.
2001 R. A. Miller in Encycl. Louisville 410/1 Graves gave the building a large amount of natural light by placing evenly spaced windows and centrally located window shafts on each side.
window shelf n. = windowsill n.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > window-sill
sill1428
leaning-place1530
leaning-board1533
window-sole1570
leaning1663
stool1663
window ledge1679
window stoola1684
windowsill1703
window board1722
window shelf1795
window-bottom1820
window stone1822
1795 Philanthropist 11 May 7 Nay, drove, unable to support himself, York's valiant Duke from off the window shelf.
1884 W. Black Judith Shakespeare iii Did I leave it on the window-shelf?
1991 M. Halvorson To Everything a Season 48 The window shelf is alive with chickadees, loudly chickadee-ing as they pick up sunflower seeds.
window shell n. any of the bivalve molluscs constituting the family Placunidae, found in the Indian Ocean and adjoining seas, esp. Placuna placenta, having a thin flat translucent shell much used in decorative craftwork (also called capiz); (also) any of several similar bivalves of the genus Anomia (family Anomiidae).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Placunidae > member of
window shell1801
window oyster1815
1801 Catal. Museum M. de Calonne 96 The glassy placuna, or Chinese window shell.
1887 Guide to Shell & Starfish Galleries (Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.)) 46 The Placunidæ, sometimes called Window-shells and Saddle-Oysters, are very flat pearly shells with a remarkable hinge.
2015 A. Seilacher & A. . Gishlick Morphodynamics xv. 244/1 Best known is the ‘window shell’ Placuna placenta because Philippines artisans use it for making lampshades of various kinds.
† window-shut n. Obsolete = window shutter n.; cf. shut n.1 1b.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > fittings or ornaments of windows > shutter
fall window1422
lock1440
window?c1500
lid1535
winnock-bred1546
window lid1591
counter-window1600
shut1611
shuttle1614
window-broad1628
window-shut1649
window shutter1665
window board1683
shutter1720
fallboard1742
jalousie1766
storm shutter1834
rain door1867
amado1873
sunbreak1891
brise-soleil1944
1649 J. Ellistone tr. J. Böhme Epist. xxxv. xii. 213 My Wife need not cause any Window-shuts [Ger. Fenster-laden] to be made.
1745 J. Swift Direct. to Servants 78 When you bar the Window-shuts of your Lady's Bed-chamber at Nights.
1862 R. Curtis James McGrath in Curiosities of Detection ii. xxxviii. 278 Open the window-shuts, and draw back the curtains.
window shutter n. each of a pair of shutters on a window; = shutter n. 2a(a); usually in plural.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > fittings or ornaments of windows > shutter
fall window1422
lock1440
window?c1500
lid1535
winnock-bred1546
window lid1591
counter-window1600
shut1611
shuttle1614
window-broad1628
window-shut1649
window shutter1665
window board1683
shutter1720
fallboard1742
jalousie1766
storm shutter1834
rain door1867
amado1873
sunbreak1891
brise-soleil1944
1665 R. Pratt Note-bk. in R. T. Gunther Archit. Sir R. Pratt (1928) viii. 114 Skirting boards 2/6 per yard. For window shutters mitre up and down, and setting on the ironwork 6/- per yard.
1756 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. I. 138 A masterly piece of the sufferings of Christ..on two window-shutters, done by Holbein.
1871 tr. H. Schellen Spectrum Anal. §18. 60 If a ray of sun-shine be allowed to pass through a small hole in a window-shutter of a darkened room.
2015 Evening Standard (Nexis) 5 Aug. Window shutters are the perfect way to keep rooms shady and airy.
window slab n. (a) a windowsill, (originally) spec. one made from a slab of marble; (b) a slab, usually of stone, used to fill a window opening, often having perforations to allow light through.
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1747 C. Cock Catal. Materials Dwelling House Duke of Chandos 25 A carv'd marble corner cistern, a shelf, and a window slab.
1814 J. Fennell Apol. for Life 26 I instantly started from my pillow, climbed into the chair, and laid my arm upon the window slab.
1872 H. B. Tristram Topography Holy Land xiii. 307 They [sc. the towns] are not in ruins;..with the massive thick walls, solid roofs, and door and window slabs still swinging.
1908 F. H. Jackson Shores of Adriatic viii. 105 There are two window-slabs with pierced patterns.
1971 J. D. Evans Prehistoric Antiq. Maltese Islands 82/1 The slabs composing these screens, particularly the window slabs, are carefully worked.
1995 D. Ambrose Mother of God ix. 44 ‘All right,’ he said eventually, pushing himself forward off the window slab and back on to his feet, ‘you've got a deal’.
window slit n. a vertical slit in the wall of a castle or other fortified building for use as a window.
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1831 Englishman's Mag. Aug. 580 Both remained in the old ruin some hours, peering out upon the road through narrow window-slits in its walls.
1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad xlii. 490 It [sc. the Castle of Chillon] has romantic window-slits that let in generous bars of light.
1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King vi. i. 184 A door on his left faced a window-slit looking out westward.
2005 B. Knight Figure of Hate vi. 139 The fire in the hall did little to assuage the draughts coming through the window slits.
window-song n. now historical a song sung or heard at a window, esp. a serenade.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > serenade
window-song1609
serenade1728
serenata1743
1609 G. Buddle Short & Plaine Disc. Euangelicall Fastes vi. 79 The time of singing of birds is come, and the voyce of the Turtle is heard in our land. What is this Window song, this May-song, this Spring-song..but our Sauiour Christ his rouzing of vs out of our dead Winter sleepe of sinne?
1633 G. Herbert Dulnesse in Temple v Where are my lines then? my approaches? views? Where are my window-songs?
1848 G. F. Graham in G. F. Graham et al. Songs Scotl. II. 61 In the sixteenth century, and early in the seventeenth, a window song of this kind seems to have been very popular in England.
2015 Church Times 6 Mar. 40/4 He sang his window-songs morning and evening, to the lute.
window sticker n. a sticker fixed to the inside of a window to display information, publicity, etc., to people outside; (originally) spec. a sticker of this kind used in a shop window to advertise products, prices, etc.
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1896 Merck's Market Rep. 1 Apr. 172/2 The man who dresses Loder's window..uses the window-sticker form as one of his pet ideas.
1907 Washington Post 8 July 11/7 A retailer should make it a point, when he advertises any special line, to put the line of goods in his window with signs, window stickers or floor cards calling attention to the fact that the stuff is there.
1963 Daily Tel. 3 Dec. 15/4 A new window-sticker and poster campaign.
2010 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 Oct. b6/2 The Environmental Protection Agency is considering new fuel-economy and pollution window stickers for automobiles.
window stone n. a stone windowsill; cf. window slab n. (a).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > window-sill
sill1428
leaning-place1530
leaning-board1533
window-sole1570
leaning1663
stool1663
window ledge1679
window stoola1684
windowsill1703
window board1722
window shelf1795
window-bottom1820
window stone1822
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall I. 239 Flowers standing on the window stone.
1896 F. H. Burnett Lady of Quality (1910) xxiv. 360 The doves came flying downward from the blue and lighted on the window-stone and cooed.
1999 Feminist Stud. 25 472 There is a glowworm glued to the window stone.
window stool n. [compare stool n. 9] = windowsill n.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > window-sill
sill1428
leaning-place1530
leaning-board1533
window-sole1570
leaning1663
stool1663
window ledge1679
window stoola1684
windowsill1703
window board1722
window shelf1795
window-bottom1820
window stone1822
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1664 (1955) III. 387 Laying it on the Window stoole, he with his owne hands, designed to me the plot for the future building of White-hall.
1867 J. S. Le Fanu Tenants of Malory lxii Cleve went on knocking and ringing, and the head of the Rev. Isaac Dixie appeared high in the air over the window-stool.
2012 C. Whalen in Home Remodeling ii. 71/2 I use a lot of screws..because someone is going to sit on this window stool sometime in the future, and I don't want it to break.
window strap n. now rare a strap attached to a window, typically in a carriage or train, and used to pull the window open.
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1825 Phrenol. Jrnl. 2 424 A gentleman..was making several bungling attempts to let down a window which had got stiff, his failure evidently arising from his holding the window-strap more than a foot away from its point of attachment to the window.
1888 J. M. Barrie When Man's Single v As he drew near his destination his hands fidgetted with the window strap [of a carriage].
1935 Scotsman 7 Jan. 14/4 On November 3, two window straps were missing and two window blinds were thrown out of the window at Rockcliffe.
2009 Irish Times 15 Aug. 12/4 We didn't have a car, so we went by train, all leather window straps, scratchy carpetbag seats, glittering floors and piercing whistles.
† window stuff n. Obsolete timber prepared for use in window frames.
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1591 in Archaeologia 64 369 Hewinge and woorckinge of ix foots of playne windoe stuffe for the stayres.
a1699 T. Nourse Campania Fœlix (1700) 117 In a word, I hold it best to cast all sorts of sawn or cleft Oak, as Boards, Window-stuff, Spokes, Pipe-wood, or Stairs, Pin-wood, Waine-Beds, &c. into the Water, there to season.
1736 Neve's City & Country Purchaser's & Builder's Dict. (ed. 3) at Sawing They never cut any thing less than Rafters, which are about four and five Inches, and which is generally the smallest Timber in a Frame, except Quarters and Window-stuff.
1906 Timber & Wood Working Machiery 28 Mar. (Ann. Special Number) (advt.) Fredrik Cöster & Co.,..makers of best quality doors, mouldings, window stuff, rollers, [etc.].
window surveyor n. now historical an official whose job was to assess the number of windows in a given property that were liable to be taxed (see window tax n.).
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1721 E. Saunders View of Relig. in St. David's v. 83 Eighty, or an Hundred Pounds per an. is thought to be no excessive Salary to a Window Surveyor.
1750 in Jrnl. Friends Hist. Soc. (1918) 23 The Window Surveyor came.
1839 Champion 29 Dec. 2/2 I was last week favoured with a visit of inspection from your window surveyor, and, to my surprise, am now charged with nine windows.
1926 G. T. Griffith Population Probl. Age of Malthus i. 2 Wales, writing in 1781, points out the returns which were made by the window surveyors were by no means sufficient data on which to calculate the population.
1963 R. C. Bell Commerc. Coins 1787–1804 176 The window surveyor and the master mariner were, no doubt, father and son.
window swallow n. the house martin, Delichon urbicum; = window martin n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Hirundinidae > genus Delichan (house-martin)
martinet1440
martina1525
marlet1530
house martin1767
window swallow1791
window martin1793
eaves-martin1833
1791 J. Burgess in J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. I. v. 61 Of migratory birds, there are the cuckow, the goatsucker, the swift, the house and window swallow, the sand martin, [etc.].
1874 ‘Grandfather Percy’ Homes Birds 34 The home of the chimney or house swallow differs very little..from that of the window swallow.
2015 Stirling Observer (Nexis) 1 May 34 The martins are actually known widely across Europe as swallows, often the window swallow and frequently as the house swallow.
window table n. a table by the window in a restaurant, cafe, etc., commonly viewed as a desirable or preferable place to sit.
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the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating place > [noun] > eating-house or restaurant > table in restaurant
window table1904
Stammtisch1938
1904 A. Conan Doyle Adventure of Three Students in Strand Mag. June 605/2 He carried them over to the window table, because from there he could see if you came across the courtyard, and so could effect an escape.
1936 R. Kipling Something of Myself v. 143 I..was elected to the Athenaeum... I managed to be taken to a delightful window-table [for lunch].
1999 A. Soueif Map of Love (2000) 56 We settled ourselves at a window table, ordered tea and English cake.
† window ticket n. Obsolete a notice advertising prices, offers, etc., in a shop window; also in objective compounds, as window ticket maker, window ticket writer.
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1846 Bentley's Misc. 19 321 Do not, we beseech you, allow your emblazoned window-tickets to lead this wretched race into such strange ideas respecting the ‘fashions’, as they are wont to indulge in. Abolish all those little pasteboard scutcheons which point out your gaudy fabrics as ‘Novel’, ‘The Style’, ‘Splendid’, ‘The Thing’, ‘Parisian’, and the like.
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 20 Window Ticket-Maker.
1897 Hampshire Advertiser 21 Aug. 3/6 The widow..said her late husband was a window ticket-writer in the employ of Messrs. E. Jones and Co.
1915 Spatula Apr. 351/1 Neatness, distinctiveness, attractiveness are three essential features in window tickets, not only in sale time, but at every time.
window tracery n. Architecture tracery (tracery n. 2) in a window, esp. the upper part of a Gothic window.
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1801 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 118/2 The ceaseless-varying forms of window tracery, compartments, and pinnacles.
a1878 G. G. Scott Lect. Mediæval Archit. (1879) I. 276 The development and progressive changes in window-tracery.
1943 Trans. Unitarian Hist. Soc. 1 Jan. 112 The romantic belief that God could only be properly worshipped against a background of pointed arches and window-tracery.
2007 M. Child Discovering Churches & Churchyards 116 Dagger decoration, shaped like the head of a spear, internally cusped and arched, also became a characteristic of Decorated window tracery.
window treatment n. (a) the architectural design of a window or windows; (b) (chiefly U.S.) a scheme of decoration for a window; interior decoration for windows.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > fittings or ornaments of windows
windowing1612
window treatment1874
window dressing1894
1874 Architect 21 Nov. 276/1 A multitude of apartments, ranging in dignity..yet in the external window treatment they must be made alike.
1890 Boston Sunday Globe 30 Nov. 24/8 Curtains are seldom used now alone as a window treatment, but are combined with some soft-toned light silk, festooned at the top.
1908 Ladies' Field 24 Oct. 318/2 (caption) Window Treatment: Pelmet and Curtains in Shadow Damask.
1977 J. Draper in S. Kostof Architect 223 In design he..rendered plates in which he demonstrated his knowledge of..standard window and door treatments.
2014 Phoenix Aug. 66 (caption) Similar window treatments (including..swag valance and tassel trim) start at $1000.
window trimmer n. U.S. = window dresser n.
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society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > shopkeeper > window-dresser
window dresser1836
window trimmer1863
1863 N.Y. Herald 22 Apr. 8/3 (advt.) Wanted—An experienced dry goods salesman: none but a good window trimmer need apply.
1910 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 512/1 Mr. W. W. Sawyer..was originally a window-trimmer in the cities of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Portland.
2014 K. Roeder Wide Awake in Slumberland v. 134 Handbooks for window trimmers were similarly arranged in chronological order, with detailed suggestions and diagrams for holiday-themed backdrops.
window trimming n. chiefly U.S. = window dressing n. (in various senses).
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society > trade and finance > selling > [noun] > shopkeeping or shopwork > window-dressing
window trimming1842
dressing1843
window dressing1850
1842 N.Y. Herald 28 Dec. Door and window trimmings of various sizes.
1866 Bristol Mercury 28 July 5/4 (advt.) Wanted immediately, a Young Man who thoroughly understands his business and accustomed to window trimming.
1984 N.Y. Times 21 Mar. d21/3 They even have an Association of Legal Administrators, which is not just window trimming but evidence of the increasing importance of business managers.
2013 H. Malhotra Metaphors of Healing 89 He believed that his customers would know the high quality of his products and that flashy window trimming was excessive.
window unit n. (a) each of the windows or window frames in a large building with many identical windows, e.g. a tower block; (b) an air conditioner unit fixed to a window sill or frame.
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1905 T. F. Harrington & J. G. Mumford Harvard Med. School III. xl. 1205 Making new rooms containing as many window units as may be required.
1936 Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning Guide (ed. 14) 799 (advt.) Ariet (Air Cooled) Window Unit. Unit may be installed in any average double-hung sash window.
1962 Listener 11 Jan. 63/2 The endlessly repeated small window-units of multi-storey buildings tend to be both boring and overpowering.
1969 E. P. Anderson Home Appliance Servicing (ed. 2) xxviii. 516 Window units are installed on the window sill, whereas console units are placed on the floor in front of the window.
2015 M. Young-Stone Above us only Sky x. 71 The rest of the world slept under a blanket of dark clouds, their window units buzzing and hiccupping.
† window veiling n. Obsolete (a) the practice of fixing curtains made of a thin, diaphanous material across one's windows in order to ensure privacy (rare); (b) U.S. (in plural) window curtains made of such a material, e.g. net curtains.
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1826 M. R. Mitford in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 20 482/2 She seemed to consider this window-veiling as a point of propriety.
1892 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 20 Nov. 19/7 Original designs..follow with outline strength the mezzo-tints of airy backgrounds for window veilings.
1923 Mansfield (Ohio) News 31 Oct. 4/5 (advt.) Come in and see the newest ideas in window veilings. We call your attention especially to such representative nets as filet grandee, Tuscan net [etc.].
window void n. Architecture and Building = window opening n.
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1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm I. 213 The sink..should be of polished free-stone, made to fit the window-void.
1935 H. Morrison Louis Sullivan iv. 103 The James Charnley residence..is broader in conception.., with more feeling for the organization of plane surfaces, skillfully punctuated by the window voids.
2013 E. Jenkins Drawn to Design ii. 178 Loos adds balconies, bays and garden walls, yet subtracts window voids and, on the upper level, removes a wall.
window washer n. [compare earlier window cleaner n.] chiefly North American (a) a person whose job is to clean windows; a window cleaner; (b) = windscreen washer n. at windscreen n. Compounds.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing other specific things > [noun] > windows > one who
window cleaner1781
window washer1834
shiner1958
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > windscreen > devices for automatic cleaning of
windshield cleaner1921
screen wiper1922
windscreen wiper1922
windshield wiper1927
wiper1929
windscreen washer1938
screenwash1949
screen washer1951
washer1962
window washer1968
windshield squirter1978
1834 Liberator (Boston) 22 Nov. 186/4 Near two thousand persons..who are obliged to get their living by the poor means of becoming barbers, clothes cleaners, window washers, [etc.]
1920 Pop. Sci. May 45/2 Washing the windows can be done more safely with the device in place to prevent the industrious window-washer from falling out backward.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 49/9 (advt.) 65 Austin..new tires, window washers.
2008 Contra Costa (Calif.) Times (Nexis) 26 Apr. They checked under the hood to make sure that your oil, water, window washer bottle and batteries all had the correct fluid levels in them.
2011 B. Edwards Voice in Box 174 He landed in San Francisco and became a window washer.
window weight n. U.S. = sash weight n. at sash n.2 Compounds 2.
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1773 G. Washington Let. 6 Oct. in Papers (1994) Colonial Ser. IX. 344 100 lbs. of Lead for Window Weights.
1840 Ann. Reg. 1839 Chron. 77/2 On searching the house, an iron window-weight..was discovered in the passage leading to the street-door.
1917 Pop. Mech. Dec. 954/1 It was made from an old iron window weight.
2014 Tel. Herald (Dubuque, Iowa) (Nexis) 4 May e9 Window problems, such as..sashes painted shut, screens that don't fit right, clogged channels, non-working or damaged window weights in older windows, [etc.].
window winder n. a mechanism for opening and shutting the windows in a motor vehicle; esp. one by which a side window in a car can be manually wound up and down using a handle below the window.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > types of window > opening and closing mechanism
window winder1923
1923 Manch. Guardian 26 Oct. 3/1 (advt.) Talbot. 1923: brand new 25.9 h.p., 7-seater... Fitted up regardless, silk curtains, latest window winders: very smart.
1971 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. (Business section) 4/6 The faults usually consisted of..faulty window winders, loose door handles and sticky locks.
2014 J. Ratcliffe Biting Through ii. 28 I slowly reached down for the window winder and closed the gap.
window work n. †(a) the use of decorative or ornamental openings in the design of garments, shoes, etc. (obsolete rare); (b) architectural work done with or involving windows.In quot. 1619: (in plural) the structure of a window (figurative with reference to the composition of the eye; cf. sense 5b).
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the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > parts of sight organ > [noun]
window work1586
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > ornamental textiles > ornamental trimmings > [noun] > lace
window work1586
threading1852
thread-work1856
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 516 When they [sc. women] make great window-works before their dugs.
1619 S. Purchas Microcosmus viii. 89 Nor will I speake of..the Chrystalline, Glassie, and Waterie Humors; the Optike and Mouing Nerues;..with other these curious Window-workes.
1640 W. Somner Antiq. Canterbury 185 The window-work whereof, by Prior Goldstones name in the foot of it, seems to be of his repairing.
1788 J. St. John Lett. from France I. iii. 14 The front is one immense pile of curious trifles and littlenesses; all over charged with Gothic window-work, and numberless little pillars, angels, men, and hobgoblins.
1889 Harper's Mag. July 255/1 Mosaic glass has rapidly improved in the past century..and has elevated mosaic window work to a high rank among the fine arts.
a1896 W. Morris Water of Wondrous Isles (2004) ix. 123 On her feet were gold shoon of window-work, pearled and gemmed.
1910 Cement Age May 376 The lattice work, casements and ornamental window work will be artistically effective and very pleasing to the eye.
1987 Assoc. Preserv. Technol. Bull. 19 (Tech Notes section) Consideration was given to devising a solution that would incorporate the window work with a passive ventilation system.
† window yield n. Obsolete a specific tax or rent, perhaps based on the number of windows in a building or property; cf. window tax n.
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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > tax > types of tax > [noun] > property tax > window tax
window yield1347
window-light1655
window tax1696
window money1700
1347 Inquisition Post Mortem (P.R.O.: C 135/86) m. 4 Quemdam consuet. que vocatur Buchellyeld & Wyndoweyeld.

Derivatives

ˈwindow-like adj.
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1759 Campaign I. ii. vii. 192 Mr. Scrape knew, that if peoples tongues were once set a going, they might hit at last upon some of the window-like brittle parts of his character.
1850 Morning Chron. 1 Aug. 4/2 The..beautiful tracery of the window-like recesses at the ends of the hall.
1901 M. C. Dickerson Moths & Butterflies ii. 173 The wings have at their centers yellow-bordered, window-like spots.
2001 B. Ehrenreich Nickel & Dimed (2002) ii. 56 There is a windowlike structure..but it offers a view only of compacted dirt.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

windowv.

Brit. /ˈwɪndəʊ/, U.S. /ˈwɪndoʊ/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: window n.
Etymology: < window n. In quot. ?1649 at sense 2 after post-classical Latin fenestrāre (see fenestrate v.); with this sense compare earlier windowed adj.
1. transitive. To place in a window; (in quot. 1973) spec. to depict in a stained-glass window. rare.
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the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > place or put in a position [verb (transitive)] > in a window
windowa1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iv. xv. 72 Would'st thou be window'd in great Rome, and see Thy Master thus..? View more context for this quotation
1973 B. Brophy Prancing Novelist xix. 453 The cathedral..in whose tower Mrs Shamefoot aspires to be windowed.
2. transitive. To provide with windows or window-like openings; to make holes or openings in. Cf. windowed adj. 2.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > provide with windows
window?1649
?1649 tr. H. Wotton Panegyrick King Charles 15 If nature her self (the first Architectres) had (according to Vitruvius..) windowed [L. fenestrasset] your brest.
1728 A. Pope Dunciad ii. 27 She form'd this image of well-bodied air, With pert flat eyes she window'd well its head.
1775 J. Whitaker Hist. Manch. II. x. 416 The magnificent abbey at Croyland was windowed only with lattices to the Conquest.
1820 J. Hogg Winter Evening Tales II. 219 The lampreys passed thro' him without law or leave, And windowed his frame like a riddle or sieve.
1897 Munsey's Mag. Feb. 637/2 My lover built a house for me, And... windowed it with kisses sweet.
1960 W. Katavolos Organics in W. W. Braham & J. A. Hale Rethinking Technol. (2007) 140 Double walls are windowed in new ways.
1988 C. Osborn in E. Simmen Gringos in Mexico 382 Somebody walled and windowed the porch, gave it a door, stuck an art deco light fixture in the ceiling.
2010 S. Vernon Rueful Regret in Four Rode Out iii. 171 Sally sewed the tent herself and windowed it with three tall stained glass windows staked into the dirt.
3. transitive. figurative. Of the eyes: to serve as an expression of or provide a means of gaining insight into (the soul, mind, emotions, etc.). Cf. window n. 5a, the eyes are the windows of the soul at eye n.1 Phrases 4d.
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1891 B. H. Hill Life, Speeches & Writings 187 The finest eyes that ever windowed a soul of fire are glazed in dissolution.
1906 Shield Dec. 247 A personality whose gentle and far seeing eyes windowed the soul of a prophet.
1983 B. Daley Tapestry of Magics 272 The thick lips shaped a smile of surprising appeal; the dark eyes windowed that luminous personality.
2010 P. Robertson Dark in City of Light xii. 263 His eyes windowed an austere..soul.
4. transitive. Originally U.S. To release (a film, recording, etc.) on different media or formats in two or more consecutive windows (see window n. 16d).
ΚΠ
1992 B. M. Owen & S. S. Wildman Video Econ. ii. 48 Programs that are windowed generally have larger budgets than programs that are not windowed.
1999 T. M. Todreas Value Creation & Branding in Television's Digital Age 193 New audiences can be found and programming can be windowed. So, the advent of pay-per-view may prove to be a net gain for television packagers.
2008 Hollywood Reporter 18 Apr. Asked..why ABC isn't making..‘Dancing With the Stars’ available online at the same time as on the network... [he said they] are ‘maximizing value by windowing’ the release of desirable content.
2014 Vanity Fair Dec. 165/2 Publishers started ‘windowing’ some new titles—that is, delaying their release as e-books for several months after the hardcover release.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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