Windows

[win-dohz] /ˈwɪn doʊz/
Trademark. (used with a singular verb)
1.
any of several personal computer operating systems or environments featuring a graphical user interface.

window

[win-doh] /ˈwɪn doʊ/
noun
1.
an opening in the wall of a building, the side of a vehicle, etc., for the admission of air or light, or both, commonly fitted with a frame in which are set movable sashes containing panes of glass.
2.
such an opening with the frame, sashes, and panes of glass, or any other device, by which it is closed.
3.
the frame, sashes, and panes of glass, or the like, intended to fit such an opening:
Finally the builders put in the windows.
4.
a windowpane.
5.
anything likened to a window in appearance or function, as a transparent section in an envelope, displaying the address.
6.
a period of time regarded as highly favorable for initiating or completing something:
Investors have a window of perhaps six months before interest rates rise.
7.
Military, chaff1 (def 5).
8.
Geology, fenster.
9.
Pharmacology. the drug dosage range that results in a therapeutic effect, a lower dose being insufficient and a higher dose being toxic.
10.
Aerospace.
  1. launch window.
  2. a specific area at the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere through which a spacecraft must reenter to arrive safely at its planned destination.
11.
Computers. a section of a display screen that can be created for viewing information from another part of a file or from another file:
The split screen feature enables a user to create two or more windows.
verb (used with object)
12.
to furnish with a window or windows.
13.
Obsolete. to display or put in a window.
Origin
1175-1225; Middle English windoge, windowe < Old Norse vindauga, equivalent to vindr wind1 + auga eye
Related forms
windowless, adjective
windowy, adjective
unwindowed, adjective
well-windowed, adjective
Examples from the web for Windows
  • The columns and Windows show a progression towards the center.
  • The three Windows contained either bullseyes or lightning bolts.
  • The tubular frame form proved to problematic when it came to setting Windows and doors.
  • The rear choir stall bench and shuttered Windows introduce the monastic theme.
  • Windows on the sixties exploring key texts of media and culture.
  • Some had already been awakened by the reflection of the flames on their Windows.
  • Sometimes these Windows are very small, being mere quatrefoils or spherical triangles.
British Dictionary definitions for Windows

window

/ˈwɪndəʊ/
noun
1.
a light framework, made of timber, metal, or plastic, that contains glass or glazed opening frames and is placed in a wall or roof to let in light or air or to see through related adjective fenestral
2.
an opening in the wall or roof of a building that is provided to let in light or air or to see through
3.
See windowpane
4.
the display space in and directly behind a shop window: the dress in the window
5.
any opening or structure resembling a window in function or appearance, such as the transparent area of an envelope revealing an address within
6.
an opportunity to see or understand something usually unseen: a window on the workings of Parliament
7.
a period of unbooked time in a diary, schedule, etc
8.
short for launch window, weather window
9.
(physics) a region of the spectrum in which a medium transmits electromagnetic radiation See also radio window
10.
(computing) an area of a VDU display that may be manipulated separately from the rest of the display area; typically different files can be displayed simultaneously in different overlapping windows
11.
(modifier) of or relating to a window or windows: a window ledge
12.
(informal) out of the window, dispensed with; disregarded
verb
13.
(transitive) to furnish with or as if with windows
Word Origin
C13: from Old Norse vindauga, from vindrwind1 + augaeye1
Word Origin and History for Windows

window

n.

early 13c., literally "wind eye," from Old Norse vindauga, from vindr "wind" (see wind (n.1)) + auga "eye. (see eye (n.)). Replaced Old English eagþyrl, literally "eye-hole," and eagduru, literally "eye-door."

Originally an unglazed hole in a roof, most Germanic languages adopted a version of Latin fenestra to describe the glass version, and English used fenester as a parallel word till mid-16c. Window dressing is first recorded 1790; figurative sense is from 1898. Window seat is attested from 1778. Window-shopping is recorded from 1922. Window of opportunity (1979) is from earlier figurative use in U.S. space program, e.g. launch window (1965).

Windows in Medicine

window win·dow (wĭn'dō)
n.
A fenestra.

Slang definitions & phrases for Windows

window

noun

A time period when something may be accomplished; a critical period: We now have a window of opportunity to try for peace in Bosnia again/ They're worried about a window of vulnerability

Related Terms

bay window, out the window

[1967+; fr the 1960s astronautics term for the exact time and directional limits governing the launching of a rocket to achieve a certain orbit or destination, which were pictured as a window through which the rocket must be shot]


Windows in Technology

operating system
See Microsoft Windows, Windows NT.
(1997-11-23)

Windows in the Bible

properly only an opening in a house for the admission of light and air, covered with lattice-work, which might be opened or closed (2 Kings 1:2; Acts 20:9). The spies in Jericho and Paul at Damascus were let down from the windows of houses abutting on the town wall (Josh. 2:15; 2 Cor. 11:33). The clouds are metaphorically called the "windows of heaven" (Gen. 7:11; Mal. 3:10). The word thus rendered in Isa. 54:12 ought rather to be rendered "battlements" (LXX., "bulwarks;" R.V., "pinnacles"), or as Gesenius renders it, "notched battlements, i.e., suns or rays of the sun"= having a radiated appearance like the sun.

Idioms and Phrases with Windows

window

see: out the window