Ceiling

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsiːlɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -iːlɪŋ

Origin

From Middle English ceiling, from ceil ("to cover") + -ing.

Full definition of ceiling

Noun

1. The surface that bounds the upper limit of a room.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 1, The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, ….
2. the dining room had an ornate ceiling
3. The upper limit of an object or action.
   price ceilings
4. (aviation) The highest altitude at which an aircraft may fly.
5. (mathematics) The smallest integer greater than or equal to a given number.
   the ceiling of 4.5 is 5, the ceiling of -4.5 is -4
6. (nautical) The inner planking of a vessel.

Derived terms

Antonyms

• floor

Verb

1. Present participle of ceil