Definition of "threshold" []

• A piece of wood or stone placed beneath a door; a doorsill. (noun)
• An entrance or a doorway. (noun)
• The place or point of beginning; the outset. (noun)
• The point that must be exceeded to begin producing a given effect or result or to elicit a response: a low threshold of pain. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Can't Post | Private Reply ah! so it was you, bubinski's better half. i have a very high physical pain threshold but my pecuniary threshold is low. i would have been able to endure 10 minutes more of the former to avoid the pain of the latter."
• "After a certain threshold (what the threshold is for a specific country varies) there are dramatic and lasting unemployment effects."
• "Not all scientists agree this threshold is a sensible target for politicians though."