window

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. An opening constructed in a wall or roof that functions to admit light or air to an enclosure and is often framed and spanned with glass mounted to permit opening and closing.
2. n. A framework enclosing a pane of glass for such an opening; a sash.
3. n. A pane of glass or similar material enclosed in such a framework.
4. n. An opening that resembles a window in function or appearance.
5. n. The transparent panel on a window envelope.
6. n. The area or space immediately behind a window, especially at the front of a shop.
7. n. A means of access or observation: St. Petersburg was Peter the Great's window onto the Baltic.
8. n. An interval of time during which an activity can or must take place: a brief window of opportunity for a space mission; a window of vulnerability during which the air force was subject to attack.
9. n. Strips of foil dropped from an aircraft to confuse enemy radar; chaff.
10. n. A range of electromagnetic frequencies that pass unobstructed through a planetary atmosphere.
11. n. Computer Science A rectangular area on the screen that displays its own file or message independently of the other areas of the screen.
12. n. Aerospace A launch window.
13. n. Aerospace An area at the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere through which a spacecraft must pass in order to return safely.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An opening in the wall of a building for the admission of light and air. In modern buildings this opening is usually fitted with a frame in which are set movable sashes containing panes of glass or other transparent material, the whole frame with the sashes, etc., also being known as the window. Many windows are not designed to be opened. Glass was employed in windows among the ancient Romans, and came into extensive use among other nations in the course of the eleventh century. See cuts under batement-light, multifoil, rose-window, and wheel-window.
2. n. An aperture or opening resembling a window or suggestive of a window.
3. n. In anatomy, one of two holes in the inner wall of the tympanum, called respectively the oval window and the round window, fenestra ovalis and fenestra rotunda. See fenestra.
4. n. A cover; a lid.
5. n. A figure formed by lines crossing one another.
6. n. A blank space.
7. To furnish with a window or with windows.
8. To make openings or rents in.
9. To place in a window.

Wiktionary

1. n. An opening, usually covered by one or more panes of clear glass, to allow light and air from outside to enter a building or vehicle.
2. n. An opening, usually covered by glass, in a shop which allows people to view the shop and its products from outside.
3. n. A period of time when something is available.
4. n. A rectangular area on a computer terminal or screen containing some kind of user interface, displaying the output of and allowing input for one of a number of simultaneously running computer processes.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. An opening in the wall of a building for the admission of light and air, usually closed by casements or sashes containing some transparent material, as glass, and capable of being opened and shut at pleasure.
2. n. The shutter, casement, sash with its fittings, or other framework, which closes a window opening.
3. n. A figure formed of lines crossing each other.
4. n. a period of time in which some activity may be uniquely possible, more easily accomplished, or more likely to succeed.
5. n. a region on a computer display screen which represents a separate computational process, controlled more or less independently from the remaining part of the screen, and having widely varying functions, from simply displaying information to comprising a separate conceptual screen in which output can be visualized, input can be controlled, program dialogs may be accomplished, and a program may be controlled independently of any other processes occurring in the computer. The window may have a fixed location and size, or (as in modern Graphical User Interfaces) may have its size and location on the screen under the control of the operator.
6. v. To furnish with windows.
7. v. To place at or in a window.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an opening in a wall or screen that admits light and air and through which customers can be served
2. n. a pane of glass in a window
3. n. a transparent panel (as of an envelope) inserted in an otherwise opaque material
4. n. the time period that is considered best for starting or finishing something
5. n. a transparent opening in a vehicle that allow vision out of the sides or back; usually is capable of being opened
6. n. a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
7. n. an opening that resembles a window in appearance or function
8. n. (computer science) a rectangular part of a computer screen that contains a display different from the rest of the screen