window (windows plural )
1 n-count A window is a space in the wall of a building or in the side of a vehicle, which has glass in it so that light can come in and you can see out.
He stood at the window, moodily staring out..., The room felt very hot and she wondered why someone did not open a window..., ...my car window.
2 n-count A window is a large piece of glass along the front of a shop, behind which some of the goods that the shop sells are displayed.
I stood for a few moments in front of the nearest shop window.
3 n-count A window is a glass-covered opening above a counter, for example in a bank, post office, railway station, or museum, which the person serving you sits behind.
The woman at the ticket window told me that the admission fee was $17.50.
4 n-count On a computer screen, a window is one of the work areas that the screen can be divided into. (COMPUTING)
5 n-count If you have a window in your diary for something, or if you can make a window for it, you are free at a particular time and can do it then.
usu sing
Tell her I've got a window in my diary later on this week.
6
→
French window
→
picture window
→
rose window
7 If you say that something such as a plan or a particular way of thinking or behaving has gone out of the window or has flown out of the window, you mean that it has disappeared completely.
go/fly out of the window phrase V inflects
By now all logic had gone out of the window...
8 If you say that there is a window of opportunity for something, you mean that there is an opportunity to do something but that this opportunity will only last for a short time and so it needs to be taken advantage of quickly. (JOURNALISM)
window of opportunity phrase window inflects, oft PHR for n, PHR to-inf The king said there was now a window of opportunity for peace.
bay window (bay windows plural )A bay window is a window that sticks out from the outside wall of a house. n-count
French window (French windows plural )French windows are a pair of glass doors which you go through into a garden or onto a balcony. n-count usu pl
(=French door)
picture window (picture windows plural )A picture window is a window containing one large sheet of glass, so that people have a good view of what is outside. n-count
rose window (rose windows plural )A rose window is a large round stained glass window in a church. n-count
sash window (sash windows plural )A sash window is a window which consists of two frames placed one above the other. The window can be opened by sliding one frame over the other. n-count
window box (window boxes plural )A window box is a long narrow container on a shelf at the bottom of a window and is used for growing plants. n-count
window-dressing , window dressing
1 n-uncount Window-dressing is the skill of arranging objects attractively in a window, especially a shop window, or the way in which they are arranged.
2 n-uncount If you refer to something as window-dressing, you are critical of it because it is done in order to create a good impression and to prevent people from realizing the real or more unpleasant nature of someone's activities., (disapproval)
The measures are little more than window dressing that will fade fast once investors take a hard look at them.
window frame (window frames plural )A window frame is a frame around the edges of a window, which glass is fixed into. n-count
window seat (window seats plural )
1 n-count A window seat is a seat which is fixed to the wall underneath a window in a room.
2 n-count On a train, bus, or aeroplane, a window seat is a seat next to a window.
window shade (window shades plural )A window shade is a piece of stiff cloth or heavy paper that you can pull down over a window as a covering.
(AM) n-count
(=shade)
in BRIT, use blind
window shopping , window-shopping
If you do some window shopping, you spend time looking at the goods in the windows of shops without intending to buy anything. n-uncount
