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ceiling.

The overhead closure of a room.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈsiːlɪŋ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsilɪŋ/General-American
  1. The overhead closure of a room.

    The dining room had an ornate ceiling.
  2. The upper limit of an object or action.

  3. The highest altitude at which an aircraft can safely maintain flight.

  4. The measurement of visible distance from ground or sea level to an overcast cloud cover; under a clear sky, the ceiling measurement is identified as "unlimited."

    Even though it was cloudy, there was still enough ceiling for the Blue Angels to perform a great show.
  5. 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. The inner planking of a vessel.

  7. The maximum permitted level in a financial transaction.

  8. The overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English celing (“paneling; (bed) cover or hanging”), from celen (“to cover or panel walls”) (from Old French celer (“to conceal”)) + -ing (gerund-forming suffix). By surface analysis, ceil + -ing.

verb/ˈsiːlɪŋ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsilɪŋ/General-American
  1. present participle and gerund of ceil

    form-of · gerund · participle · present
Where this word comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.