n.
- a shelf or slab of stone, wood, or metal at the foot of a window or doorway.
▸a strong horizontal member at the base of any structure, e.g. in the frame of a motor or rail vehicle.
- Geology a tabular sheet of igneous rock intruded between and parallel with the existing strata. Compare with dyke1.
- an underwater ridge or rock ledge extending across the bed of a body of water.
Etymology
OE syll, sylle ‘horizontal beam forming a foundation’, of Gmc origin.