Meaning & use
a transom
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small horizontal bar or crosspiece that divides a window or door, especially one above a door holding a window above it.
Grammar: Countable: say a transom, two transoms; it is usually a physical part of a building.
Patterns
- a transom above a door
- a window with a transom
The old school building had a transom above every classroom door.
Light came into the hallway through a narrow transom over the entrance.
He painted the wooden transom and the window frame the same white.
nouncountabletechnical
The flat back part of a boat's stern, where the hull ends in a straight crosswise surface.
Grammar: Countable, used mainly in boating: the transom of a small boat.
Patterns
- the transom of a boat
- an outboard motor on the transom
They fixed the outboard motor to the transom of the small boat.
Water splashed over the transom as the boat turned.
nouncountable
A small window above a door or larger window that can be opened for air.
Grammar: Countable; in everyday speech people often just say 'the window above the door'.
Patterns
- open the transom
- a transom window
She opened the transom to let some cool air into the room.
The transom was too high for the children to reach.
Word forms
| plural | transoms |
|---|
Common combinations
- above the transom
- The sign hung above the transom of the shop door.
- a transom window
- They installed a transom window to brighten the hallway.
- over the transom
- In publishing, an unsolicited manuscript sent without an agent is said to come over the transom.
- the boat's transom
- He leaned against the boat's transom and watched the shore.
Synonyms and how they differ
- crossbar
- A crossbar is any horizontal bar, while a transom is specifically the bar over a door or window or the flat back of a boat.
- lintel
- A lintel is the supporting beam above a door or window opening; a transom is the bar or window set in that area, so they are related but not the same part.
Word family
- transom window noun
- A window set above a door or another window.
Commonly confused: a transom or transom vs. lintel? a transom or transom vs. threshold?
a transom vs transom vs. lintel
A lintel is the structural beam that supports the wall above an opening; a transom is the crosspiece or small window fitted in that space.
a transom vs transom vs. threshold
A threshold is the strip at the bottom of a doorway, while a transom is at the top, so the two are often confused because both name parts of a doorway.
Practice
In which sentence is 'transom' used correctly?
Choose one answer.
A transom is the crosspiece or small window above a door, so opening it for air fits. The first option describes a threshold at the bottom, the third describes a lintel or beam, and the fourth wrongly places it on the floor.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a transom”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.