Meaning of ceiling In English

• 0 the inside surface of a room that you can see when you look above you

• 1 an upper limit, usually relating to money:

  • They have imposed/set a ceiling on pay rises.

• 2 the upper surface of a room that you see when you look above you:

  • The kitchen ceiling needs painting.

  • There is a 10% ceiling on rent increases.

• 3 the highest level, number, or amount something is allowed to reach:

  • Before the bidding started he had set himself a ceiling price beyond which he would not go.

  • a debt/spending/production ceiling They agreed on a spending ceiling over the next five years of between 1.2% to 1.3%.

  • the ceiling on sth The good news is that the ceiling on teachers' earnings has been removed.

  • the ceiling for sth We will keep within the ceiling for public spending and do better if we can.

  • place/put a ceiling on sth Ceilings are placed on interest rates by the government to provide firms with cheap capital.

  • set/impose a ceiling The staff ceiling was originally set at 35 but has slowly risen to 50.

  • reach/exceed a ceiling The $7.4 trillion national debt ceiling is likely to be reached in the next few days.

  • lower/raise a ceiling The budget restrictions, signed into law in July, lowered the ceiling on how much districts' budgets can grow annually.