noun. The horizontal timber nearest the ground in the frame of a building.

noun. The timber of a building which lies next to the ground; the ground-plate; the sill.

noun. In mining, the bottom piece of a wooden gallery-frame.

noun. A timber beam used as the foundation for a building.

noun. The lowest beam of a door-frame; the threshold.

"Peter; 'we'll drink to its memory -- (Hout! the heart's at the mouth o' that ill-faur'd bit stoup already!) -- it brought a rent, reckoning from the crawstep to the groundsill, that ye might ca 'fourteen punds a year, forby the laigh cellar that was let to Lucky Littleworth.'"