The smallest amount of stimulus that can be responded to.

(economics) A level of income, above the poverty line, but not high enough to cope with economic shocks.

plural of election threshold

(sciences, economics) Something that occurs only once a critical threshold has been reached.

A worker with very limited skills and experience in his/her chosen career.

plural of threshold worker

(physiology) The critical level to which a membrane potential must be depolarized to initiate an action potential.

plural of threshold potential

(molecular biology) The number of times a sample of DNA must be copied using PCR before the total amount of DNA detectable is above a certain cut-off.

(epidemiology) a predefined threshold for the number of cases of a contagious disease above which the disease is considered to be at epidemic levels.