# line

Pronunciation: say "LYN" US /laɪn/, AUS /lɑɪn/

## Noun

1. A continuous mark, such as one made by a pen, or a path running through two or more points, whether straight or curved.
   - Simple: A long mark drawn on a surface, either straight or curved.
   - _He sketched a single line that curved across the canvas._
   - _The artist connected the points with one thin line._
2. A roughly straight sequence of people or objects, either standing one behind another while waiting or arranged side by side, as in a military formation.
   - Simple: A row of people or things, often waiting their turn.
   - _A long line snaked around the block outside the bakery._
   - _The infantry advanced in a long line, shoulder to shoulder, across the open field._
3. A connected series of public conveyances or the route they run on, such as a railroad track or an established shipping service.
   - Simple: A route or track, or a regular service of trains, buses or ships that runs along it.
   - _The shipping line operates regular routes across the Pacific._
   - _Engineers inspected the line before the first train of the day._
4. The outer limit of a figure or territory; a boundary, contour, or outline.
   - Simple: The edge or border that marks where something ends.
   - _Surveyors traced the property line along the old stone wall._
   - _Our house sits just past the city line, so we pay county taxes._
5. A row of written or printed words or characters across a page, including a single line of a poem.
   - Simple: A row of words across a page, such as one line of a poem.
   - _The editor cut three lines from the final paragraph._
   - _Each line of the contract had to be initialed by both parties._
6. The range of goods or services a company offers, or by extension the company itself.
   - Simple: A group of products or services that a company sells.
   - _The brand expanded its line to include skincare products._
   - _Their budget line of laptops outsold the premium models._
7. A wire or cable connecting two points for telephone, telegraph, or internet communication; a phone or network connection.
   - Simple: A phone or internet connection, or the wire or cable that carries it.
   - _Heavy storms knocked out phone lines across the region._
   - _Stay on the line and an agent will be with you shortly._
10. A sentence of dialogue, especially one spoken by an actor in a play, movie, or similar work.
   - Simple: A piece of what a character says in a play or film.
   - _He delivered the final line with perfect comic timing._
   - _The director asked her to repeat the lines more slowly._
11. A course of action, thought or argument; also a particular kind of work or business, as in 'line of work'.
   - Simple: A way of acting or thinking, as in 'line of thought', or a kind of work, as in 'line of business'.
   - _Repairing antique clocks is a curious line of business._
   - _After twenty years in sales, she wanted to try a completely different line of work._
13. A trench or defensive barrier, or the boundary marking how far a military force's territory extends.
   - Simple: A row of defenses, or the edge of the land an army holds.
   - _Reinforcements rushed forward to strengthen the line before the assault._
   - _The two armies dug in along a line stretching for miles._
14. A succession of ancestors or descendants of a person; a family or race regarded as continuous through the generations.
   - Simple: A family group connected through parents, children, and grandchildren over time.
   - _He traced his line back to a family of medieval merchants._
   - _The royal line ended when the last heir died without children._
15. A row of workstations, run by people and machines, that a product moves along one stage at a time while it is manufactured or packaged.
   - Simple: A set of workers and machines that a product goes through, one step at a time, as it is made or packed.
   - _A jammed conveyor shut down the whole line for two hours._
   - _She spent ten years on the line at the bottling plant before becoming a supervisor._
16. A length of rope, cord, string, or thread, regardless of thickness.
   - Simple: A rope, cord, or thread used to tie, hang, or pull things.
   - _The sailors coiled the line neatly on the deck._
   - _She strung a sturdy line between two trees to hold the tarp._
21. A threadlike crease or wrinkle on the face, hand, or body; by extension, a characteristic mark.
   - Simple: A thin crease or wrinkle on the skin, like the ones on your face or hands.
   - _Years of laughter had etched fine lines around her mouth._
   - _A single line creased his forehead as he concentrated._
17. A hose or pipe of any size, such as one carrying water, fuel, or brake fluid.
   - Simple: A hose or pipe of any size that carries a liquid or gas.
   - _Crews shut off the main gas line before digging near the house._
   - _Frozen fuel lines kept the old tractor from starting all winter._
18. A direction or course along which something moves or points.
   - Simple: The direction or path that something moves in.
   - _The hikers kept to a steady line across the open valley._
   - _He crouched behind the ball to read the line of his putt._
19. A series of notes forming one part (such as the melody or the bass) of a larger musical work.
   - Simple: A set of notes that make up one part of a piece of music, like the tune or the bass.
   - _The cellist's line wove beneath the violins throughout the movement._
   - _She composed a haunting melodic line for the flute._
20. The publicly stated stance of a person or group on one or more issues, especially of a political or religious faction.
   - Simple: The official position that a group or leader takes on something.
   - _The minister toed the party line throughout the debate._
   - _Members who broke from the leadership's line were quickly disciplined._
22. A letter or other short written form of communication sent to someone.
   - Simple: A short written message or letter sent to someone.
   - _He dropped his cousin a line to say he'd arrived._
   - _Just send me a line if you need anything while I'm away._
23. A cable or wire, or a set of them carried along poles, towers, or underground, that transmits electricity from one place to another.
   - Simple: A wire, or a group of wires on poles or under the ground, that carries electricity from place to place.
   - _Ice built up on the line until it snapped, cutting electricity to thousands of homes._
   - _The utility plans to move its high-voltage lines underground to reduce wildfire risk._
24. A perfectly straight, one-dimensional figure that extends infinitely in both directions, having length but no width or thickness.
   - Simple: In math, a perfectly straight path that goes on forever in both directions.
   - _Two distinct points determine exactly one line._
   - _Parallel lines never meet, no matter how far they extend._
26. The marked boundary at each end of a soccer field that the ball must wholly cross for a goal to count.
   - Simple: The mark across the field that a ball must fully cross to score a goal.
   - _Replays showed the ball had cleared the line by inches._
   - _Defenders cleared the ball off the line in the final minute._
27. A borrowing arrangement in which a bank or other lender lets a customer draw funds whenever needed, up to a limit set in advance.
   - Simple: A deal with a bank that lets you borrow money whenever you need it, up to a set amount.
   - _The company keeps a two-million-dollar line with its bank to get through slow months._
   - _Once the business grew, the lender agreed to raise the limit on our line._
28. A boundary that separates one thing from another, especially the limit past which conduct is no longer acceptable or permitted.
   - Simple: The point that separates two things, especially the point where behavior stops being acceptable or allowed.
   - _Most coaches tolerate trash talk, but threatening a referee is where they draw the line._
   - _The novel walks a fine line between satire and cruelty._
29. In sports betting, the odds or point spread that a bookmaker fixes for a particular game or match. *(US)*
   - Simple: The numbers a betting company sets to show who should win a sports game and by how much.
   - _Las Vegas bookmakers opened the line with the Chiefs as seven-point favorites._
   - _Heavy betting on the underdog pushed the line down to two and a half points._
30. A thin tube inserted into a blood vessel to deliver fluids and medication or to draw blood. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A thin tube put into a blood vessel to give medicine or fluids, or to take blood.
   - _The patient's line was flushed with saline every few hours._
   - _A nurse inserted a line into the vein on the back of his hand._
31. A small, narrow portion of a powdery illegal drug, especially cocaine, arranged in a strip to be inhaled. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A thin strip of a powdered drug, especially cocaine, laid out to be breathed in through the nose.
   - _She snorted a line off the back of her hand._
   - _Two lines of white powder sat on the mirror._
32. A lie or exaggeration, especially one told to win someone's approval or avoid losing it.
   - Simple: An untrue story told to impress someone or keep them happy with you.
   - _He fed his boss a line about the report being almost finished._
   - _Every excuse she offered sounded like another line._
33. A circle of latitude or longitude as drawn on a map or globe.
   - Simple: A mark on a map showing latitude or longitude.
   - _The map marked every line of latitude at ten-degree intervals._
   - _Crossing that line of longitude meant entering a new time zone._
34. One of the straight, horizontal, parallel strokes of a musical staff, on and between which notes are placed.
   - Simple: One of the straight, level marks on a music staff where notes are written.
   - _A note placed on the middle line of the treble staff represents B._
   - _The composer wrote the high notes above the top line._

## Verb

8. To form a row, or to arrange people or things in a row, usually with up.
   - Simple: To get into a row, or to put people or things into a neat row.
   - _Workers line the bottles up before sealing them._
   - _She lined up the books neatly on the shelf._
9. To cover the inside surface of something with a layer of material, originally linen in particular.
   - Simple: To cover the inside of something with another material.
   - _The tailor lined the coat with silk._
   - _Workers line the tunnel walls with concrete for safety._
12. To form a row along the edge or side of something.
   - Simple: To stand or be placed in a row along the side of something.
   - _Spectators lined the route long before the race began._
   - _Old oak trees line both sides of the avenue._
25. To mark something with a line or lines, or to cover a surface with lines.
   - Simple: To draw a line or lines on something, or to cover it with lines.
   - _Decades of sun and worry had lined the old fisherman's face._
   - _She asked her brother to line the poster board in pencil so her lettering would stay straight._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A population of cells grown in culture and kept going through repeated subculture, usually from a single tissue sample.
- (noun) A straight stretch with two endpoints, forming only part of an endless geometric line.
- (noun) In a network diagram, a connection joining two of its points.
- (noun) The equator, usually called "the line," as in crossing it at sea.
- (noun) The direction of a bowled cricket ball toward the batter, judged by how far left or right of the stumps it travels.
- (noun) The route a driver chooses through a curve or corner, especially in racing.
- (noun) A cord strung up outdoors or indoors for hanging washing to dry.
- (noun) A length of cord used for measuring distances or marking out ground.
- (noun) A plot of land marked out by measuring, and so the place or lot assigned to someone to live in.
- (noun) The outline of a body or the shape of a feature.
- (noun) Short for "line of battle," the arrangement of ships or troops drawn up to fight.
- (noun) An army's standing foot regiments, as opposed to militia, guards, volunteer units, horse soldiers, or gunners.
- (noun) Knowledge or useful facts about something, mostly in phrases such as "get a line on."
- (noun) A block of shares acquired by a stock-exchange dealer.
- (noun) Any of various small units of length whose size has differed by country, trade, and period, often without the intended value being specified.
- (noun) A unit of length used in imperial Russia, about 2.54 millimeters, chiefly for stating gun bore, as in the 'three-line' rifle.
- (noun) A small measure of length equal to 1/12 inch, about 2.1 millimeters.
- (noun) A small measure of length equal to 1/16 inch, about 1.6 millimeters.
- (noun) A small measure of length equal to 1/40 inch, roughly 0.64 millimeters.
- (noun) Short for agate line, a unit of newspaper advertising space one column wide and 1/14 inch deep.
- (noun) In older physics usage, another name for the maxwell, the CGS measure of magnetic flux.
- (noun) The marked area beside home plate where the batter stands.
- (noun) The way fencers position their blades relative to each other and to the target.
- (noun) Correct alignment of the parts of a machine, so that it runs smoothly.
- (noun) Teaching or religious doctrine.
- (noun) The full tubing kit for an IV drip, running from the bag through a drip chamber, clamp and injection ports to the catheter in a vein.
- (noun) A unit of usually three attackers sent out onto the ice as a set, rotating with other such units during a game.
- (noun) Any of the traditional three-player position groups in an Australian rules football team, such as the half-back or full-forward line.
- (verb) To set people or things along the sides of something to guard or reinforce it.
- (verb) To throw the track switches ahead of a train so it is routed onto the right track.
- (verb) To depict or sketch something with lines.
- (verb) To read out or recite something one line at a time, as when leading a hymn.
- (verb) To hit a ball hard on a low, nearly flat path through the air, or to make an out when such a hit is caught.
- (verb) To locate a colony of wild bees by watching which way they fly home and walking in that direction.
- (verb) To find the size, length or extent of something.
- (noun) People born in the same year, a grouping used by K-pop fans, as in "97 line" for those born in 1997.
- (noun) Flax, or cloth made from it.
- (noun) The long fibers of flax, as distinct from the short ones.
- (verb) To fill or stock something, as when putting money in a purse or pockets.
- (verb) To mate with or make pregnant, used especially of a male dog.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–8, 10–34** — From Middle English line, from Old English līne ("line, cable, rope, row, direction"), going back through Proto-Germanic words for rope and thread to a word for flax, shared with Latin līnum, whose deeper origin is uncertain. It was also influenced in Middle English by Middle French ligne, from Latin linea. Its oldest sense was "rope, cord, thread," from which the senses "path" and "continuous mark" developed.
**Meaning 9** — It goes back to Old English līn, which meant "flax, linen, cloth". The entry linen has more on its history.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/line (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).