lines

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of line.

   The artist sketched a few lines before filling in the details.

   Telephone lines were down across the region after the storm.

   Note

   The everyday plural, and it covers every countable meaning of line: pen strokes, geometric figures, the edges of a graph, circles of latitude and longitude drawn on a map. The spelling is shared with the verb form, so a phrase like "the lines on the map" and "she lines the drawer" look alike on the page. Only the grammar around the word separates them.

2. 2
   nouncountableplural

   The words that actors speak in a play, film, or other performance.

   The understudy knew every one of the lead's lines by heart.

   Delivering his lines with perfect timing, the actor drew laughter from the audience.

   Similarwords, dialogue, script

   Note

   The working word of rehearsal and the film set: actors learn their lines, know them by heart, and deliver them. This meaning exists only in the plural and takes a plural verb (her lines were flawless). Several other meanings share that trait, among them a fortification's front, a hull's shape, a schoolroom punishment and a driver's reins. Lines here means the speech itself, not the script as a document.

3. 3
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of line.

   The seamstress lines each coat with satin.

   A row of oaks lines the long driveway.

   Note

   The verb form shares its spelling with the plural noun, so the sentence around it decides which one you have. As a verb it follows a singular subject. It often teams with up (she lines up the bottles), can mean forming a row along something (an avenue of oaks lines the drive), and on railways can mean setting switches so a train takes a particular track.

4. 4
   nouncountableplural

   A school punishment in which a student repeatedly writes out a set sentence a fixed number of times, and the written sentences themselves.

   She spent her lunch break writing lines as punishment for being late.

   Copying out a hundred lines taught him nothing except resentment.

   Note

   A classroom penalty with its own set phrases. A teacher gives a pupil lines, and the pupil writes them out, usually with a number in front: a hundred lines, 200 lines. The word names both the punishment and the pages it produces, so "I've done my lines" can mean the sentence served or the paper handed in.

   If you don't behave I'll give you lines.

   I had to write out 200 lines.

5. 5
   nouncountableplural

   Military formations arranged to cover an extended position, presenting a front in only one direction toward an enemy.

   The defenders held their lines through three days of bombardment.

   Scouts probed for a weak point in the opposing lines.

   Similarpositions, ranks, defenses

   Note

   A fortification term defined by what it leaves out. Lines are stretched to cover a wide stretch of ground and face the enemy in one direction only, so they offer no defended front to the rear. That is the trade they make: breadth instead of all-round protection. Defenders hold their lines, and attackers probe them for a weak point.

6. 6
   nounplural

   The form of a vessel as shown by the outlines of its vertical, horizontal, and oblique sections.

   Naval architects refined the lines of the hull to reduce drag.

   The clipper's graceful lines made it one of the fastest ships of its day.

   Similarcontours, shape, form, outline

   Note

   A ship's shape read through its cross-sections. Cut the hull vertically, horizontally and at an angle, and the outlines of those cuts together fix its form, traditionally drawn up as a lines plan for the builders to follow. Admirers borrow the word for a vessel's look (a clipper's graceful lines), but in the shipyard it names exact geometry.

7. 7
   nounUScountableplural

   The reins by which a driver guides and controls a horse.

   He gathered the lines and clucked to start the horses moving.

   A gentle tug on the lines turned the carriage onto the lane.

   Similarreins

   Note

   An American driver's word for the reins. It belongs to horses guided by someone driving them, as in a carriage or a wagon team. A driver gathers the lines to set off and turns with a tug on them. Elsewhere the same straps are simply reins, so lines in this sense marks the speaker or setting as American.

8. 8
   nounplural

   A certificate confirming a person's membership in a church.

   He produced his lines to prove he had been received into the parish.

   Before the wedding, the priest asked the couple for their lines.

   Similarcertificate, papers, credentials

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