English

Etymology

Pronunciation

• , /laɪn/, /laIn/
• Rhymes with: -aɪn

Noun

1. A rope, cord, string, or thread; a slender, strong cord, or a cord of any thickness; a hawser.

   Who so layeth lines for to latch fowls. — Piers Plowman

   fishing line, anchor line, clothesline, towline

2. A path through two or more points (see also segment); a continuous mark.
   • 1816: Percy Shelley, The Daemon of the World

     The atmosphere in flaming sparkles flew; / And where the burning wheels / Eddied above the mountain’s loftiest peak / Was traced a line of lightning.

3. A more or less threadlike mark of a pen, pencil, or graver; any long mark.

   a chalk line

4. An infinitely extending one-dimensional figure that has no curvature; one that has length but not breadth or thickness.
5. In the context of "geometry|informal": A line segment; a continuous finite segment of such a figure.
6. A row of letters, text, words, etc, written or printed, as on paper or a CRT screen; especially a row of words extending across a page or column.
   • 1609: Shakespeare, Sonnet 71

     Nay if you read this line, remember not, / The hand that writ it.

7. A sentence of dialogue in a script or screenplay, or delivered by an actor or performer.

   It’s a small part, I have 12 lines in the movie. — Geneveve Bujold in Earthquake

8. The official, stated position (or set of positions) of an individual or group, particularly a political or religious faction.

   Remember, your answers must match the party line.

   Their line is gone out through all the earth. — Ps. xix. 4

9. A letter, a written form of communication.

   Drop me a line.

10. The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, a telephone or internet cable between two points: a telephone or network connection.

    I tried to make a call, but the line was dead.

    a dedicated line

    a shared line

11. A more-or-less straight sequence of people, objects, etc., often waiting to be processed or dealt with, a queue; a continued series or rank.

    The line forms on the right.

    There is a line of houses.

12. A row of men who are abreast of one another, whether side by side or some distance apart; opposed to column. #* 1817: Percy Shelley, The Revolt of Islam

    • A band of brothers gathering round me, made, / Although unarmed, a steadfast front, [...] now the line / Of war extended, to our rallying cry / As myriads flocked in love and brotherhood to die.

    Unite thy forces and attack their lines. — Dryden

13. The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery, etc.
14. In the context of "military": A trench or rampart.
    • 1917, John Masefield, The Old Front Line

      This description of the old front line, as it was when the Battle of the Somme began, may some day be of use. [...] It is hoped that this description of the line will be followed by an account of our people's share in the battle.

15. The products or services sold by a business.

    line of business

    product line

16. From the services a business sells, the business itself.

    How many buses does the line have?

    The airline is in danger of bankruptcy.

    A ship of the line.

17. In the context of "fencing|‘line of engagement’": The position in which the fencers hold their swords.
18. An edge of a graph.
19. The horizontal path of a ball towards the batsman (see also length).
20. In the context of "baseball|slang|1800s|‘the line’": The batter’s box.
21. Flax; linen, particularly the longer fiber of flax.

    Garments made of line. — Spenser

22. The course followed by anything in motion; hence, a road or route.

    The arrow descended in a curved line.

    The place is remote from lines of travel.

23. Direction

    the line of sight or the line of vision

24. A verse, or the words which form a certain number of feet, according to the measure.

    In the preceding line Ulysses speaks of Nausicaa. — Broome

25. Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity.

    He is uncommonly powerful in his own line, but it is not the line of a first-rate man. — Coleridge

26. The exterior limit of a figure, plat, or territory; a boundary; a contour; an outline; a demarcation.

    • 1674 — John Milton, Paradise Lost, book IV

      Eden stretchd her Line / From Auran Eastward to the Royal Towrs / Of great Seleucia,

27. A threadlike crease marking the face or the hand; hence, characteristic mark.

    Though on his brow were graven lines austere. — Byron

    He tipples palmistry, and dines On all her fortune-telling lines. — Cleveland

28. Lineament; feature; figure (of one's body).
    • c 1609: Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Cymbeline

      I mean, the lines of my body are as well drawn as his.

29. A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a given person; a family or race; compare lineage.
    • 14th c: Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales

      Of his lineage am I, and his offspring / By very line,

    • c 1604: Shakespeare, Macbeth

      They hail'd him father to a line of kings.

    • 1651: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

      [T]he rest of the history of the Old Testament derives the succession of the line of David to the Captivity, of which line was to spring the restorer of the kingdom of God [...]

30. A connected series of public conveyances, and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.

    a line of stages

    an express line

31. The track and roadbed of a railway; railroad.
32. A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented on a map.
33. In the context of "geography|‘the line’ or ‘equinoctial line’": The equator.

    to cross the line

34. A long tape, or a narrow ribbon of steel, etc., marked with subdivisions, as feet and inches, for measuring; a tapeline.
35. In the context of "biblical": That which was measured by a line, as a field or any piece of land set apart; hence, allotted place of abode.

    The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yes. I have a goodly heritage. — Ps. xvi. 6

36. The proper relative position or adjustment of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working.

    the engine is in line or out of line

37. One of the straight horizontal and parallel prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are placed.
38. In the context of "stock exchange": A number of shares taken by a jobber.
39. In the context of "trade": A series of various qualities and values of the same general class of articles.

    a full line of hosiery

    a line of merinos

40. A measure of length equal to one twelfth of an inch.
    • 1883: Alfred Swaine Taylor, Thomas Stevenson, The principles and practice of medical jurisprudence

      The cutis measures in thickness from a quarter of a line to a line and a half (a line is one-twelfth of an inch).

41. A rope on a nautical vessel. (Usually a rope is still in its packing; usually, once removed, it is 'line'.)
42. In the context of "firefighting": A hose.

Synonyms

• italbrac row of text: row
• italbrac letter: epistle, letter, note
• : straight line
• : line segment

Related terms

• italbrac geometry curve, point, segment

Derived terms

• airline
• anchor line
• assembly line
• baseline
• battle line
• beeline
• bloodline
• borderline
• branch line
• breadline
• Brocard line
• Cayley lines
• cell line
• centerline
• chorus line
• clothesline
• coastline
• critical line
• dateline
• deadline
• Euler line
• fireline
• flow line
• front line
• Gergonne line
• Green Line
• hairline
• headline
• imaginary line
• isogonal line
• isotropic line
• jawline
• lifeline
• line dance/line-dance
• line graph
• line manager
• line of fire
• line of sight
• line segment
• line up
• line-up
• mainline
• milk line
• offline
• online
• on the line
• outline
• ordinary line
• party line
• Pascal lines
• pedal line
• Philo line
• phone line
• pick-up line
• pipeline
• Plücker lines
• polar line
• police line
• power line
• punchline
• racing line
• radical line
• ratline
• real line
• receiving line
• redline
• rhumb line
• ridgeline
• secant line
• shoreline
• sideline
• sign on the dotted line
• skyline
• Simson line
• snow line
• Soddy line
• Solomon’s seal lines
• spring line
• straight line
• streamline
• supply line
• Sylvester’s line problem
• tag line
• tan line
• tangent line
• telegraph line
• telephone line
• timber line
• timeline
• tree line
• toe the line
• transmission line
• transversal line
• trilinear line
• underline
• waterline
• world line
• yellow line

Translations