Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- A line marking the boundary between the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland, established between 1763 and 1767 by the British surveyors Charles Mason (1730–1787) and Jeremiah Dixon (1733–1779). It was regarded as the division between free and slave states before the Civil War.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun The boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, as run before the Revolution (1764-1767) by two English astronomers named Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon.
- proper noun The boundary between the free and slave states at the time of the American Civil War.
Etymologies
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Examples
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I wonder if the term Mason-Dixon Line came from the Golf attire required at the Mason Golf and Country Club, being long pants, while to the South the attire at the Dixon Golf and Country Club permitted shorts except not Denim.
"Obama's Golf Shorts: Should Grown Men Wear Shorts? (PHOTOS, POLL)." Ann Althouse 2009
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The Mason-Dixon Line was the resolution of a border dispute between the then British colonies of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and West
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Frankly, I don't know why anyone would consider buying one -- especially if he or she lives north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Battery-powered cars and other projects government should avoid Jennifer Rubin 2011
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Another poll showed the Texan losing some ground in New Hampshire, raising the prospect that his appeal isn't extending north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
As Perry Slips, Lead Narrows Patrick O'Connor 2011
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Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists (and to some extent, Episcopalians) all split over slavery, mainly along the Mason-Dixon Line.
Gay Debate Mirrors 19th-Century Church Dispute On Slavery 2010
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Jes 'seems t'me that y'all in Texas go outcha way t'make the res o'th wurl think that anythin th't moves on 2 legs b'low the Mason-Dixon Line o east of Albuquerque mus be reetards.
A smile and a shrug 2010
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But when the Democrats ran more forthright liberals from north of the Mason-Dixon Line, e.g. McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis and Kerry, they always went down to defeat.
Peter Connolly: The Democrats Strange New Civil War Peter Connolly 2010
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When most people think of the Mason-Dixon Line, they think of it as the divider between North and South.
Called to Coach Bobby Bowden 2010
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Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists (and to some extent, Episcopalians) all split over slavery, mainly along the Mason-Dixon Line.
Gay Debate Mirrors 19th-Century Church Dispute On Slavery 2010
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But when the Democrats ran more forthright liberals from north of the Mason-Dixon Line, e.g. McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis and Kerry, they always went down to defeat.
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