line

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When journalists called to get into a White House conference call the line was a bit steamy with an operator telling the press if they wanted anything nasty to supply their credit card number.

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Definitions (413)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (93)

  1. noun Mathematics A geometric figure formed by a point moving along a fixed direction and the reverse direction.
  2. noun A thin continuous mark, as that made by a pen, pencil, or brush applied to a surface.
  3. noun A similar mark cut or scratched into a surface.
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

system ·  point ·  area ·  light ·  side ·  way ·  body ·  figure

Used in the same contextWord Family

line:   lines ·  lining ·  lined
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English, from Old English līne and from Old French ligne, both from Latin līnea, string, cord, from feminine of līneus, of linen, from līnum, thread, linen; see librevema.gifno- in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English linen, from line, flax, linen cloth, from Old English līn, from Latin līnum; see librevema.gifno- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English line, lin, lyn, from Anglo-Saxon līn, flax, linen, = Old Saxon OFries. līn = Dutch lijn = Middle Low German līn = Old High German Middle High German līn, German lein = Icelandic līn = Swedish Danish lin, flax, = Gothic (Moesogothic) lein, linen (not recorded in sense of ‘flax’); cf. Old French F. lin = Spanish Italian lino = Portuguese linho, from Latin līnum = Greek λίνον = Old Bulgarian linŭ= Lithuanian linai = Irish līn, lion = Welsh llin = Breton lin, flax (in L., LGr., etc., also linen, a linen garment, a thread, line, cord, rope, etc.); not found in Sanskrit, etc. It is probable but not certain that the Teutonic, Slav., etc., forms are derived from the L. or Greek Hence (from Anglo-Saxon līn) linen, lint, linseed, linnet, etc., and ult. (from Latin linum) English line, line, etc.
  2. (a) from Middle English line, lyne, a cord, a net, a snare, from Anglo-Saxon līne = Dutch lijn = Old High German līna, Middle High German līne, German leine = Icelandic līna = Danish line = Swedish lina, a cord, rope; mixed with (b) Middle English line, lyne, ligne, from Old French ligne, French ligne = Provencal ligna = Spanish linea = Portuguese linha = Italian linea = D. Middle High German G. Swedish Danish linie, a line (mark), from Latin līnea, also līnia, a linen thread, a string, line, feature, outline, line of descent, etc., orig. feminine of līneus (= Greek λίνεος, λινοῦσ, σ2, of flax, linen, from līnum, flax, linen: see line. It is uncertain whether the words of the first group (a) are Teutonic derivatives of the Teutonic form line, or are borrowed or adapted from Latin līnum, flax, linen, a linen thread, cord, rope, or, less prob., like the words of the second group (b), from the deriv. līnea. The two groups are entirely confused in English: see line.
  3. from French ligner = Spanish linear = Italian ineare (cf. Dutch lijnen, liniëren = German liniren = Danish liniere = Swedish liniera), line, from Latin lineare, reduce to a straight line, Middle Latin draw lines upon, from linea, a line: see line, n. In defs. 6, 7, the senses touch those of line, v.
  4. from Middle English linen, cover on the inside, double; prob. orig. double with linen, from line, linen: see line, n.
 

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/laɪn/
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