Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To fit a covering to the inside surface of.
- transitive verb To cover the inner surface of.
- transitive verb To fill plentifully, as with money or food.
- idiom (line (one's) pockets) To make a profit, especially by illegitimate means.
- noun Mathematics A geometric figure formed by a point moving along a fixed direction and the reverse direction.
- noun A thin continuous mark, as that made by a pen, pencil, or brush applied to a surface.
- noun A similar mark cut or scratched into a surface.
- noun A crease in the skin, especially on the face; a wrinkle.
- noun A real or imaginary mark positioned in relation to fixed points of reference.
- noun A degree or circle of longitude or latitude drawn on a map or globe.
- noun The equator. Used with the.
- noun A border or boundary.
- noun A demarcation.
- noun A contour or an outline.
- noun A mark used to define a shape or represent a contour.
- noun Any of the marks that make up the formal design of a picture.
- noun A cable, rope, string, cord, or wire.
- noun Nautical A rope used aboard a ship.
- noun A fishing line.
- noun A clothesline.
- noun A cord or tape used, as by builders or surveyors, for measuring, leveling, or straightening.
- noun A pipe or system of pipes for conveying a fluid.
- noun An electric-power transmission cable.
- noun A wire or system of wires connecting telephone or telegraph systems.
- noun An open or functioning telephone connection.
- noun A passenger or cargo system of public or private transportation, as by ship, aircraft, or bus, usually over a definite route.
- noun A company owning or managing such a system.
- noun A railway track or system of tracks.
- noun A particular section of a railway network.
- noun A course of progress or movement; a route.
- noun A general method, manner, or course of procedure.
- noun A manner or course of procedure determined by a specified factor.
- noun An official or prescribed policy.
- noun A general concept or model.
- noun The condition of being in proper or aligned position.
- noun A condition of agreement or correspondence.
- noun One's trade, occupation, or field of interest.
- noun Range of competence.
- noun Merchandise or services of a similar or related nature.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word line.
Examples
-
The senate, under reid, has drawn so many lines in the sand, it's beginning to look like a football field --- a new line every ten yards. harry is famous for saying things like, ���This is where we draw the line��� and when someone, anyone, challenges him, he runs and draws another line in the sand.
American Justice is At Risk. What Are You Doing About it? 2009
-
You have to tow the party line to get the nomination, even though that \'party line\ 'is so far out of the mainstream.'
-
The crossing points are called nodal points, the closed sections between the nodal points a mesh and each part of the line mesh line.
4. Power transmission and distribution in power supply systems Frank Ponemunski 1991
-
_ -- In dealing with the action of travelling loads much assistance may be obtained by using a line termed an _influence line_.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" Various
-
Nations and to the Cherokees, that notwithstanding the former of these nations had ceded the property in the lands to his Majesty, yet no settlements shall be made beyond that line, it is our duty to report to your Lordships our opinion, that it would on that account be highly improper to comply with the request of the memorial, _so far as it includes any lands beyond the said line_.
Report of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations on the Petition of the Honourable Thomas Walpole, Benjamin Franklin, John Sargent, and Samuel Wharton, Esquires, and their Associates 1772 Great Britain. Board of Trade
-
In this diagram, the line standing for the _attribute complement_, like the _object line_, is a continuation of the predicate line; but notice the difference in the little mark separating the
Graded Lessons in English an Elementary English Grammar Consisting of One Hundred Practical Lessons, Carefully Graded and Adapted to the Class-Room Brainerd Kellogg
-
In this diagram, the line standing for the _attribute complement_, like the _object line_, is a continuation of the predicate line; but notice the difference in the little mark separating the
Graded Lessons in English an Elementary English Grammar Consisting of One Hundred Practical Lessons, Carefully Graded and Adapted to the Class-Room Brainerd Kellogg
-
In this diagram, the line standing for the _attribute complement_, like the _object line_, is a continuation of the predicate line; but notice the difference in the little mark separating the
Graded Lessons in English an Elementary English Grammar Consisting of One Hundred Practical Lessons, Carefully Graded and Adapted to the Class-Room Brainerd Kellogg
-
This line is called the _blue line_ and care should be taken that it does not reach the zinc and cause a deposit of copper to be placed thereon.
Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. George Patterson 1910
-
A line composed of one wire and the earth is called a _grounded line_; a line composed of two wires not needing the earth as a conductor is called a _metallic circuit_.
Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. George Patterson 1910
-
The Kármán line is the unofficial altitude at which space begins, about 62 miles up.
Axios AM Marc Andreessen 2021
Related Words
synonyms (981)
Words with the same meaning
- DMZ
- Indian file
- L
- MO
- Spenserian stanza
- WATS
- WATS line
- Zeitgeist
- abut
- accommodation
- accompaniment
- accord
- accordance
- aceldama
- acknowledgment
- acquiescence
- acquire
- action
- activity
- adaptation
- adaption
- adjoin
- adjustment
- advance guard
- affiliation
- aftermath
- agreement
- aim
- air
- air lane
- airhead
- algorithm
- align
- aligned
- allocate
- allot
- alto
- anagnorisis
- ancestry
- angle
- animal kingdom
- answer
- antistrophe
- apparentation
- apportion
- approach
- architectonics
- architecture
- area
- argosy
- argument
- aria
- arrange
- arrange for
- arrangement
- array
- art
- articulation
- assemble
- assortment
- atmosphere
- attack
- autarky
- autolithograph
- avant-garde
- azimuth
- background
- bag
- balance
- band
- bank
- bar
- bar line
- baritone
- bass
- basso continuo
- basso ostinato
- bassus
- battle line
- battle site
- battlefield
- battleground
- be a printmaker
- beachhead
- bearing
- beat
- befringe
- belt
- bent
- billet
- bimetallism
- bind
- birth
- blarney
- blaze
- blaze a trail
- blemish
- block in
- block out
- blood
- bloodline
- blotch
- book
- border
- border line
- borderline
- bottoms
- bound
- boundary
- boundary condition
- boundary line
- bourn
- brace
- braid
- brail
- branch
- brand
- break boundary
- breakoff point
- breed
- bridgehead
- brief
- brood
- brushwork
- burden
- burr
- bush
- business
- business letter
- butt
- buzz
- cable
- cable railway
- calling
- canto
- cantus
- cantus figuratus
- cantus planus
- caravan
- card
- career
- career building
- careerism
- carve
- cast
- catalog goods
- catastrophe
- catena
- catenation
- cavalcade
- ceil
- ceiling
- chain
- chain reaction
- chaining
- chalk
- chalk out
- chalk up
- character
- characterization
- check
- check off
- chisel
- chiseling
- chit
- chorus
- cicatrize
- circuit
- circumscription
- clan
- class
- clue
- co-ax
- coaxial cable
- cog railway
- collocate
- color
- column
- combat area
- combat zone
- coming after
- commodities
- common ancestry
- communicate
- communication
- compass
- compliance
- complication
- compose
- composition
- con
- concatenation
- concentric cable
- conclusion
- condensation trail
- confine
- conformance
- conformation other-direction
- conformity
- congruity
- connection
- consanguinity
- consecution
- consecutiveness
- consequence
- consistency
- consumer goods
- consumer items
- continuation
- continuity
- continuo
- continuum
- contour
- contract for
- contrail
- contralto
- contrivance
- conventionality
- coordinate
- cord
- correspondence
- cortege
- couplet
- course
- cover
- covert
- craft
- crease
- creed
- cribble
- crinkle
- crocodile
- cross-hatching
- crosshatch
- cup of tea
- current
- cut
- cutoff
- cutoff point
- cycle
- dapple
- dash
- data
- deadline
- deal
- deal out
- define
- degree
- delimit
- delimitation
- delineate
- delineation
- demarcate
- demarcation
- deme
- demitint
- denomination
- denouement
- derivation
- descant
- descendant
- descent
- description
- design
- designation
- determinant
- develop
- development
- device
- diagonal
- dig up
- direct line
- direction
- direction line
- discolor
- dispatch
- dispose
- distaff side
- distich
- distribute
- division line
- doctrine
- dot
- dotted line
- double
- draft
- draftsmanship
- dress
- dress parade
- drift
- drone
- dynasty
- echelon
- economic self-sufficiency
- edge
- edging
- effect
- effects
- el
- electric railway
- elevated
- elevated railway
- embankment
- employ
- employment
- enchase
- end
- endless belt
- endless round
- enemy line
- enframe
- engage
- engrave
- engravement
- engraving
- envoi
- episode
- epistle
- epode
- etch
- etching
- extension
- extraction
- extremity
- fable
- face
- falling action
- family
- farthest outpost
- fashion
- favor
- feather
- feature
- feeder
- feeder line
- female line
- fettle
- field
- field of battle
- field of blood
- figuration
- figure
- figured bass
- filament
- file
- filiation
- fill
- fillet
- finish
- firing line
- first line
- fix
- flax
- fleck
- fleet
- flexibility
- flight path
- floor
- flotilla
- flyover
- folk
- following
- forefront
- form
- form a line
- formation
- formulate
- forte
- fortify
- frame
- freckle
- free enterprise
- free trade
- fringe
- front
- front line
- front rank
- front-runner
- frontier
- funeral
- fur
- furrow
- game
- gamut
- gash
- gem-engraving
- genealogy
- genre
- gens
- genus
- get hold of
- get in line
- gimmick
- glacial movement
- glass-cutting
- glyptic
- goods
- goods for sale
- governmentalism
- gradation
- graft
- grain
- grave
- graving
- gravity-operated railway
- groove
- ground bass
- grouping
- guiding principles
- guise
- hachure
- hairline
- half tint
- handicraft
- harmony
- hatch
- hatching
- hawser
- heading
- hedge
- heir
- helmsmanship
- hem
- heptastich
- heritage
- hexastich
- high-water mark
- hint
- hire
- horse railway
- house
- hum
- ilk
- impregnate
- impress
- imprint
- in a row
- in accord
- in agreement
- in control
- in harmony
- in line
- in step
- incident
- incise
- incision
- inclination
- information
- inlay
- inscribe
- inscript
- inscription
- instruction
- interface
- interline
- inventory
- itinerary
- job
- job lot
- join
- junction
- keeping
- kidney
- killing ground
- kin
- kind
- label
- laissez-faire
- laissez-faireism
- landing beach
- lap
- lath
- lay
- lead
- ledger line
- letter
- lie
- lifework
- ligament
- ligation
- ligature
- light railroad
- limen
- limit
- limitation
- limiting factor
- line of action
- line of battle
- line of business
- line of demarcation
- line of descent
- line of direction
- line of goods
- line of march
- line of work
- line segment
- line up
- lineage
- lineament
- lineation
- lined up
- linen
- lines
- lining
- list
- lithograph
- load
- local color
- localism
- logical sequence
- long suit
- lot
- low-water mark
- lower limit
- mail-order goods
- main current
- main interest
- main line
- mainstream
- make
- make a mark
- make prints
- male line
- malleability
- managed currency
- manner
- manner of working
- march
- march past
- marge
- margin
- marginate
- mark
- mark off
- mark out
- marking
- marshal
- matriclan
- means
- measure
- melodia
- melodic line
- melody
- merchandise
- merchant fleet
- merchant navy
- message
- mete
- method
- methodology
- metier
- metro
- mission
- missive
- mode
- mode of operation
- mode of procedure
- modus operandi
- mold
- monorail
- monostich
- monotone
- mood
- motif
- motion
- motorcade
- mottle
- movement
- mule train
- mystery
- mythos
- nation
- nature
- navigation
- navy
- neighbor
- nexus
- nick
- noninterference
- nonintervention
- notch
- note
- nullification
- number
- obedience
- oblique
- observance
- obtain
- occupation
- octastich
- octave
- octet
- offerings
- offspring
- orbit
- order
- order of succession
- ordinate
- organize
- orientation
- orthodoxy
- ottava rima
- outguard
- outline
- outpost
- pack
- pack train
- pad
- painterliness
- parade
- parcel out
- parentage
- part
- party line
- party principle
- passage
- path
- patriclan
- pencil
- pendulum
- pentastich
- people
- pepper
- periodicity
- peripeteia
- perspective
- persuasion
- pet subject
- phratry
- phyle
- phylum
- piloting
- pioneer
- piste
- pitch
- place
- plain chant
- plain song
- plan
- plan of action
- planned economy
- plant kingdom
- platform
- plenum
- pliancy
- plot
- plumb
- point
- policy
- polity
- pomp
- portray
- position
- position paper
- postcard
- posteriority
- posterity
- postposition
- powder train
- practice
- precursor
- prepare
- price supports
- prick
- prick song
- primrose path
- principles
- private line
- procedure
- proceeding
- process
- procession
- profession
- profile
- program
- progression
- prolongation
- promenade
- protection
- protectionism
- public policy
- pump-priming
- punch
- punctuate
- puncture
- purfle
- purl
- pursuit
- put in place
- quarter
- quatrain
- queue
- queue up
- quilt
- race
- rack railway
- rack-and-pinion railway
- racket
- rail
- rail line
- railhead
- railroad
- railway
- rally
- range
- rank
- ready
- ready for
- recognition
- reconcilement
- reconciliation
- recurrence
- refrain
- regiment
- reply
- rescript
- reticulation
- review
- rhyme royal
- riddle
- rim
- rising action
- road
- roadbed
- roadway
- role
- rope
- rotation
- rough in
- rough out
- round
- route
- routine
- row
- rule
- run
- sales pitch
- scale
- scar
- scarify
- scent
- scheme
- score
- scoring
- scotch
- scout
- scrape
- scratch
- scratching
- script
- sculpture
- sea lane
- seal
- seam
- seat of war
- secondary plot
- sectionalism
- secure
- seed
- sell out
- separatrix
- sept
- septet
- sequel
- sequence
- series
- sestet
- set
- set off
- set out
- set up
- sextet
- shading
- shadow
- shambles
- shape
- shipping
- ships
- shortcut
- side
- sideline
- sides
- sidetrack
- siding
- sign up
- signs
- silhouette
- single file
- sketch
- skimmington
- skirt
- slant
- slash
- slashing
- solidus
- solo
- solo part
- song
- song and dance
- soprano
- soprano part
- sort
- space
- spear side
- spearhead
- specialism
- speciality
- specialization
- specialty
- species
- speck
- speckle
- spectrum
- speech
- spiel
- spindle side
- splotch
- spoor
- spot
- spun yarn
- staff
- stain
- stamp
- stanza
- staples
- start
- starting line
- starting point
- stave
- steerage
- steering
- stem
- stigmatize
- stipple
- stippling
- stirps
- stock
- stock-in-trade
- story
- straight
- straight line
- straighten
- strain
- strand
- strategy
- streak
- streaking
- stream
- street railway
- streetcar line
- striate
- striation
- strictness
- string
- string out
- strip
- stripe
- striping
- stroke
- strong point
- strophe
- structure
- stuff
- style
- subject
- subjunction
- sublineation
- subplot
- subway
- succession
- successiveness
- successor
- suffixation
- swath
- swing
- switch
- switchback
- sword side
- syllable
- system
- tack
- tactics
- tailback
- tapeline
- target date
- tattoo
- technicality
- technique
- telegraph cable
- telegraph line
- telephone
- telephone line
- tendency
- tendon
- tenor
- tercet
- term
- terminal
- terminal date
- terminus
- terza rima
- tetrastich
- the drill
- the front
- the general tendency
- the how
- the like of
- the likes of
- the main course
- the way of
- theater
- theater of operations
- theater of war
- thematic development
- theme
- thing
- thong
- thorough bass
- thread
- threshold
- tick
- tick off
- tier
- time allotment
- time spirit
- tint
- tone
- tonnage
- tool
- tooling
- topic
- totem
- touch
- tour
- trace
- traces
- track
- trade
- trail
- train
- traject
- trajectory
- trajet
- tram
- tramline
- treatment
- treble
- trend
- trestle
- tribe
- trim
- triplet
- tristich
- trolley line
- true
- trunk
- trunk line
- tube
- tune
- turnout
- twine
- twist
- type
- type-cutting
- uncover
- under control
- underground
- underline
- underlining
- underscore
- underscoring
- undersong
- uniformity
- up for
- upper limit
- values
- van
- vanguard
- vapor trail
- variety
antonyms (1)
Words with the opposite meaning
equivalents (1)
Other words for 'line'
hypernyms (17)
Words that are more generic or abstract
same context (35)
Words that are found in similar contexts
cross-references (198)
Cross-references
- abdominal line
- absorption-lines
- aclinic
- agreement
- all along the line
- asymptotic line
- baillarger's line
- basal lines
- basiobregmatic line
- becket-line
- black line
- blackiston's line
- blood line
- bottom-set line
- break line
- breeding in the line
- brocard line
- broken
- by line
- casting-line
- center-line
- check-line
- circular
- conjugate lines on a surface
- course
- curved line
- curved line of the ilium
- curved lines of the occipital bone
- cutting-down line
- cyclifying
- datum-line
- dimension lines
- directed right line
- direction
- dobie's line
- double line
- douglas's line
- dressed line
- enhanced line
- equinoctial line
- equipotential
- euler's line
- facial line of camper
- farre's line
- fast line
- fiducial line
- fraunhofer's lines
- frontal minimum line
- frégier line
- generating line
- geodesic
- geodetic line
- geometrical line
- gunter's line
- halleyan line
- hard lines
- helispherical line
- horizontal line
- hour-lines
- iliopectineal line
- imaginary
- in line
- index of a line
- influence line
- initial line
- isoclinal
- isophasal line
- isopiestic line
- isotimal line
- lateral line
- leger line
- lemoine line
- lesser line
- light water-line
- line abreast
- line and level
- line at infinity
- line coordinates
- line drawing
- line geometry
- line of apsides
- line of ascent
- line of battle
- line of bearing
- line of beauty
- line of center
- line of coincidence
- line of consanguinity
- line of curvature
- line of daubenton
- line of defense
- line of departure
- line of dip
- line of direction
- line of distance
- line of equilibrium
- line of fire
- line of force
- line of health
- line of life
- line of lines
- line of march
- line of motion
- line of nodes
- line of regard
- line of saturn
- line of slope
- line of spherical curvature
- line of syzygies
- line of the head
- line of the heart
- line of the liver
- line of the sun
- line of vicq d'azyr
- line of weakness
- line with intervals
- line-complex
- line-of-battle ship
- lines
- lines of level
- lines of operation
- lining out stuff
- load water-line
- loaded line
- logistic
- mammary line
- mammillary line
- marriage lines
- mason and dixon's line
- mechanical line
- median line
- meridian line
- moment of two straight lines
- multi-station line
- multiple lines
- nasal line
- naso-alveolar line
- nasolabial line
- natural line of sight
- nebular line
- neumann lines
- neutral line
- nélaton's line
- oblique line of the lower jaw
- officer of the line
- on the line
- one-way line
- oppel's lines
- organs of the lateral lines
- parasternal line
- paris line
- party-line
- pascal line
- philo's line
- polar line
- polystation line
- popliteal line
- quadrate line
- redan line
- right line
- ship of the line
- shotted line
- simson line
- singular line
- spiric line
- steam line
- stream-line
- supracondylar lines of the femur
- telegraph-line
- telluric line
- temporal inferior line
- temporal lines
- the line
- to bring into line
- to draw the line
- to drop a line
- to give line
- to give one line
- to keep a line
- to line bees
- to line men
- to line one's jacket
- to line out
- to make even lines
- to part a line
- to ride the line
- to sound a line
- to sound all line
- to stop a line
- to wet one's line
- tonal line
- trapezoid line
- vicq d'azyr's line
- visual line
- vortex-line
- wallace's line
- white line
- wollaston line
rhymes (78)
Words with the same terminal sound
- Aline
- Cline
- Combine
- Dine
- Heine
- Jain
- Klein
- Kline
- Quine
- Rhine
- Stein
- Strine
- Tyne
- affine
- align
- aline
- assign
- benign
- brine
- cline
- combine
- confine
- consign
- decline
- define
- design
- dine
- disincline
- divine
- ein
- enshrine
- entwine
- fein
- fine
- gyn
- hine
- incline
- intertwine
- lyne
- malign
- mine
- nine
- opine
- pine
- prine
- pyne
- quine
- realign
- reassign
- recline
- recombine
- redefine
- redesign
- refine
- resign
- rhein
- rhyne
- rine
- sein
- shine
- shrine
- shyne
- sign
- sine
- spine
- stein
- stine
- supine
- swine
- thein
- thine
- tine
- trine
- twine
- vine
- whine
- wine
- zine
oroboros commented on the word line
Contronymic in the sense of the rectilinear align and bee-line vs. 'lining' which is curviform, enclosing, e.g., cup-shaped or spherical depending on the object or countainer lined. Also: line as in devious; a dissimulation.
January 6, 2007
adoarns commented on the word line
In the hospital, usu. means a central line, a kind of catheter placed into one of the main veins of the body draining into the heart. These are more complicated and hazardous to insert then a regular IV and are usually put in by physicians or nurse practitioners.
January 26, 2008
alexz commented on the word line
in cycling, a line is the optimal path down a trail or roadway
January 12, 2013