Definitions for: Line


[n] the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money; "he's not in my line of business"
[n] acting in conformity; "in line with"; "he got out of line"; "toe the line"
[n] a conductor for transmitting electrical or optical signals or electric power
[n] something (as a cord or rope) that is long and thin and flexible; "a washing line"
[n] the road consisting of railroad track and roadbed
[n] a commercial organization serving as a common carrier
[n] a particular kind of product or merchandise; "a nice line of shoes"
[n] a pipe used to transport liquids or gases; "a pipeline runs from the wells to the seaport"
[n] mechanical system in a factory whereby an article is conveyed through sites at which successive operations are performed on it
[n] a telephone connection
[n] a conceptual separation or demarcation; "there is a narrow line between sanity and insanity"
[n] the methodical process of logical reasoning; "I can't follow your line of reasoning"
[n] (often plural) a means of communication or access; "it must go through official channels"; "lines of communication were set up between the two firms"
[n] a short personal letter; "drop me a line when you get there"
[n] a mark that is long relative to its width; "He drew a line on the chart"; "The substance produced characteristic lines on the spectroscope"
[n] text consisting of a row of words written across a page or column or computer screen; "the letter consisted of three short lines"
[n] a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; "she was humming an air from Beethoven"
[n] the descendants of one individual; "his entire lineage has been warriors"
[n] a connected series of events or actions or developments; "the government took a firm course"; "historians can only point out those lines for which evidence is available"
[n] a formation of people or things one behind another; "the line stretched clear around the corner"; "you must wait in a long line at the checkout counter"
[n] a formation of people or things one beside another; "the line of soldiers advanced with their bayonets fixed"; "they were arrayed in line of battle"; "the cast stood in line for the curtain call"
[n] a spatial location defined by a real or imaginary unidimensional extent
[n] in games or sports; a mark indicating positions or bounds of the playing area
[n] a fortified position (especially one marking the most forward position of troops); "they attacked the enemy's line"
[n] a single frequency (or very narrow band) of radiation in a spectrum
[n] the maximum credit that a customer is allowed
[n] space for one line of print (one column wide and 1/14 inch deep) used to measure advertising
[n] a length (straight or curved) without breadth or thickness; the trace of a moving point
[n] a slight depression in the smoothness of a surface; "his face has many lines"; "ironing gets rid of most wrinkles"
[v] reinforce with fabric; of books
[v] fill plentifully; "line one's pockets"
[v] mark with lines, draw lines on; "The paper was lined"
[v] cover the interior of, as of garments; "line the gloves"
[v] mark with lines; "sorrow had lined his face"
[v] make a mark or lines on a surface; "draw a line"; "trace the outline of a figure in the sand"
[v] be in line with; form a line along; of trees along a river, etc.



Webster (1913) Definition: Line (l[imac]n), n. [OE. lin. See Linen.]
1. Flax; linen. [Obs.] ``Garments made of line.'' --Spenser.

2. The longer and finer fiber of flax.


Line, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lined (l[imac]nd); p. pr. &
vb. n. Lining.] [See Line flax.]
1. To cover the inner surface of; as, to line a cloak with
silk or fur; to line a box with paper or tin.

The inside lined with rich carnation silk. --W.
Browne.

2. To put something in the inside of; to fill; to supply, as
a purse with money.

The charge amounteth very high for any one man's
purse, except lined beyond ordinary, to reach unto.
--Carew.

Till coffee has her stomach lined. --Swift.

3. To place persons or things along the side of for security
or defense; to strengthen by adding anything; to fortify;
as, to line works with soldiers.

Line and new repair our towns of war With men of
courage and with means defendant. --Shak.

4. To impregnate; -- applied to brute animals. --Creech.

Lined gold, gold foil having a lining of another metal.


Line, n. [OE. line, AS. l[=i]ne cable, hawser, prob. from
L. linea a linen thread, string, line, fr. linum flax,
thread, linen, cable; but the English word was influenced by
F. ligne line, from the same L. word linea. See Linen.]
1. A linen thread or string; a slender, strong cord; also, a
cord of any thickness; a rope; a hawser; as, a fishing
line; a line for snaring birds; a clothesline; a towline.

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

2. A more or less threadlike mark of pen, pencil, or graver;
any long mark; as, a chalk line.

3. The course followed by anything in motion; hence, a road
or route; as, the arrow descended in a curved line; the
place is remote from lines of travel.

4. Direction; as, the line of sight or vision.

5. A row of letters, words, etc., written or printed; esp., a
row of words extending across a page or column.

6. A short letter; a note; as, a line from a friend.

7. (Poet.) 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.

8. 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.

9. (Math.) That which has length, but not breadth or
thickness.

10. The exterior limit of a figure, plat, or territory;
boundary; contour; outline.

Eden stretched her line From Auran eastward to the
royal towers Of great Seleucia. --Milton.

11. 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.

12. Lineament; feature; figure. ``The lines of my boy's
face.'' --Shak.

13. A straight row; a continued series or rank; as, a line of
houses, or of soldiers; a line of barriers.

Unite thy forces and attack their lines. --Dryden.

14. A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a
given person; a family or race; as, the ascending or
descending line; the line of descent; the male line; a
line of kings.

Of his lineage am I, and his offspring By very
line, as of the stock real. --Chaucer.

15. A connected series of public conveyances, and hence, an
established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.;
as, a line of stages; an express line.

16. (Geog.)
(a) A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented
on a map.
(b) The equator; -- usually called the line, or
equinoctial line; as, to cross the line.

17. A long tape, or a narrow ribbon of steel, etc., marked
with subdivisions, as feet and inches, for measuring; a
tapeline.

18. (Script.)
(a) A measuring line or cord.

He marketh it out with a line. --Is. xliv.
13.
(b) 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; yea, I have a goodly heritage. --Ps.
xvi. 6.
(c) Instruction; doctrine.

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

19. (Mach.) The proper relative position or adjustment of
parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference
to smooth working; as, the engine is in line or out of
line.

20. The track and roadbed of a railway; railroad.

21. (Mil.)
(a) A row of men who are abreast of one another, whether
side by side or some distance apart; -- opposed to
column.
(b) The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished
from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry,
artillery, etc.

22. (Fort.)
(a) A trench or rampart.
(b) pl. Dispositions made to cover extended positions,
and presenting a front in but one direction to an
enemy.

23. pl. (Shipbuilding) Form of a vessel as shown by the
outlines of vertical, horizontal, and oblique sections.

24. (Mus.) One of the straight horizontal and parallel
prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are
placed.

25. (Stock Exchange) A number of shares taken by a jobber.

26. (Trade) A series of various qualities and values of the
same general class of articles; as, a full line of
hosiery; a line of merinos, etc. --McElrath.

27. The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another,
or the whole of a system of telegraph wires under one
management and name.

28. pl. The reins with which a horse is guided by his driver.
[U. S.]

29. A measure of length; one twelfth of an inch.

Hard lines, hard lot. --C. Kingsley. [See Def. 18.]

Line breeding (Stockbreeding), breeding by a certain family
line of descent, especially in the selection of the dam or
mother.

Line conch (Zo["o]l.), a spiral marine shell ({Fasciolaria
distans}), of Florida and the West Indies. It is marked by
narrow, dark, revolving lines.

Line engraving.
(a) Engraving in which the effects are produced by lines
of different width and closeness, cut with the burin
upon copper or similar material; also, a plate so
engraved.
(b) A picture produced by printing from such an
engraving.

Line of battle.
(a) (Mil. Tactics) The position of troops drawn up in
their usual order without any determined maneuver.
(b) (Naval) The line or arrangement formed by vessels of
war in an engagement.

Line of battle ship. See Ship of the line, below.

Line of beauty (Fine Arts),an abstract line supposed to be
beautiful in itself and absolutely; -- differently
represented by different authors, often as a kind of
elongated S (like the one drawn by Hogarth).

Line of centers. (Mach.)
(a) A line joining two centers, or fulcra, as of wheels
or levers.
(b) A line which determines a dead center. See {Dead
center}, under Dead.

Line of dip (Geol.), a line in the plane of a stratum, or
part of a stratum, perpendicular to its intersection with
a horizontal plane; the line of greatest inclination of a
stratum to the horizon.

Line of fire (Mil.), the direction of fire.

Line of force (Physics), any line in a space in which
forces are acting, so drawn that at every point of the
line its tangent is the direction of the resultant of all
the forces. It cuts at right angles every equipotential
surface which it meets. Specifically (Magnetism), a line
in proximity to a magnet so drawn that any point in it is
tangential with the direction of a short compass needle
held at that point. --Faraday.

Line of life (Palmistry), a line on the inside of the hand,
curving about the base of the thumb, supposed to indicate,
by its form or position, the length of a person's life.

Line of lines. See Gunter's line.

Line of march. (Mil.)
(a) Arrangement of troops for marching.
(b) Course or direction taken by an army or body of
troops in marching.

Line of operations, that portion of a theater of war which
an army passes over in attaining its object. --H. W.
Halleck.

Line of sight (Firearms), the line which passes through the
front and rear sight, at any elevation, when they are
sighted at an object.

Line tub (Naut.), a tub in which the line carried by a
whaleboat is coiled.

Mason and Dixon's line


Line (l[imac]n), v. t.
1. To mark with a line or lines; to cover with lines; as, to
line a copy book.

He had a healthy color in his cheeks, and his face,
though lined, bore few traces of anxiety. --Dickens.

2. To represent by lines; to delineate; to portray. [R.]
``Pictures fairest lined.'' --Shak.

3. To read or repeat line by line; as, to line out a hymn.

This custom of reading or lining, or, as it was
frequently called, ``deaconing'' the hymn or psalm
in the churches, was brought about partly from
necessity. --N. D. Gould.

4. To form into a line; to align; as, to line troops.

To line bees, to track wild bees to their nest by following
their line of flight.

To line up (Mach.), to put in alignment; to put in correct
adjustment for smooth running. See 3d Line, 19.

Synonyms: agate line, air, ancestry, argumentation, assembly line, bank line, blood, blood line, bloodline, business, business line, cable, channel, communication channel, contrast, course, crease, credit line, crinkle, delineate, demarcation, descent, describe, dividing line, draw, furrow, job, line of business, line of credit, line of descent, line of merchandise, line of products, line of reasoning, line of work, lineage, logical argument, melodic line, melodic phrase, melody, note, occupation, origin, outline, parentage, pedigree, personal credit line, personal line of credit, phone line, pipeline, product line, production line, rail line, railway line, run along, seam, short letter, stock, strain, telephone line, trace, transmission line, tune, wrinkle

See Also: abidance, abstract thought, accountancy, accounting, aclinic line, activity, actor's line, agonic line, airline, airline business, airway, Alaskan pipeline, apparent horizon, appointment, area unit, artefact, artifact, ascender, axis, babbitt, balkline, bar line, baseline, battle line, battlefront, baulk-line, becket, berth, bitter end, biz, bottom line, bound, boundary, branch line, breed, by-line, cable system, cable television, cable television service, calling, career, carrier, casuistry, catering, center line, centerline, chorus, chorus line, circumscribe, coax, coax cable, coaxial cable, common carrier, communicating, communication, compliance, conductor, conformation, conformity, conga line, connecter, connection, connective, connector, connexion, construct, consumer credit, contact, contour, contour line, conveyer, conveyer belt, conveyor, conveyor belt, cord, course, cover, craft, credit, credit line, crest, crib, crisscross, cross hair, cross wire, crow's feet, crow's foot, curlicue, current, curve, curved shape, cutis, danger line, dateline, depression, dermatoglyphic, descender, diagonal, differentiation, distinction, divide, dotted line, edge, electrical cable, electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic spectrum, electromagnetic wave, employment, face, factory, family, family line, family tree, fanfare, farming, fault line, fiber optic cable, fibre optic cable, field line, file, fill, fill up, finish line, finishing line, firing line, flight line, flourish, flow, folk, form, formation, foul line, front, front line, gag line, game, gas line, genealogy, geodesic, geodesic line, glissando, goal line, graduation, great circle, guideline, hairline, hatch, head, header, heading, heart line, hemline, hipline, horizon, hot line, idea, impression, imprint, Indian file, inscribe, inter-group communication, isarithm, isogonal line, isogone, isogonic line, isogram, isopleth, itinerary, kinfolk, kinsfolk, land, laniard, lanyard, latitude, laugh line, laugh line, ledger line, leger line, leitmotif, leitmotiv, liaison, lie, life line, lifeline, lifeline, line of battle, line of destiny, line of fate, line of force, line of gab, line of heart, line of inquiry, line of latitude, line of life, line of march, line of poetry, line of questioning, line of Saturn, line of scrimmage, line of sight, line of succession, line of verse, line of vision, linemen, lineup, link, location, logical thinking, love line, loxodrome, lunar latitude, magnetic equator, mainsheet, make full, manufactory, manufacturing plant, mark, mark, mark, mark, mechanical system, medium, melodic theme, mensal line, merchandise, metier, military position, mill, mooring, mooring line, music, musical phrase, musical theme, nock, nonparticulate radiation, office, oil pipeline, opening line, out of-bounds, painter, parallel, parallel of latitude, part, part, party line, path, patter, perimeter, personal letter, phone system, photography, phrase, phratry, picket line, pipage, pipe, piping, place, point of no return, policy, position, position, post, power cable, power line, printer cable, private line, product, profession, punch line, quadrant, quarter-circle, queue, railroad, railroad bed, railroad line, railroad track, railway, railway system, rank, ratlin, ratline, reasoning, red line, reenforce, reinforce, reline, reline, rhumb, rhumb line, rim, rivet line, road, roulade, route, route, row, Rubicon, salt mine, score, scrimmage line, sensible horizon, sept, series, serif, seriph, shaft, shape, sheet, shroud, side, side, sideline, sideline, signature, signature tune, single file, situation, skin, skyline, snow line, sound bite, spectrum line, speech, spiel, sport, spot, spur, spur track, square measure, squiggle, staff line, start, starting line, steamship company, steamship line, straight line, strand, stream, string line, tack, tag line, tegument, telephone system, text, textual matter, theme, theme song, timber line, timberline, toll line, top of the line, towing line, towing rope, towline, towrope, trace, track, trade, trans-Alaska ppipeline, transit, transit line, transportation, transportation system, transporter, trap line, treadmill, tree line, trend line, trunk line, trunk route, verse, verse line, visible horizon, vocation, voice, waiting line, wares, water level, water line, water parting, waterline, watermark, watershed, WATS, WATS line, weather sheet, words, work, write, yardline

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