baseline

1. 1.

   an imaginary line or standard by which things are measured or compared

   “the established a baseline for the budget”

   Broaderstandard
2. 2.

   the back line bounding each end of a tennis or handball court; when serving the server must not step over this line

   Synonymsservice line

   Broaderline
3. 3.

   the lines a baseball player must follow while running the bases

   Broaderline

Other forms of baseline

plural

baselines·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about baseline

What does baseline mean?

baseline means "an imaginary line or standard by which things are measured or compared". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in baseline?

baseline has 2 syllables: base-line. The stress falls on "base". In IPA it is /ˈbeɪˌslaɪn/.

What is another word for baseline?

Close synonyms include service line. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is baseline a common word?

baseline is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.