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say it: lahyn
line is a noun and verb meaning "a formation of people or things one beside another". It carries 36 recorded senses.
a mark that is long relative to its width
“He drew a line on the chart”
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”
a length (straight or curved) without breadth or thickness; the trace of a moving point
text consisting of a row of words written across a page or computer screen
“the letter consisted of three short lines”
“there are six lines in every stanza”
a single frequency (or very narrow band) of radiation in a spectrum
a fortified position (especially one marking the most forward position of troops)
“they attacked the enemy's line”
military
a course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating a truth or falsehood; the methodical process of logical reasoning
“I can't follow your line of reasoning”
a conductor for transmitting electrical or optical signals or electric power
a spatial location defined by a real or imaginary unidimensional extent
a slight depression or fold in the smoothness of a surface
“his face has many lines”
“ironing gets rid of most wrinkles”
a pipe used to transport liquids or gases
“a pipeline runs from the wells to the seaport”
the road consisting of railroad track and roadbed
a telephone connection
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
“he's not in my line of business”
in games or sports; a mark indicating positions or bounds of the playing area
(often plural) a means of communication or access
“it must go through official channels”
“lines of communication were set up between the two firms”
plural
a particular kind of product or merchandise
“a nice line of shoes”
a commercial organization serving as a common carrier
space for one line of print (one column wide and 1/14 inch deep) used to measure advertising
the maximum credit that a customer is allowed
persuasive but insincere talk that is usually intended to deceive or impress
“`let me show you my etchings' is a rather worn line”
“he has a smooth line but I didn't fall for it”
“that salesman must have practiced his fast line of talk”
a short personal letter
“drop me a line when you get there”
a conceptual separation or distinction
“there is a narrow line between sanity and insanity”
mechanical system in a factory whereby an article is conveyed through sites at which successive operations are performed on it
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.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for line come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.