line
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A path through two or more points.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
lynIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlaɪn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A path through two or more points (compare 'segment'); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
geometryinformal
A line segment; a continuous finite segment of such a figure.
geometry
An infinitely extending one-dimensional figure that has no curvature; one that has length but not breadth or thickness.
A rope, cord, string, or thread, of any thickness.
A procession, either physical or conceptual, which results from the application or effect of a given rationale or other controlling principles of belief, opinion, practice, or phenomenon.
Direction, path.
verb
transitive
To place (objects) into a line (usually used with "up"); to form into a line; to align.
transitive
To place persons or things along the side of for security or defense; to strengthen by adding; to fortify.
transitive
To track (wild bees) to their nest by following their line of flight.
transitive
To measure.
transitive
To fill or supply (something), as a purse with money.
transitive
To form a line along.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A path through two or more points (compare 'segment'); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
Used this way, line is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use line
- “The letter consisted of three short lines.”noun
- “The line of soldiers advanced with their bayonets fixed.”noun
- “I can't follow your line of reasoning.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Having a lining or a liner.
A hit that flies straight out from the batter.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A particular kind of product or merchandise.
A 450-mile line that is supposed to indicate the boundary between the part of Kashmir controlled by India and the part controlled by Pakistan.
The maximum credit that a customer is allowed.
Any organization whose responsibility it is to defend against something.
Any organization whose responsibility it is to defend against something.
The kinship relation between an individual and the individual's progenitors.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
One of the players on the line of scrimmage.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.