The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - line° n.

1) mark, pencil-mark, pen-mark, rule, score; stroke, underline, underscore; diagonal, slash, virgule, shilling-mark, solidus, separatrix, oblique: The lines on this paper are very faint. Draw a red line under your name. A line separates the numerator from the denominator. 2) strip, belt, stripe, band, border, edge, edging: Do you see that line of trees? Put a heavy black line round the obituary notices. 3) wrinkle, crease, crinkle, furrow, crow's-foot: He has many lines on his face. The palmist said I have a long lifeline. 4) border, borderline, frontier, limit, boundary; demarcation, threshold: We crossed the line into Italy. I don't mind cooking dinner, but I draw the line at washing the dishes. There is a fine line between genius and insanity. 5) outline, silhouette, contour, figure, profile: The line of the skirt is too straight. 6) row, rank, column, file, train, parade, cortege or cortЉge, procession, Brit queue, Colloq Brit crocodile, tailback: I stood in line for six hours for tickets. The line wound all the way round the block. 7) field, area, activity, forte, speciality or chiefly US and Canadian also specialty, specialization, business, profession, occupation, (line of) work, job, vocation, pursuit, trade, calling, employment, Colloq racket, game: Saying that he was a computer programmer, he asked me my line. 8) note, word, card, postcard, letter, US postal card: Drop me a line when you get there. 9) course, direction, path, way, route, road, track, procedure, tack, policy, strategy, tactic(s) , approach, plan: What line will our competitors take to win the account? I adopted the line of least resistance. 10) information, data, word, lead, clue, hint: Interpol is trying to get a line on where he might be found. 1) 1 cord, string, thread, twine, yarn, strand, filament, rope, cable, hawser: The anchor line became entangled. Hang the clothes out on the line. 12 track, railway or US and Canadian also railroad: The accident on the southern line is delaying all the trains. 1) 3 telephone, wire, cable: We have three lines at the office. He tried all day to get you on the line. 14 front (line) , vanguard, formation: These men have been in the line for weeks. Captain Hughes was given command of a ship of the line. 15 ancestry, descent, stock, lineage, succession, family, parentage, extraction, heritage, genealogy: She comes from a long line of horsewomen. 1) 6 assortment, stock, merchandise, offerings, goods, brand, make, type, kind, variety: What line of lawnmower do you distribute? 17 Often, lines. part, role, speech, script, words, Theatre US sides: I know my lines by heart for the school play. She has one line in the third act. 18 story, (sales) pitch, blarney, Colloq spiel, song and dance, Slang con: He handed her a line about being lonely, but she soon found out why. 19 in or into line. a aligned, in alignment, true, straight, in a row, plumb: Bring the balusters for the railing in line. b in agreement, in accord, in accordance, in conformity, in step, in harmony, US lined up: We are bringing the staffing requirements into line with the council's recommendations. c Usually, into line. under or in control: Were you able to bring the other board members into line? 20 in line for. ready for, short-listed for, on the short list for, up for, being considered for, under consideration for, a candidate for, in the running for: We all think she's in line for a promotion. --v. 2) 1 rule, inscribe, score, underline, underscore: If you use lined paper, your writing wouldn't be so wavy. 2) 2 edge, border, fringe: Millions lined the streets for the parade. 2) 3 line up. a organize, prepare, ready, assemble, set up, put or set in place, develop, formulate, arrange (for) , coordinate: Everything is all lined up for the big event. b arrange for, secure, get (hold of) , obtain, contract for; uncover, dig up, acquire, engage, hire, sign (up) , contract with, hire, employ: We lined up an eXCELLENT after-dinner speaker. c queue (up) , form a line, get in line, form ranks or columns: Hundreds of us lined up for meals three times a day. d align, array, straighten, order: These paragraphs should line up. Line up the troops for inspection at 0600.