linen.²

Brit.

/lʌɪn/, U.S.

/laɪn/

Forms: Old English líne, Middle English–1600s lyne, Middle English lin, lingne, Middle English–1500s ligne, lygne, Middle English lyn, lynye, Middle English– line. β. ScottishMiddle English lynge, Middle English–1500s ling.

Etymology: Two words, ultimately of the same etymology, have coalesced. (1) Old English líne weak feminine = Middle Dutch lîne (modern Dutch lijn ), Old High German lîna (Middle High German lîne cord, line, modern German leine cord), Old Norse lína (Swedish lina , Danish line ); either a native Germanic formation on *lîno- flax, line n.¹, or (more probably) an early Germanic adoption of Latin līnea (see below); (2) Middle English ligne , line , < French ligne = Provençal ligna , Portuguese linha (Spanish linea , Italian linea (in learned form)) < popular Latin *linja representing classical Latin līnea (earlier līnia ), originally ‘linen thread’, a substantive use of līnea feminine of līneus (*līnius ) adjective, flaxen, < līnum flax = line n.¹; the substantive use of the adjective is due to ellipsis of some feminine noun, possibly fībra fibre n.In continental Germanic the popular Latin *linja was adopted as Old High German linia (Middle High German, modern German, Dutch, Danish linie).

I. Cord or string (and derived senses).

a. A rope, cord, string; †a leash for dogs or for hawks. Chiefly Nautical or as short for clothesline n., etc. Also applied with words prefixed to particular ‘makes’ of rope, e.g. cod-line, house-line, whale-line. spec. as used by climbers (usually opposed to rope).

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > types of tools generally > [noun] > rope, string, cord, etc.

stringa900

linea1000

lacec1230

cordc1305

whipcord?a1500

thumb-rope1601

thumb-band1639

chord1645

spun-yarn1685

hairline1731

tie-tie1774

rope1841

wire rope2001

the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping dogs or cats > [noun] > keeping or affinity with dogs > place to exercise hounds > collars, leads, etc.

linea1000

collar1377

torretc1386

dog collar1485

doghook1528

terret1530

slip1564

dogwhip1583

trash1611

shangan1787

puzzle-peg1789

puzzle1792

shangy1825

leading-strap1856

nosepiece1865

dog tag1882

lead1893

harness1895

silent whistle1923

standing iron1934

the world > food and drink > hunting > hawking > falconry or hawking equipment > [noun] > leash

creance14..

loync1400

lunea1470

leash1497

line1590

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > mountaineering or climbing > [noun] > artificial aid > types of

runner1688

runner ring1791

ice axec1800

alpenstock1829

rope1838

climbing-iron1857

piolet1868

snap-link1875

prickera1890

middleman('s) knot (also loop, noose, etc.)1892

chock1894

glacier-rope1897

piton1898

run-out1901

belaying-pin1903

snap-ring1903

ironmongery1904

line1907

Tricouni1914

ice claw1920

peg1920

sling1920

ice piton1926

ice hammer1932

karabiner1932

rock piton1934

thread belay1935

mugger1941

running belay1941

piton hammer1943

sky-hook1951

etrier1955

pied d'éléphant1956

rope sling1957

piton runner1959

bong1960

krab1963

rurp1963

ice screw1965

nut1965

traverse line1965

jumar1966

knife-blade1968

tie-off1968

rock peg1971

whammer1971

Whillans whammer1971

Whillans harness1974

a1000 Solomon & Saturn 294 Yldo..ræceð wide langre linan, lisseð eall ðæt heo wile.

c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 182/24 Spirae, linan.

1390–1 Earl Derby's Exped. (Camden) 40 Pro..v lynes parvis pro les ankeres et seyles.]

a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) l. 29532 Cursing es þe fendes lyne þat harles a man to hell pine.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ix. l. 176 The seymen..Thair lynys kest and waytyt weyll the tyd.

c1520 in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1888) III. 206 Pro vj^xx fawdom long lyne for the convaans of the schryne with ij lytyll lynys callyd syde ropes.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Josh. ii. D She knyt the rose coloured lyne in the wyndowe.

1589 J. Rider Bibliotheca Scholastica The gesses, lemniscus. The lines, tænia.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A3^v And by her in a line a milkewhite lambe she lad.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 186/2 The string wherewith we lead them;..for a Spaniel [it is called] a Line.

1700 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises (1703) 247 A Line seldom holding to strein..above 50 or 60 feet.

1758 S. Johnson Idler 3 June 65 Shirts waving upon lines.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 446 Deep-sea soundings for scientific purposes are recorded in thousands of fathoms, in which case the line is sometimes made of silk.

1889 A. B. Goulden Mission of St. Alphege 51 Family washing is hung on lines stretched across the lane.

1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 700/2 Fine alpine line.

1923 G. D. Abraham First Steps to Climbing ii. 35 A light Alpine line is also supplied but that is mostly used by experts on exceptionally difficult courses... For the beginner the ordinary rope is advisable.

1935 D. Pilley Climbing Days xi. 224 We set aside the ordinary Alpine rope, and used 120 feet of Alpine line.

1950 Mountaineering Handbk. (Assoc. Brit. Members Swiss Alpine Club) ii. 27 Line can be used on ice or rock..or for rappel slings... Doubled, it can be used as a light rope.

1957 R. W. Clark & E. C. Pyatt Mountaineering in Brit. ix. 160 One development in technique was..the increasing use of line in preference to full size rope.

b. In generalized sense, as a material: Cord.

ΘΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > other manufactured or derived materials > [noun] > rope or cord

rope1548

line1797

cord1835

1797 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 487/1 The making of two strand and three strand line.

†c. A ‘cord’ in the body. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > vascular system > blood vessel > [noun]

eddreOE

arm-eddrec1230

veina1325

pipec1385

weasand1398

venaa1400

conceptacle1576

vene1606

line1611

blood vessel1655

sinus1673

sanguiduct1681

blood sinus1857

the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > [noun]

sinew1398

nervea1400

cordc1400

chord?1541

line1611

lingual1778

1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Linéa álba, the white line, the vmbellical veine, the line or hollow tying from the nauel.

1780 W. Cowper Table Talk 487 She pours a sensibility divine Along the nerve of every feeling line.

d. Applied to a spider's thread. poetic.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > member of (spider) > thread

line1733

1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 202 The Spider's touch, how exquisitely fine, Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.

1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 495 Spun as fine As bloated spiders draw the flimsy line.

1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 49 A gossamer line sighing itself along The air.

(a) A telegraph or telephone wire or cable. Also (with mixture of sense 26), a telegraph route, a telegraphic system connecting two or more stations; a telephonic connection; an individual ‘number’ or extension. Cf. to hold the line at hold v. 6h, hotline n. Also figurative, esp. in to get the lines crossed, to become confused.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > [noun] > line

wire1813

line1847

wire line1848

loop1863

landline1865

saddle wire1876

telephone line1877

concentric cable1888

Pupin cable1904

multiple twin1922

quad1922

twisted pair1923

star quad1927

music line1929

coaxial cable1934

coax1945

society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telegraphy > [noun] > channel or route

line1847

channel1848

society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > line

line1900

wire1902

phone line1935

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > be or become confused [verb (intransitive)]

wonder1297

confusec1350

maskera1375

studya1375

to annoy of?c1400

muse?c1430

marc1440

manga1450

puzzle1605

dunce1611

quandary1616

wavera1625

wilder1658

to scratch one's head1712

maffle1781

to strike up1844

turn1852

to fall over oneself1889

fuzz1930

to get the lines crossed1973

1847 Handbk. Electric Telegr. 11 So rapid is the transmission of the electric current along the lines of wire, that..to carry the wires eight times round the earth..would occupy but one second of time.

1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. IV. 1191 Five great electric telegraphic lines... The extent of line thus served appears to be about fifteen hundred miles.

1854 J. W. Brett Specif. Patent 10,939 21 This said cable or rope I denominate my Oceanic Line.

1900 C. H. Chambers Tyranny of Tears i. 2 Miss Woodward. (Speaking into telephone—very sweetly.)..Mr. Parbury's just coming in now—he'll speak to you—keep the line.

1901 Scotsman 9 Mar. 9/3 The American trans-Pacific line.

1921 Conquest Jan. 127/2 The ‘busy tone’ is sent back to the calling subscriber if the line he wants is busy.

1934 Punch 21 Mar. 332/1 The notepaper should carry—(1) The name of the firm. (2) Its address. (3) Fictitious address for creditors. (4) Telephone number (at least ten lines).

1944 H. McCloy Panic 6 Ronnie showed the doctor how to get an outside line and he dialed a number.

1951 Oxf. Junior Encycl. IV. 448/1 The Post Office took over all ‘trunk’ long-distance lines in 1896, and 6 years later opened the first of several large London exchanges, the ‘Central’, with 14,000 lines.

1970 B. Knox Children of Mist iv. 77 Thane lifted the telephone. When the desk constable answered he asked for a line... Then he began dialling.

1972 J. Wilson Hide & Seek iii. 61 What? I can't hear you. It's a terrible line.

1973 Times 16 Apr. 14/6 It clearly has the advantage of keeping all the lines from getting crossed and establishing the priorities of policy.

1973 ‘K. Royce’ Spider Underground iii. 50 He told me he couldn't see me then and to get off the line.

1974 Times 15 Mar. 8/2 Mr Nixon has admitted that he ordered a cover-up of the plumbers' activities, but suggested that his staff got their lines crossed and took this to be an order to cover up the Watergate affair as well.

(b) Hence, any wire or cable that serves as a conductor of electric current, for whatever purpose.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > wire as conductor > [noun]

wire1746

electric wire1819

rheophore1827

live wire1881

line1886

power wire1890

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > distribution system > [noun] > transmission line

line1886

power line1894

transmission line1906

tie-line1949

1886 G. Kapp Electr. Transmission of Energy viii. 205 Overhead lines, whether used for electric lighting or transmission of energy, are exposed to the effects of lightning.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 35/2 Alternate current is used for lighting and continuous current for the tramway line.

1920 Whittaker's Electr. Engineer's Pocket-bk. (ed. 4) 407 Since the induced voltages due to lightning are the same whatever the working voltage of the line, the heavier insulation on extra high voltage lines renders them less subject to lightning trouble.

1930 Engineering 25 Apr. 548/2 Minimum expenditure on the transmission and distribution systems from those points, connoting the use of overhead lines.

1957 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 887/1 On the teleprinter at the other end of the line, the responses of the armature of a single electromagnet..cause the corresponding character to be printed.

1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio iv. 79 In a building the size of a broadcasting studio centre there is a danger not only of high frequency losses due to capacitance, but also induction of programme signals, hum, etc., from other lines.

f. plural. Reins. dialect and U.S.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > reins

rein1297

bridle reina1382

bridea1425

linkc1450

leading-rein1483

quinsell1598

bearing rein1790

bridoon rein1795

check-reina1809

ribbon1813

ribands1815

bit-rein1833

check-piece1833

nose-rein1844

lines1852

reinage1863

check1868

overdraw1870

single line1875

overcheck1963

1852 C. A. Bristed Upper Ten Thousand 67 Handing the lines to Ashburner, as he stopped his team, Masters leaped out.

1895 E. Rydings Manx Tales 77 He'd jus' puk up the lines on the hosses back.

1901 G. W. Cable Cavalier x He stepped into the carry-all and took the lines.

†g. figurative. line of life: the thread fabled to be spun by the Fates, determining the duration of a person's life. Obsolete. Cf. sense 27.

ΘΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > expectation of life > thread of life

line of lifec1580

filleta1592

file1606

the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [noun] > the (three) Fates > thread spun by

the fatal thread1447

line of lifec1580

lifeline1855

c1580 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David xxxix. iii Lo, thou a spanns length mad'st my living line.

1600 Certain Prayers in W. K. Clay Liturg. Services Q. Eliz. (1847) 694 That the line of thy mercies and the line of her life may be lengthened and run forth together.

1601 R. Yarington Two Lamentable Trag. iii. ii. E 3 b This fatall instrument, Was mark'd by heauen to cut his line of life, And must supplie the knife of Atropos.

1623 H. Holland in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. sig. A5 Though his line of life went soone about, The life yet of his lines shall neuer out.

1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace ix. 188 Our troubles about sin are but short, though they should run parallel with the line of life.

a. A cord bearing a hook or hooks, used in fishing. (Also fishing-line.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > fishing-line > [noun]

linec1374

fishing-line1466

string1585

thread1602

fish-line1639

taum1670

c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde v. 777 To fysshen here, he leyde out hook and lyne.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13285 At see sant Iohn and Iam he fand, Quils þai þair lines war waitand.

a1450 Fysshynge wyth Angle (1883) 8 Arme ȝowr crop at þe ovir ende down to the frete with a lyn of vi herys & double the lyne.

1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope xvi Of a fyssher whiche with his lyne toke a lytyll fysshe.

1590 L. M[ascall] (title) A Booke of Fishing with Hooke & Line.

a1609 J. Dennys Secrets of Angling (1613) i. xx. sig. B4 The Line to lead the Fish with wary skill.

1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler ii. 55 Put it [a grasshopper] on your hook, with your line about two yards long.

1827 W. M. Praed in Port Folio 22 359/2 The line the Abbot saw him throw, Had been fashioned and formed long ages ago.

1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 50 I thought you never left your books except To trim the boat and set the lines.

b. In allusive phrases referring to the ‘playing’ of a hooked fish at the end of the line; esp. to give line: to allow full play, scope, or latitude.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > not restrain [verb (transitive)]

slidec1386

to give a person rope (also enough rope, etc.)a1475

to give (the) rein(s) (to)1484

to let go1526

to give (a horse) his (also her, its, etc.) head1571

license1605

to give linea1616

unchecka1616

to give a loose (occasionally give loose) to1685

to give stretch to1777

to let rip1857

a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 182 I am angling now, (Though you perceiue me not how I giue Lyne ).

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (1623) iv. iii. 39 Giue him Line [1600 time], and scope, Till that his passions (like a Whale on ground) Confound themselues with working.

1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 124 We began to play, and I went wearying of them out by little and little, giving them line enough to runne themselues out of breath.

1670 J. Eachard Grounds Contempt of Clergy 34 So soon as he gets hold of a Text, he..falls a flinging it out of one hand into the other, tossing it this way and that; lets it run a little upon the Line, then tanutus, high jingo, come again.

a1687 E. Waller Maid's Trag. Alter'd (1690) 57 The meanest Wretch, if Heav'n should give him Line, Would never stop, till he were thought Divine.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 435 The King was willing to give Oates line enough, as he expressed it to me.

1854 C. Dickens Hard Times ii. viii. 219 It's policy to give 'em line enough.

†3. plural. Strings or cords laid for snaring birds. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > fowling equipment > [noun] > trap or snare

panter1299

linesc1325

pitfalla1382

gilderta1400

pantle?a1450

shrape1532

pitfold1575

strap1584

scrape1620

pole trap1879

teagle1908

c1325 Song of Yesterday 130 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 136 Þe schadewe cacchen þei ne myht For no lynes þat þei couþe lay.

1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. v. 199 As hose leiþ lynes to lacche wiþ Foules.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Lines, among fowlers, is used to express the strings by which they catch birds... These lines are made of long and small cords, knotted in different places.

a. A cord used by builders and others for taking measurements, or for making things level or straight. (Cf. plumb-line v.) line-and-plummet (attributive): rigidly methodical.

ΘΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for marking out work > [noun] > plumb-line or chalk-line

poundereOE

righteOE

line1340

plummeta1398

plumba1400

perpendicle?c1400

plumb rulec1400

levelc1440

pendant1440

plumb linea1456

levelling-rule1598

perpendicular1604

plummet levelc1850

point-brass1850

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 150 He deþ al to wylle and to þe line, and to þe reule, and to þe leade, and to þe leuele.

1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. xi. 135 I..lered hem liuel [v.r. leuel] and lyne, þauȝ I loke dimme.

c1440 York Myst. viii. 98 To hewe þis burde I will be-gynne, But firste I wille lygge on my lyne.

?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxix To take a lyne and set it there as thou wylte haue thy hedge, and to make a trenche after thy lyne.

1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. i. i. f. 5 Ane biggare can nocht make ane euin vp wal without direction of his lyne.

1611 Bible (King James) Ezek. xl. 3 A man..with a line of flaxe in his hand, & a measuring reed.

1758 J. Watson Mil. Dict. (ed. 5) Cordeau, a Line divided into Fathoms, Feet, &c. to mark Out-works on the Ground, used by Engineers.

1848 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 515/2 The gardener measures and marks off all his figures in the ground with his line and spade.

1849 D. M. Mulock Ogilvies (1875) xii. 89 There was a line-and-plummet regularity, an angular preciseness, in Mrs. Breynton's mind and person.

1871 W. C. Bryant tr. Homer Odyssey I. v. 131 Trees then he felled..and carefully He smoothed their sides, and wrought them by a line.

figurative.c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde i. 1068 Eueri wight þat hath an hous to founde..wole..send his hertes lyne out fro with Inne Alderfirst his purpos for to wynne.1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxiii. 218 This decencie is..the line & leuell for al good makers to do their busines by.1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám xli. 9 For ‘Is’ and ‘Is-not’ though with Rule and Line, And ‘Up-and-down’ without, I could define.

b. by line: chiefly in figurative contexts, with methodical accuracy. Also by line and level, by rule and line, etc.

ΘΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adverb]

rightlyeOE

righteOE

evenOE

evenlya1225

redlyc1275

justicelya1375

justilya1375

justlya1375

redilya1375

trulya1375

properlya1382

precisec1392

preciselyc1392

truec1392

straitlya1395

leala1400

arightc1405

by linec1420

justlyc1425

featlya1450

rule-righta1450

to the letter?1495

exquisitely1526

evenliklya1530

very1530

absolutely1538

jump1539

just1568

accurately1581

punctually1581

jumplya1586

arights1596

just so1601

plumb1601

compassly1606

nicelya1616

squarely1626

justa1631

adequately1632

mathematicallya1638

critically1655

exquisitively1660

just1665

pointedly1667

faithfully1690

correctlya1704

jus1801

jest1815

jes1851

neat1875

cleanly1883

on the nose1883

smack-dab1892

spot on1920

forensically1974

c1420 Anturs of Arth. (Douce) 477 Þei settene listes by lyne one þe loȝ lande.

1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 43^v Through cunning w^t dybble, rake, mattock & spade: by line & by leauell, trim garden is made.

1578 T. Timme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Gen. 281 The deeds of Men..are..to be examined by Gods level and line.

1612 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. vi. sig. F3 To carry Quarrells, As Gallants doe, and manage 'hem, by line .

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 238 We steale by lyne and leuell, and't like your grace.

1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. i. 5 It [sc. the matter] is not hudled, but built up by Plummet and Line, with proportion to Time and Place.

1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 414. ¶5 Plantations of our Europeans, which are laid out by the Rule and Line.

1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 252 A poet does not work by square or line, As smiths and joiners perfect a design.

c. plural. Appointed lot in life. In echoes of Psalm xvi. 6, where the reference seems to be to the marking out of land for a dwelling-place.

ΘΠ

the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [noun] > that which is ordained by fate > personal destiny or one's lot

lotOE

chance1297

fallc1300

weirds1320

cuta1340

fatec1374

vie1377

parta1382

foredoom1563

event1577

allotment1586

fatality1589

kincha1600

lines1611

fortunea1616

dispensation1704

1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xvi. 6 The lines are fallen vnto mee in pleasant places; yea, I haue a goodly heritage.

1849 J. G. Whittier Leaves from Margaret Smith's Jrnl. in Prose Wks. (1889) I. 175 My brother's lines have indeed fallen unto him in a pleasant place.

1865 Daily Tel. 25 Oct. 7/3 The poor Pope's lines seem just now to have fallen in most unpleasant places, and are indeed hard lines.

†5. Rule, canon, precept; standard of life or practice. [Compare 4b.] Obsolete. rare.Line has been used in several places in the King James Bible to translate Hebrew qav (primarily ‘cord’) in this sense. Cf. line upon line at sense 23h.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > control > [noun] > regulation > a regulation or rule

lawa1225

precepta1325

line1340

observancea1382

rulea1387

reglec1475

regimentc1485

reuglec1485

instruction1526

maxima1564

maxim1578

preception1620

reglement1622

positure1624

gnomon1627

regulationa1640

parapegm1646

rubric1891

reg1904

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 124 Uor be þise uirtue al þet man deþ..al he diȝt and let and reuleþ to þe lyne of scele.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 160 Þo þet ne zeneȝeþ..ac doþ al be riȝtuolnesse and be lingne.

a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 141 Thys thyng apperyth mervelouse straunge, pepul to have the lyne of theyr lyfe to be wryte in a straunge tong.

1557 Bible (Whittingham) 2 Cor. x. 13 We wil not reioyce aboue measure..but according to the measure of that line [κατὰ τὸ μέτρον τοῦ κανόνος], wherof God hath distributed vnto vs a measure.

1563 N. Winȝet Wks. (1890) II. 7 An infallible, as it is a general, reul to al richt, an ewin lyne of lawtay.

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. Proem sig. M4^v Let none then blame me, if..I doe not forme them to the common line Of present dayes, which are corrupted sore.

1607 T. Middleton Michaelmas Terme ii. sig. C^v A man must not so much as spit but within line and fashion.

1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xix. 4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

6. hard lines: see hard line n. 1b. hard line money: see hard line n. and adj. Compounds.

II. A thread-like mark.

a. A stroke or mark, long in proportion to its breadth, traced with a pen, a tool, etc. upon a surface. line of burden, line of floatation, line of war (on the hull of a ship): see the nouns.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > stroke

linea1382

tittlec1384

stroke1567

minim1587

pot-hook1611

dash1615

hair-stroke1634

hook1668

foot stroke1676

stem1676

duct1699

hanger1738

downstroke?1760

hairline1846

up-stroke1848

skit1860

pot-crook1882

ligature1883

coupling-stroke1906

bow1914

ductus1922

ascender1934

society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing lines > [noun] > other lines

linea1382

rulec1475

stroke1567

trig1648

ductor1658

style1690

pencil line1758

guideline1785

section-line1827

subhorizon1829

broken line1937

wiggle1942

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xxxviii. 8 I shal make to turne aȝeen the shadewe of lynes, bi the whiche it hadde go doun in the oriloge of Acath, in the sunne, bacward bi ten lynes.

c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) xvii. 184 Be the gret Compas devised be Lines in manye parties; and that alle the Lynes meeten at the Centre.

c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 305/2 Lyne, or lynye, linea.

1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. Defin. Euery lyne is drawen betwene twoo prickes, wherof the one is at the beginning, and the other at the ende.

1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 122 Draw a right line from A unto D.

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V i. ii. 210 As many lines close in the dyall center: So [etc.].

1610 A. Willet Hexapla in Danielem 195 Archimedes..was drawing of his lines.

1679 Guillim's Display of Heraldrie (ed. 5) 12/1 [Gules] is expressed in Graving by Lines drawn streight down the Escucheon... [Azure] is expressed by Lines drawn cross the Shield.

1691 W. Petty Treat. Naval Philos. in T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 125 The line of Burthen, or fourth Line.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Lines, in heraldry, the figures used in armories to divide the shield into different parts, and to compose different figures.

1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 171 He draws upon life's map a zig-zag line.

1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing ii. 100 An expression of forms only by simple lines.

1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 134 The writing-master first draws lines with a style.

figurative.a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. ii. 81 His life is paralel'd Euen with the stroke and line of his great Iustice. 1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §ii If thou have drawne in me some lines, & notes of able indowments.1677 W. Temple Let. to Charles II in Wks. (1731) II. 438 I promised to represent the whole to Your Majesty in the truest Lines and Colours I could possibly.1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. I. i. 80 The lines of his character are indeed too broad and clear to be overlooked.

b. Music. One of the horizontal parallel equidistant strokes forming the stave, or placed above or below it (ledger lines).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > notation > [noun] > stave > lines of stave

rulec1475

line1602

ledger line1697

1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida v. sig. H4 Iudgement gentlemen, iudgement. Wast not aboue line? I appeale to your mouthes that heard my song.

1654 J. Playford Breefe Introd. Skill Musick 3 Five lines is onely usuall, as being sufficient to containe the compass of Notes thereto belonging.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 157/1.

1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 3 The Spaces, as well as the Lines of the Stave, furnish situations for the notes.

c. line of lines, Gunter's line. line of numbers, line of shadows : see number n., shadow n.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Gunter's Line Line of Lines, and Line of Numbers, is a graduated Line usually placed on Scales, Rules, Sectors, &c.

d. Fine Art. Applied spec. to the lines employed in a picture; chiefly collective or in generalized sense, character of draughtsmanship, method of rendering form. Also plural (cf. sense 15) the distinctive features of composition in a picture. line of beauty: the curve (resembling a slender elongated letter S), which according to Hogarth is a necessary element in all beauty of form. Also, with reference to engraving (see line engraving n. at Compounds 2).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > character of draughtsmanship

line1616

the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > beauty of shape or form > [noun] > curved element of

line of beauty1753

1616 B. Jonson Forrest xiii. 20 in Wks. I I, that..haue not..so my selfe abandon'd, as..I should..feare to draw true lines, 'cause others paint.

1753 W. Hogarth Anal. Beauty vii. 38 The waving line, which is a line more productive of beauty..for which reason we shall call it the line of beauty... The ..line of beauty..being compos'd of two curves contrasted, becomes still more ornamental.

1753 W. Hogarth Anal. Beauty x. 52 For as..there is but one that truly deserves the name of the line of beauty, so there is only one precise serpentine-line that I call the line of grace.

1756 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (new ed.) II. ii. 42 A bold stroke with the line of beauty, and well shaped stalks, leafs, and flowers..are the only things a designer has to observe in compleating of a well-designed damask pattern.

1824 T. F. Dibdin Libr. Compan. p. iv Miniature engravings in the line manner.

1849 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) II. 727/1 To this state of etching..professional engravers bring their plates to be finished in the line manner.

18.. Bookseller's Catal. First impressions of..the 27 fine portraits..all beautifully engraved in line.

1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. i. 126 To translate into colour and line all this huge pageant of life.

1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. iii. 154 We praise the mellow Virgilisms in Tennyson, but we are down upon the painter who repeats another's lines.

e. Geomancy.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by symbols, letters, figures, etc. > [noun] > by shapes or figures > figures in geomancy

mother1591

nephew1591

linea1593

a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. A3 Lines, circles, sceanes, letters and characters.

f. In various games, as tennis, football, etc., the line denotes a particular line which marks the limit of legitimate or successful play; in Cricket, the line of flight of the ball from the bowler's hand. Also in phr. (taken from American football, but influenced by sense 20b) to hold the line, to maintain, support, a position, viewpoint, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > place for sports or games > [noun] > line

line1550

trig1648

sideline1862

touchline1863

foul line1870

backline1890

trigger1891

centreline1920

by-line1936

stripe1967

the mind > will > decision > constancy or steadfastness > be constant or steadfast [verb (intransitive)]

standeOE

cleavec1275

to stand stiffa1290

stick1447

to stand or stick to one's tackling1529

to stand in this1538

to set down (the or one's) staff1584

to stand one's ground1600

to stand to one's pan pudding1647

to maintain one's ground1736

to nail one's colours (also flag) to the mast (also masthead)1808

to stay put1843

to stand firm1856

to sit tight1890

to keep the flag flying1914

to dig in one's toes1933

to hold the line1956

1550 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue (new ed.) ii. xi. sig. Civ Thou hast striken the ball, vnder the line.

1642 J. Howell The Vote 6 Poore mortals are so many balls Tossd, some o're line, some under Fortune's walls.

1887 Daily News 10 Jan. 3/5 The English forwards dribbled the ball close up to the Welsh line and nearly scored.

1890 C. G. Heathcote Lawn Tennis in J. M. Heathcote et al. Tennis (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 334 It will often be extremely difficult for him to judge on which side of the line the ball was dropped.

1899 F. Mitchell in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 210 When the throw~out belongs to his opponents, every forward on coming up to the line must mark his man.

1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues xi. 116 But 52nd Street couldn't hold the line against Negroes forever.

1960 I. Wallach Absence of Cello (1961) 48 Her voice had a factious quaver as she dug in and prepared to hold the line on Perry's team.

1962 Listener 19 Apr. 672/2 ‘Holding the line’..of costs, prices, and wages is vital to what he believes to be the continuance of American prosperity.

1963 A. Ross Australia 63 iii. 87 He moved solidly behind the line, early in position for anything that kept low.

1968 W. Safire New Lang. Politics 190/2 ‘Holding the line against inflation’ remains a cliché, taken from a football metaphor (‘Hold-that-line!’) which in turn comes from a military expression.

g. Ballet. The total effect of the disposition of the dancer's limbs, body, and head in movement or repose. (Cf. sense 7d.)

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > dancing > ballet > [noun] > movements > disposition of body and limbs

body line1898

line1912

1912 J. E. C. Flitch Mod. Dancing xi. 170 Her purity of line is never broken by..inartistic feats of athletic dexterity.

1922 C. W. Beaumont & S. Idzikowski Man. Theory & Pract. Class. Theatr. Dancing 26 Beauty of line is one of the dancer's greatest assets.

1936 A. L. Haskell Prelude to Ballet xvii. 85 Fluidity and large movements whose line can be extended indefinitely are the essential characteristics of the Russian School.

1948 Ballet Ann. 2 91 He has a fine classical technique and excellent line.

1960 Times 7 Mar. 3/7 She is already a dancer of great charm..with a particularly striking sense of line that showed to advantage in lifts.

h. Music. Instrumental or vocal melody; a structured sequence of notes or tones.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > melody or succession of sounds > [noun]

melody1728

line1923

1923 R. H. Myers Mod. Mus. vi. 80 His music has line..and the enormous merit of condensation.

1955 Times 26 Aug. 3/5 In spite of the cello's natural inclination to ruminative melancholy..it has plenty of cantilena... But it is line, always line, not harmony, that is the essence of the matter.

1961 Listener 14 Dec. 1046/3 What do singers mean when they talk about ‘maintaining the line’?.. It means striking a level in the voice from which all expression is controlled.

1961 Listener 14 Dec. 1046/3 This ‘line’ of the singer is a physical conception.

1961 Listener 21 Dec. 1089/3 The music takes shape by means of a simple recitative-like vocal line, modal, flexible, limpid, with an orchestral part of matching directness and simplicity.

1962 Radio Times 22 Feb. 43/1 I was concerned at the time with the idea of inventing melodic line and harmonic texture directly from the fund of the twelve notes available within the octave.

1967 Melody Maker 28 Jan. 7/5 I consider jazz to be a lot of horns and one of those top speed bass lines.

i. Each of the narrow strips into which an image is divided for transmission and reproduction by television, corresponding to a single (usually side-to-side) passage of the scanning spot across the camera tube or picture tube: often with prefixed number, as 625-line(s), indicating the number of lines making up a complete picture.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > picture elements, lines, or rasters

picture element1925

line1929

scanning line1929

scanning field1935

scanning raster1935

field1938

line standard1959

pixel1965

1929 Proc. IRE 17 1586 He first arrived at a correlation between the number of ‘halftone lines per inch’ and the corresponding television ‘scanning lines’.

1929 Proc. IRE 17 1586 Halftones of letters and photographs were made up, and their appearance compared with the television image on a 48-line system of the same original.

1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 633/2 The service was continued, using exclusively a standard of 405 lines 50 frames interlaced scanning.

1961 G. Millerson Technique Television Production ii. 20 To reduce flicker problems, the beam is made to read the odd lines (odd field) of the image first (i.e. lines 1, 3, 5,..) and then return to scan the even lines between them (i.e. lines 2, 4, 6,..).

1963 Ann. Reg. 1962 27 They duly authorized the B.B.C. to start a second television channel by 1964 on U.H.F. and with an improved picture of 625 lines.

1974 Sci. Amer. Jan. 115/2 Each 1·25-second signal comprises a ‘line’ of picture data that is analogous to the line of a television picture. About 850 lines..complete a weather-signal picture.

a. Something resembling a traced mark, chiefly in natural objects; e.g. a thin band of colour; a suture, seam, furrow, ridge, etc. line of growth (Conch.): see quot. 1839.

ΘΠ

the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > linearity > [noun] > a linear object or mark

linec1290

train?1440

c1290 S. Edmund 96 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 299 In al is bodi nas o weom..bote ase is heued was of I-smyte..A smal red line is al-a-boute.

c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 91 Longe leuys..þat hauyn whit lynys yn hem.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 266 The Lione he settis in the midis; than tua lynes, on the vttir syd, Wouen in threid of golde.

1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 476 The lynes it hath are long and almost superficiary, yet diuided manifold..by the thin membrane running betwixt them.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) ii. i. 103 Yon grey Lines, That fret the Clouds, are Messengers of Day.

1682 N. Grew Idea Philos. Hist. Plants 6 in Anat. Plants Those several Lines, by which both the said Varieties [of plants] are determin'd.

1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. 290 Line, a narrow longitudinal stripe.

1839 G. B. Sowerby Conchol. Man. 57 Lines of growth, the eccentric striæ or lines, formed by the edges of the successive layers of shelly matter deposited by the animal, by which it increases the shell.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. iii. 26 Along the faces of the sections the lines of stratification were clearly shown.

1880 R. Rimmer Land & Freshwater Shells p. xxiii The line of growth.

1883 F. M. Peard Contradictions xiv There were black lines under her eyes the next morning.

1895 I. Zangwill Master i. x. 111 A thin line of light crept again under the door.

b. A furrow or seam in the face or hands. In Palmistry: A mark on the palm of the hand supposed to indicate one's fate, temperament, or abilities; e.g. line of life, line of fortune, line of the head, line of the heart, line of health; also hepatic line, line of the liver (see liver n.¹ and adj.² Phrases 1).

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > skin > textures or states of skin > [noun] > wrinkle

rimpleeOE

rivellingOE

rivelc1325

crow's footc1374

frounce1390

wrinklea1400

frumplec1440

freckle1519

line1538

lirkc1540

shrivel1547

plait1574

furrow1589

trench1594

crowfoot1614

seam1765

thought-line1858

laughter line1867

laugh line1913

smile-line1921

worry lines1972

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > palmistry > [noun] > mark on the hand

line1538

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > palmistry > [noun] > mark on the hand > line of life

line of life1538

lifeline1571

vital line1653

vitala1824

1538 T. Elyot Dict. Incisuræ,..the lynes in the palme of the hande.

1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 56 The small lynes in our hande.

1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. ii. 155 I shall haue good fortune; goe too, heere's a simple lyne of life.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. ii. 74 He does smile his face into more lynes, then is in the new Mappe.

a1637 B. Jonson Masque of Gypsies 58 in tr. Horace Art of Poetry (1640) You..meane not to marry by the line of your life.

1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 42 The Line of Life, or of the Heart... He that hath this..entire, long, clear and ruddy,..he shall live a happy life.

1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 42 Line of liver, liver line [see [see liver n.¹ and adj.² Phrases 1]. , [see liver line n. at Compounds 3]. ].

a1716 R. South 12 Serm. (1717) V. 276 No more than he can read the future Estate of his Soul in the Lines of his Face.

1843 H. W. Longfellow Spanish Student iii. v. 156 The line of life is crossed by many marks.

1895 I. Zangwill Master iii. ii. 290 There were lines of premature age on the handsome face.

1911 Encycl. Brit. XX. 650/1 at Palmistry A line starting above the head of the second metacarpal bone and crossing the hand to the middle of its ulnar border is the line of the head.

c. A narrow region in a spectrum, appearing to the eye as a fine straight black or shining stroke transverse to the length of the spectrum (cf. Fraunhofer n.). Hence in extended use, a component of emitted radiation at what is nominally a single discrete wavelength (in practice, over a narrow range of wavelengths containing one at which the intensity is a maximum).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > spectral line

line1831

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > band or line forming part of

band1831

line1831

Fraunhofer lines1837

1831 D. Brewster Life I. Newton v. 68 Among the most important modern discoveries respecting the spectrum we must enumerate that of fixed dark and coloured lines, which we owe to the sagacity of Dr Wollaston and M. Fraunhofer.

1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 21/1 The beautiful discovery made by Wollaston and Fraunhofer of the existence of dark spaces, bands transverse to the length of the spectrum, and now generally designated Fraunhofer's lines.

1932 Sci. Abstr. A. 35 1561 (heading) Line emission in infra-red.

1962 Sci. Surv. 3 67 For a normal lamp, emitting a line in the visible spectrum, the width..of the line would be of the order of 10,000 Mc/s.

1971 D. W. Sciama Mod. Cosmol. ii. 21 He calculated that a sensitive radio receiver should be able to detect the 21 cm line as emitted by clouds of hydrogen gas in the Galaxy.

1971 Nature 31 Dec. 505/2 The atoms made up of the smaller mass particles would then radiate their characteristic lines at longer wavelengths.

d. Jewellery. (See quot. 1883.)

ΚΠ

1883 Daily Tel. 12 Feb. 5/2 The..cat's-eye..is characterised by possessing a remarkable play of light resulting from a peculiarity in its crystallisation. This ray of light is called ‘line’ by jewellers.

9. Mathematics.

a. An element of configuration such as must be represented in geometrical figures by a ‘line’ (sense 7); a continuous extent (whether straight or curved) of length without breadth or thickness; the limit of a surface; the trace of a moving point.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun]

line1559

lineola1715

link1866

linearity1904

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > [noun] > that which has length > without breadth or thickness

line1559

1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 17 A Circle is a plaine and flat figure comprehended within one line, which is called a circumference.

1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. i. f. 1^v A lyne is a magnitude hauing one onely space or dimension.

1660 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements i. 1 A Line is a longitude without latitude.

1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. iii. §28. 434 If from any point L of the Ellipse two right lines LS, LE be drawn.

1827 O. Gregory Hutton's Course Math. (ed. 9) I. 280 Lines are either Parallel, Oblique, Perpendicular, or Tangential.

1855 D. Brewster Mem. Life I. Newton (new ed.) II. xiv. 6 He considers a line as composed of an infinite number of points.

1885 H. W. Watson & S. H. Burbury Math. Theory Electr. & Magn. I. 155 The line x = κ log f.

b. With various defining words: A curve connecting all points having a common property.

ΚΠ

1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. xlix. 484 Fixed by the will of the Creator, rather than..regulated by any isothermal lines.

1850 D. T. Ansted Elem. Course Geol. 20 There is in the neighbourhood of the earth's equator, and cutting it at four points, an irregular curve called the magnetic equator or aclinic line.

1873 E. Atkinson tr. A. Ganot Elem. Treat. Physics (ed. 6) 565 The aclinic line is the line which joins all these places on the earth where..the dipping-needle is quite horizontal.

1877 R. Wormell Thermodynamics 130 If a substance can expand without gain or loss of heat, and a curve is drawn, such that the abscissa and ordinate of any point respectively represent the volume of a unit of mass, and the corresponding pressure for unit of area, this curve is termed an adiabatic line.

10.

a. A circle of the terrestrial or celestial sphere; e.g. †ecliptic line, equinoctial line, †tropic line. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > celestial sphere > circle of celestial sphere > [noun]

circle of altitudec1000

linea1387

the world > the earth > region of the earth > zone or belt > [noun]

linea1387

climatea1393

clime1553

region1556

zone1559

belt1796

subzone1851

dead zone1926

the world > the universe > celestial sphere > circle of celestial sphere > [noun] > great circle > ecliptic

ecliptic linea1387

sun path1599

ecliptic1625

ecliptic circlea1679

ecliptic way1712

the world > the universe > celestial sphere > circle of celestial sphere > [noun] > lesser circle > tropic

tropic1503

tropic line1577

tropic line1667

tropic circle1893

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 9 In Armenia, Macedonia, Italia, and in oþer londes of þe same lyne.

c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) Prol. 3 The arising of any planete aftur his latitude fro the Ecliptik lyne.

?c1510 tr. Newe Landes & People founde by Kynge of Portyngale sig. Bii So haue we sayled ouer y^e linie equinocciall.

1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Bv For vnder the lyne equynoctyall..lyeth..greate and wyde desertes.

1553 R. Eden in tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India Pref. sig. aaviij The lyne, called Tropicus Cancri, and the Equinoctinal lyne.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 282 Under the Ethiop Line By Nilus head.

1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all v. 61 I have seen your..Eclipticks, and your Tropick Lines, Sir.

1837 D. Brewster Treat. Magnetism 238 The magnetic equator will meet the equinoctial line only in two points.

b. With the: the equinoctial line; the equator. under the line: at the equator. (Sometimes written with a capital.)

ΘΠ

the world > the earth > geodetic references > [noun] > latitude > equator

burning line1484

burnt line1555

equinox1579

equinoctial1584

line1588

equatora1613

the girdle of the world1626

palaeoequator1960

1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Comm. Notable Thinges in tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China 392 (margin) The straight of Malaca is vnder the line.

1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. iii. 5/2 The shippes are at the least two monthes before they can passe the line.

1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia i. 1 Sebastian Cabot..sayled to about forty degrees South~ward of the lyne.

1676 J. Glanvill Ess. iii. 27 Some of the Indians that live near the heats of the Line.

1728 A. Pope Dunciad iii. 62 Where spices smoke beneath the burning Line.

1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 5 The naked Negro, panting at the line.

1814 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) XII. 92 To prohibit all trade in slaves north of the Line.

1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 33 In a darker isle beyond the line.

allusively.a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 235. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. iii. 42. 1656 A. Cowley Misc. 35 in Poems Cold frozen Loves with which I pine, And parched Loves beneath the Line.1668 J. Flavell Saint Indeed 178 The beams of his glory strike it but obliquely and feebly, but shortly it will be under the line; and there the sun shall stand still.

11.

a. Often used for ‘straight line’ (sense 9); esp. in Physics and technical, as in line of the apsides, line of distance, line of force, line of sight (for which see those words). line of fire (see quot. 1859).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > straight

linec1400

straight1892

society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > line of fire

line of fire1859

firing line1918

c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xx. 90 Þe lyne þat es betwene þise twa sternez departez all þe firmament in twa partes.

1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 139 Marking diligentlye that the Center of the second Circle, be in the line of sighte.

1601 R. Dolman tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. III. 116 By meanes of the shadowes, or visuall lines, representing the saide shadowes.

1814 J. Playfair Outl. Nat. Philos. II. ii. iii. 266 The forces which act upon a body..may be resolved into the directions of three lines or axes.

1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic Gloss. 778 Line of centres, a line drawn from the centre of one wheel to the centre of another when their circumferences touch each other.

1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 319 Whenever the axis of a single lens comes in the line between the observers and the focus.

1859 ‘Stonehenge’ Shot-gun 314 The line of fire is the indefinite projection of the axis of the barrel.

1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism I. 84 If a line be drawn whose direction at every point of its course coincides with that of the resultant force at that point, the line is called a Line of Force.

1897 Outing 30 250/1 Any number of players can take part..so long as they are not so crowded as to get into each other's line of play.

b. Fencing. (See quot. 1728.)

ΚΠ

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Line, in Fencing, is that directly opposite to the Enemy, wherein the Shoulders, the right Arm, and the Sword ought always to be found; and wherein are also to be placed the two Feet at the distance of 18 Inches from each other. In this sense a Man is said to be in his Line, to go out of his Line, &c.

c. on the line: said of a picture in an exhibition which is hung so that its centre is about on a level with the eye.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > display of pictures > [phrase] > hung with centre of picture at eye level

on the line1859

1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 314 The centre of the picture should not be much above the level of the eye. In an exhibition the pictures in this most favourable situation are said to be on the ‘line’.

1873 Punch 26 Apr. 169/1 Pictures hung ‘upon the line’ at the Academy, for reason of their merit.

1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. ii. 134 And I was also on the line in the big room.

d. line of position n. = position line n. at position n. Compounds.

ΘΠ

the world > space > place > position or situation > [noun] > ascertaining or determining position of anything > line of position

position line1777

line of position1865

1865 J. H. C. Coffin Navigation & Naut. Astron. (ed. 2) ix. 224 The nearer the body is to the prime vertical, the more nearly the line of position coincides with a meridian.

1919 G. C. Comstock Summer Line p. iii The line of position, or Summer line, is generally recognized as the best method for fixing the ship's place by observation of the sun or stars.

12. In adverbial phr. (mostly obsolete) having reference to the straight line, e.g. even as line, even by line, as straight as line (now, as straight as a line), as line right, right (up) as a or any line, in (intil) ane ling (Scottish): in a direct course, straightforward; also, straightway, at once. (Cf. line-right adj. and adv.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > relative time > immediacy > [adverb]

soonc825

ratheeOE

rathelyeOE

rekeneOE

rekenlyOE

thereright971

anonOE

forth ona1000

coflyc1000

ferlyc1000

radlyOE

swiftlyc1000

unyoreOE

yareOE

at the forme (also first) wordOE

nowOE

shortlya1050

rightOE

here-rightlOE

right anonlOE

anonc1175

forthrightc1175

forthwithalc1175

skeetc1175

swithc1175

with and withc1175

anon-rightc1225

anon-rights?c1225

belivec1225

lightly?c1225

quickly?c1225

tidelyc1225

fastlyc1275

hastilyc1275

i-radlichec1275

as soon asc1290

aright1297

bedenea1300

in little wevea1300

withoute(n dwella1300

alrightc1300

as fast (as)c1300

at firstc1300

in placec1300

in the placec1300

mididonec1300

outrightc1300

prestc1300

streck13..

titec1300

without delayc1300

that stounds1303

rada1325

readya1325

apacec1325

albedenec1330

as (also also) titec1330

as blivec1330

as line rightc1330

as straight as linec1330

in anec1330

in presentc1330

newlyc1330

suddenlyc1330

titelyc1330

yernec1330

as soon1340

prestly1340

streckly1340

swithly?1370

evenlya1375

redelya1375

redlya1375

rifelya1375

yeplya1375

at one blastc1380

fresha1382

ripelyc1384

presentc1385

presently1385

without arrestc1385

readilyc1390

in the twinkling of a looka1393

derflya1400

forwhya1400

skeetlya1400

straighta1400

swifta1400

maintenantc1400

out of handc1400

wightc1400

at a startc1405

immediately1420

incontinent1425

there and then1428

onenec1429

forwithc1430

downright?a1439

agatec1440

at a tricec1440

right forth1440

withouten wonec1440

whipc1460

forthwith1461

undelayed1470

incessantly1472

at a momentc1475

right nowc1475

synec1475

incontinently1484

promptly1490

in the nonce?a1500

uncontinent1506

on (upon, in) the instant1509

in short1513

at a clap1519

by and by1526

straightway1526

at a twitch1528

at the first chop1528

maintenantly1528

on a tricea1529

with a tricec1530

at once1531

belively1532

straightwaysa1533

short days1533

undelayedly1534

fro hand1535

indelayedly1535

straight forth1536

betimesc1540

livelyc1540

upononc1540

suddenly1544

at one (or a) dash?1550

at (the) first dash?1550

instantly1552

forth of hand1564

upon the nines1568

on the nail1569

at (also in, with) a thoughtc1572

indilately1572

summarily1578

at one (a) chop1581

amain1587

straightwise1588

extempore1593

presto1598

upon the place1600

directly1604

instant1604

just now1606

with a siserary1607

promiscuously1609

at (in) one (an) instant1611

on (also upon) the momenta1616

at (formerly also on or upon) sight1617

hand to fist1634

fastisha1650

nextly1657

to rights1663

straightaway1663

slap1672

at first bolt1676

point-blank1679

in point1680

offhand1686

instanter1688

sonica1688

flush1701

like a thought1720

in a crack1725

momentary1725

bumbye1727

clacka1734

plumba1734

right away1734

momentarily1739

momentaneously1753

in a snap1768

right off1771

straight an end1778

abruptedly1784

in a whistle1784

slap-bang1785

bang?1795

right off the reel1798

in a whiff1800

in a flash1801

like a shot1809

momently1812

in a brace or couple of shakes1816

in a gird1825

(all) in a rush1829

in (also at, on) short (also quick) order1830

straightly1830

toot sweetc1830

in two twos1838

rectly1843

quick-stick1844

short metre1848

right1849

at the drop of a (occasionally the) hat1854

off the hooks1860

quicksticks1860

straight off1873

bang off1886

away1887

in quick sticks (also in a quick stick)1890

ek dum1895

tout de suite1895

bung1899

one time1899

prompt1910

yesterday1911

in two ups1934

presto changeo1946

now-now1966

presto change1987

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > a straight course > in a straight course [phrase]

even as linec1330

right (up) as a or any line1546

as straight as a line1889

c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 150 After in a while com R. euen as lyne.

c1330 Arth. & Merl. 6370 (Kölbing) Þurch þe wombe & þurch þe chine Þe spere ȝede euen bi line.

c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde ii. 1412 (1461) To his Neces hous as Streyt as lyne He com.

c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iii. 179 (228) Pandarus, as faste as he may dryue, To Troylus þo com as lyne right.

c1422 T. Hoccleve Learn to Die 692 To purgatorie y shal as streight as lyne.

c1480 (a1400) St. James Great 298 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 105 He gert fele knychtis in a lynge pryk efter þame.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xii. 49 Than sprent thai sammyn in-till a lyng [1489 Adv. ling].

a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Husbandman l. 2337 in Poems (1981) 88 To the volff he went in to ane ling.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. viii. 43 Lyke as ane lyoun..Cummys braidand on the best fast in a lyng.

1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 687 Quhilk causit him go leip furth in ane ling.

1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Diii Thou folowist his stepps as ryght as a lyne.

1889 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xliii He..went as straight as a line.

13.

a. A direction as traced by marks on a surface or as indicated by a row of persons or objects. to bring into (a) line: to align; figurative to cause (persons) to agree, to make unanimous. †to draw in a (or one) line: to be unanimous.

ΘΠ

the world > space > direction > [noun] > direction traced by marks on a surface

linec1475

society > communication > indication > marking > a mark > [noun] > line

streakc1000

linec1475

score1681

the world > space > relative position > quality or fact of being in a line (with) > bring into (a) line [verb (transitive)]

align1693

allineate1785

line1796

to bring into (a) line1851

parallelize1853

c1475 Chess Probl. in MS Ashm. 344 f. 22 ^v Draw thy kyng..forth in to the lyne ther his kyng goth yn.

1556 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbs Eng. Tounge (rev. ed.) ii. vii. sig. Ev^v He loued me..We drew both in one line.

1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xlii. xxi. 1127 Seeing the LL. of the Senat thus drawing all in a line.

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. iii. 153 Now Powers from home, and discontents at home Meet in one line .

1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 6 The Bottom-line is the line that bounds the bottom of the Descending Letters.

1763 E. Hoyle Ess. Game of Chess 163 When your Adversary has a Bishop and one Pawn on the Rook's Line.

1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 355 As the breech sight, the muzzle sight, and the object aimed at, are..at different distances from the eye, it is difficult to bring them at once into line.

1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone ix. 89 Livingstone..was going to get the horses in line, to start them for the farmer's Cup.

1860 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem (1861) III. ci. 2 Jonathan, too, is coming into line; his caustic wit is making its way into the press.

1897 Daily News 23 Apr. 3/1 It was found a matter of no small difficulty to get all the owners into line.

b. Military. (See quot. 1872-6.) Cf. sense 21.

ΚΠ

1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 98 When the open Column, halted on the Ground on which it is to form, wheels up into Line.

1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. (at cited word) When the light infantry companies are in line with their battalions.

1872–6 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) (at cited word) The term in line is applied to a battalion when its companies are deployed on the same alignment to their full extent, i.e. in two ranks. Columns are said to be in line when their fronts are on the same alignment.

1882 Ld. Tennyson Charge Heavy Brigade i. in Macmillan's Mag. Mar. 337 And he call'd ‘Left wheel into line!’

c. In Politics (originally U.S.), a particular policy or set of policies which a politician may maintain or expect others to follow; = party line n. Also transferred.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > [noun] > party principles or line

party line1837

party platform1848

line1892

tabernacle1902

1892 San Francisco Examiner 9 Nov. 1/7 (heading) In the line! California joins the Democratic procession by a decisive majority.

1934 H. M. Chevalier tr. A. Malraux Man's Fate 149 He knew, too, that Moscow would maintain its line.

1934 H. M. Chevalier tr. A. Malraux Man's Fate 169 ‘There's a general line that directs us—must follow it.’ ‘And give up our arms! A line that leads us to fire on the proletariat is necessarily bad.’

1938 Ken (Chicago) 7 Apr. 46/2 The Intelligence Service of the Foreign Office is a state within a state, virtually Britain's second, secret Government as far as foreign policy is concerned. It often pursues a line different from the Government's policy.

1943 San Francisco Chron. 25 May 14/2 The Nazis have done Senator Happy Chandler of Kentucky the honor of picking up his line... Chandler's line may not get far in this country, but the Nazis are not slow to appreciate it.

1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax v. 60 I think the line was made perfectly clear.

1955 Times 2 June 6/6 The issue before the court is not so much whether Mr. Lattimore is guilty under the indictment as whether such a nebulous charge as following the Communist ‘line’ is sufficiently defined to enable him to offer an adequate defence.

1958 Economist 29 Nov. 767/2 They think that the liberal line—uncontrolled immigration—can be held for a few more years, but not indefinitely.

1960 News Chron. 25 Feb. 2/5 Mr. Barber denied that a ‘line’ had been agreed on as to the shape of the reports to be sent by..British reporters.

1974 R. Hawkey & R. Bingham Wild Card xxiii. 188 The official line on what had happened was, at best, grossly understated.

d. transferred. A marked tendency, a policy or trend (in any activity). In weakened use (slang): a glib or superficially attractive mode of address or behaviour, plausible talk. So to do a line with (Australian and New Zealand), to (try to) enter into an amorous relationship with.Not clearly separable from senses 28a, 28b Cf. also to shoot a line at sense 13g.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > [noun] > agreeable behaviour > blandness or suavity > instance of

line1903

the mind > emotion > love > flirtation or coquetry > flirt with [verb (transitive)] > (try to) enter amorous relationship with

to do a line with1944

1903 ‘H. McHugh’ Out for Coin vi. 83 Are you handing me a line of bogus conversation?

1920 F. S. Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise i. ii. 76 Lordy, Isabelle—this sounds like a line, but it isn't.

1923 Cosmopolitan Apr. 82/1 ‘Where have I been all your life, good lookin'?’ ‘If you think that line will get you anything here, you're crazy!’

1933 J. G. Cozzens Cure of Flesh i. 61 He falls in love with Coral and says that some day, when he makes good, he will come back and marry her. Coral thinks it's just a line with him.

1941 Illustr. London News 198 488/2 The jacket mentions Huckleberry Finn. Mr. Baum is not, of course, on that level; but that's his line.

1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 23 Do a knock (line) with: to take an amorous interest in a member of the opposite sex.

1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path i. 102 They'll think it's a line, sir.

1944 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target viii. 63 He was doing a heavy line with the saddler's daughter.

1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 91 I could do a line with Maggie.

1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) x. 156 Do you know young Len's doing a line with Gran'pa's little angel?

1953 Encounter Oct. 1/2 Appearing at this time, and amidst these problems, Encounter seeks to promote no ‘line’, though its editors have opinions they will not hesitate to express.

1956 A. L. Rowse Early Churchills ii. 33 He has a fine line in Churchillian invective.

1958 D. Reeman Prayer for Ship viii. 202 He gave me a terrific line about the hold-up. Said it was his partner's fault. But he promises definitely it'll be here tomorrow evening.

1967 Observer 6 Aug. 4/6 The sect's most telling line—plugged in all its broadcasts and pamphlets—is that the end of the world is due shortly, probably about 1975. The Arab-Israeli war in June was seen as the first step to Armageddon.

e. to get a line on, to acquire information about (a thing), to come to know. So to give (someone) a line on. colloquial (originally U.S.).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)]

seeOE

fanda1000

finda1200

kenc1330

lenda1350

agropea1393

contrive1393

to find outc1405

outsearch?a1439

ripec1440

inventc1475

disclose?a1500

fish1531

agnize?1570

discover1585

to grope out1590

out-find1590

expiscate1598

vent1611

to learn out1629

to get to know1643

develop1653

ascertain1794

stag1796

root1866

to get a line on1903

establish1919

society > communication > information > action of informing > give (information) [verb (transitive)] > inform (a person)

to teach a person a thingc888

meanOE

wiseOE

sayOE

wittera1225

tellc1225

do to witc1275

let witc1275

let seec1330

inform1384

form1399

lerea1400

to wit (a person) to saya1400

learn1425

advertise1431

givec1449

insense?c1450

instruct1489

ascertain1490

let1490

alighta1500

advert1511

signify1523

reform1535

advise1562

partake1565

resolve1568

to do to ware1594

to let into one's knowledge1596

intellect1599

possess1600

acquainta1616

alighten1615

recommenda1616

intelligence1637

apprise1694

appraise1706

introduce1741

avail1785

prime1791

document1807

to put up1811

to put a person au fait of1828

post1847

to keep (someone) straight1862

monish1866

to put next to1896

to put (one) wise (to)1896

voice1898

in the picture1900

to give (someone) a line on1903

to wise up1905

drum1908

hip1932

to fill (someone) in on1945

clue1948

background1961

to mark a person's card1961

to loop in1994

1903 Sun (N.Y.) 18 Nov. 4 ‘These dressmakers’..cannot get a line on the styles except at the Horse Show.

1915 Literary Digest 21 Aug. (advt.) p. ii Get the right ‘line’ on the clothes the best dressed men will wear this fall.

1920 B. Cronin Timber Wolves 138 It ain't over wise to give anyone a line on to what's doing.

1923 R. D. Paine Comrades Rolling Ocean iii. 41 How about these other birds. Give me a line on them.

1927 H. V. Morton In Search of Eng. iii. § 6. 53 I don't know a darned thing about England yet,..but I'm getting a line on her, sure enough.

1928 D. L. Sayers Unpleasantness at Bellona Club xiv. 165 I did tumble to it that you'd got a line on me when you sent me down with that detective fellow to Charing Cross.

1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins v. 50 If you want to get a line on how she feels, she gave me a letter to give you... Here it is.

1942 Penguin New Writing 12 85 ‘They got a line on him,’ said the R.P.

1947 Chicago Tribune 22 July 1/5 If we can find any one who saw her at a dance after 10:30 p.m. we may be able to get a line on whom she was dancing with and whose company she was in when she left.

f. to lay (or put) it on the line: (a) to hand over money; (b) to state (something) clearly, plainly, or categorically; (c) (with direct object) to put (one's career, etc.) at risk. Also with place, and the verb to be. Chiefly U.S.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > payment > pay [verb (intransitive)] > lay down money

to show water1632

to post the cole1781

to come down with the money (dust, needful, etc.)1836

to lay (or put) it on the line1929

the mind > language > statement > state or declare [verb (transitive)] > clearly or explicitly

clarifyc1420

representc1443

define1535

express1600

to lay (or put) it on the line1954

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > endanger [verb (transitive)] > put at risk

to put in adventurec1300

jeopardc1374

wage?a1400

adventurec1400

jeopardy1447

enhazard1562

hazard1569

venture1575

impawn1613

hazardize?a1616

to put in or to a (or the) venture1638

risk1660

compromise1696

commit1738

compromit1787

to lay (or put) it on the line1968

1929 D. Runyon in Cosmopolitan Aug. 73/1 My rent is away overdue for the shovel and broom..and I have a hard-hearted landlady... She says she will give me the wind if I do not lay something on the line at once.

1940 J. O'Hara Pal Joey 100 You fellows always put it on the line for me every pay day.

1950 J. D. MacDonald Brass Cupcake i. 13 Lay it on the line. You can't take it with you... Put it on the entertainment account.

1954 J. Symons Narrowing Circle xxxvii. 188 ‘I'll see you're not the loser. You put it on the line with Jake Beverley and he'll put it on the line with you...’ ‘Let me lay it on the line then, Jake.’

1956 E. Pound tr. Sophocles Women of Trachis 17 Put it on the line, what do you know? Get it out clearly.

1967 ‘E. E. Sumner’ Chance Encounter v. 94 I'll lay it on the line for you, if you like. Are you thinking of asking my girl to marry you?

1968 M. L. King Trumpet of Conscience ii. 40 Our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly.

1968 Listener 22 Feb. 244/3 America must fight in Vietnam..because it has laid its prestige on the line.

1968 Guardian 26 July 9/7 Mayor Stokes is putting his career on the line. And the people know it—they won't let him down.

1970 Guardian 9 May 2/4 It was clear to the [American] President that his credibility was on the line with the leaders in Hanoi.

1972 New Yorker 26 Aug. 17/2 He had decided to put his artistic reputation as a talented and original director of opera on the line at the outset of his American career with an unorthodox..production of Bizet's ‘Carmen’.

1972 ‘J. Quartermain’ Rock of Diamond xxiv. 153 I'll lay it on the line, Raven. You can say yes or no.

1973 Black Panther 7 July 8/3 The situation is as bad as before the takeover and it only serves to give the Indian people more reason to put their life on the line.

1973 Black Panther 6 Oct. 3/2 Egil Krogh..put it squarely on the line: ‘Anyone who opposed us we'll destroy.’

g. to shoot a line (cf. shoot v. 23g), to ‘put on an act’, to talk pretentiously, to boast. So line-shoot vb. ( line-shooting adj. and n.) and n., line-shooter; also shooter of lines. colloquial.Cf. sense 13d above.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > boast [verb (intransitive)]

yelpc888

kebc1315

glorify1340

to make avauntc1340

boast1377

brag1377

to shake boastc1380

glorya1382

to make (one's) boastc1385

crackc1470

avaunt1471

glaster1513

voust1513

to make (one's or a) vauntc1515

jet?1521

vaunt?1521

crowa1529

rail1530

devauntc1540

brave1549

vaunt1611

thrasonize1619

vapour1629

ostentate1670

goster1673

flourish1674

rodomontade1681

taper1683

gasconade1717

stump1721

rift1794

mang1819

snigger1823

gab1825

cackle1847

to talk horse1855

skite1857

to blow (also U.S. toot) one's own horn1859

to shoot off one's mouth1864

spreadeagle1866

swank1874

bum1877

to sound off1918

woof1934

to shoot a line1941

to honk off1952

to mouth off1958

blow-

the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > [noun] > a boast

roosec1175

avauntc1380

advancement?a1400

vauntise1477

vousta1500

puff1567

rodomontade1591

flourish1592

rodomontado1598

vauntc1600

vauntery1603

vapour1631

fanfaronade1652

gasconado1658

blow1684

gab1737

vaunting1793

windy1933

line-shoot1941

the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > [noun] > boaster

yelper1340

avaunterc1374

braggerc1390

fare-makerc1440

seggerc1440

shakerc1440

vaunter1484

roosera1500

praterc1500

cracker1509

vouster?a1513

boaster1574

Thrasoa1576

braggarta1577

braver1589

glorioser1589

bragout1592

rodomont1592

braggadocio1594

gloriosoc1599

puckfist1600

burgullian1601

puff1601

forthputtera1610

rodomontado1609

ostentator1611

fanfaron1622

potgun1623

thrasonist1626

cracka1640

vapourer1653

braggadocian1654

rodomontadist1655

charlatan1670

brag1671

rodomontade1683

gasconader1709

rodomontader1730

Gascon1757

spread eagle1809

bag of wind1816

penny trumpeter1828

spraga1838

gasser1855

blow-hard1857

blower1863

crower1864

gabber1869

flannel-mouth1882

punk-fist1890

skiter1898

Tartarin1903

blow1904

skite1906

poofter1916

trombenik1922

shooter of lines1941

fat-mouth1942

wide-mouth1959

Wheneye1982

trash talker1986

braggarist-

1941 N. Coward Blithe Spirit i. ii. 50 The whole thing's a put up job—I must say, though, she shoots a more original line than they generally do.

1942 Penguin New Writing 13 24 Occasionally..it publishes a serious article... But this is regarded as a ‘bind’,..while its author is invariably dismissed as a ‘line shooter’, i.e. a conceited person.

1942 Penguin New Writing 13 24 The other day..our C.O. introduced a discussion on tactical evasion by saying: ‘I do not want this to develop into a “line-shooting” competition.’

1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 30 May 17 For keeping up the spirits, line-shooting is at least as good as beer-drinking.

1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 30 May 17 The man who shoots a heavy line about the work he is doing is probably very keen on his job.

1943 J. L. Hunt & A. G. Pringle Service Slang 44 Lineshoot, a tall story.

1944 G. Netherwood Desert Squadron i. 2 Some of the chaps also came from other well known fighter units. From the ‘line-shooting’ that ensued, one would think that the squadron which was then in the process of formation could never hope to be as well known as the one they had left—and so on and so forth.

1944 T. H. Wisdom Triumph over Tunisia 121 One of the most thorough and decisive of the air operations in the whole campaign was carried out by the Hurri-bombers. And this is no squadron line-shoot.

1946 G. Gibson Enemy Coast Ahead 144 These things were happening every night, so there was nothing to shoot a line about.

1951 M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael vii. iv. 377 When Melissa shoots a line..don't protest or argue. Take it up and embroider it.

1952 T. Rattigan Deep Blue Sea i. 38 Funny thing about gongs... They don't mean a damn thing in war—except as a line-shoot, but in peace time they're quite useful.

1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Oct. 564/2 A champion shooter of lines. In a party of outstanding climbers and travellers he could be relied on to cap any story.

1960 Times 19 July 18/4 One must bear in mind that what his Lordship had called..‘shooting a line’ was not necessarily inconsistent with a genuine belief.

1960 V. Gielgud To Bed at Noon i. xi. 73 He believed Tom to have been line-shooting as far as his swimming prowess was concerned.

1973 Listener 15 Mar. 342/1 [He] was an awful line-shooter. He claimed to have been at Oxford, but..he hadn't been at Oxford.

1973 Times 20 Sept. 20/8 He was awarded (his friends thought inadequately) the MBE by the British and by the French the Croix de Guerre. He never shot a line about his escapades but made them into entertaining stories.

14.

a. Contour, outline; lineament.

ΘΠ

the world > space > shape > [noun] > contour(s)

lineationa1398

lineament1570

line1590

purfle1601

lineature1630

stroke1638

stell1657

outline1662

profile1664

contour1770

lineamentation1890

galbe1899

1590 R. Greene Mourning Garment 11 Seeming him was his wife, Both in line and in life.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. i. 9 The Lines of my body are as well drawne as his.

a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. i. 95 Euerie line and tricke of his sweet fauour.

1819 P. B. Shelley Lines Euganean Hills in Rosalind & Helen 70 The dim low line before Of a dark and distant shore.

1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen viii. 138 The line of my features.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iv. 450 The savage lines of his mouth.

1891 Truth 10 Dec. 1240/2 The skirt falling in straight, plain lines to the ground.

1894 H. Caine Manxman v. iii. 286 The round line of the sea was bleared and broken.

b. Fashion. The outline or dominant features of composition of a dress or suit. Frequently with qualifying term or preceded by a letter of the alphabet (to indicate the outline shape of the garment). Cf. sense 23a below.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > [noun] > outline of

line1918

silhouette1920

1918 in C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothes (1952) iv. 141 What was called the ‘barrel line’ brought out by Callot two seasons ago..certainly is a lovely line.

1930 Times 13 Mar. 11/6 The curved line was seen in all the long coats.

1930 Times 27 Mar. 11/6 There is a distinguished coat in black matasol, which has a slimming line.

1932 Punch's Almanack 7 Nov. 8 (caption) The line of to day.

1955 Britannica Bk. of Year 489/2 Fashion produced a new ‘line’ in women's clothes, the H-line.

1958 Woman's Own 24 Dec. 14/3 Which year brought out the following trends: (a) the New Look; (b) the Trapeze Line; (c) the A-line.

1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 92 Line, the silhouette of a garment that makes it look fashionable or unfashionable.

1968 Harrods Xmas Catal. 15/2 An Empire line slip in nylon.

1970 Oxf. Times 25 Sept. 11/5 She wore a full length white empire line dress with a guipure lace bodice and circular train trimmed with guipure lace.

1975 Vogue 1 Mar. 84/1 Overall, a clear narrowing of the silhouette, most marked at Saint Laurent, presaging an even sparer line for autumn.

15. plural.

a. The outlines, plan, or draught of a building or other structure; spec. in Shipbuilding, the outlines of a vessel as shown in its horizontal, vertical, and oblique sections. (Also figurative)

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > shipbuilding > lines, sections, or elevations

middle line?c1400

sweep1627

lines1680

touch1711

waterline1750

station1754

sheer-draught1769

body plan1781

sheer-line1797

sheer-plan1797

touchline1797

water plane1798

centreline1806

buttock line1816

crown1830

scrieve1830

top-breadth line1846

wave-line1846

floor-plan1867

society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > [noun] > a plan or diagram > outline drawing

draught1593

ground-lines1624

lines1680

1680 W. Temple Ess. Advancem. Trade Ireland in Wks. (1731) I. 121 The raising such Buildings as I have drawn you here the Lines of.

1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. xiii Nor have I heard of any other Ship built by the Kings-fisher's Lines.

1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 66 The principal Lines of my Design of a Bridge suitable to that Place.

1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. iv. v. 188 Carnac..remained..to lend his countenance and aid to measures, the line of which he had contributed to draw.

1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 336 Model of a ship's hull... The novelty claimed in the uniformity of its lines.

1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth III. vi. 162 Her extravagant poop that caught the wind, and her lines like a cocked hat reversed.

b. figurative. Plan of construction, of action, or procedure: now chiefly in on (such and such) lines.

ΘΠ

the mind > will > intention > planning > [noun] > a plan

redeeOE

devicec1290

casta1300

went1303

ordinancec1385

intentc1386

imaginationa1393

drifta1535

draught1535

forecast1535

platform1547

ground-plat?a1560

table1560

convoy1565

design1565

plat1574

ground-plota1586

plot1587

reach1587

theory1593

game1595

projectment1611

projecting1616

navation1628

approach1633

plan1635

systema1648

sophism1657

manage1667

brouillon1678

speculationa1684

sketch1697

to take measures1698

method1704

scheme1704

lines1760

outline1760

measure1767

restorative1821

ground plan1834

strategy1834

programme1837

ticket1842

project1849

outline plan1850

layout1867

draft1879

dart1882

lurk1916

schema1939

lick1955

1760 E. Burke Ess. Abridgm. Eng. Hist. 13 In all very uncultivated countries..there are but obscure lines of any form of government.

1807 S. Cooper (title) The First Lines of the Practice of Surgery; being an elementary work for Students [etc.].

1858 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire VI. lv. 330 The lines of their policy are often to be traced for the most part by conjecture and inference.

1875 C. Merivale Gen. Hist. Rome li. 404 He did not live to lay even the first lines of the great work.

1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar viii. 80 He had reorganised the constitution on the most strictly conservative lines.

1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lxi. 432 Nearly all these offices are contested on political lines.

1889 A. C. Swinburne Stud. Prose & Poetry (1894) 286 No later work of Victor Hugo's, written on the same lines or in the same temper, can reasonably be set beside the Châtiments.

16.

a. [After French ligne.] A measure of length, the twelfth part of an inch.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [noun] > units of length or distance > inch > one twelfth of an inch

line1665

prime1703

scruple1802

second1842

1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 61 It did bear but 2 inches and 9 lines French for its greatest Aperture.

1759 tr. M. Adanson Voy. Senegal 101 I was informed, that there fell two inches three lines of water.

1849 Sketches Nat. Hist.: Mammalia IV. 62 The Long-tailed Field-Mouse... Length of head and body three inches eight lines.

1863 M. J. Berkeley Handbk. Brit. Mosses i. 3 Varying from less than a line to many inches in length.

b. In recent technical use (see quot. 1880).

1880 L. S. Floyer Plain Hints Examiners Needlework 133 Button Gauge... The numbers indicate the quantity of ‘lines’ in diameter. This ‘line’ is equal to the French millimetre.

17.

a. A limit, boundary; more fully, line of demarcation. to draw the line (see draw v. Phrases 9); also, with similar meaning, to †lay, form a line. to run the lines (U.S.): see run v. 67.

ΘΠ

the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun]

goalc1350

bounda1387

list1389

finea1400

frontier1413

enda1425

limit1439

buttal1449

headroom1462

band1470

mete?1473

buttinga1475

bounder1505

pale?a1525

butrelle1546

scantlet1547

limesa1552

divisec1575

meta1587

line1595

marginc1595

closure1597

Rubicon1613

bournea1616

boundary1626

boundure1634

verge1660

terminary1670

meta1838

1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile sig. E7^v And now the night grew neere her middle line.

a1609 J. Dennys Secrets of Angling (1613) i. iv. sig. B1^v Of Heauen the middle Line, That makes of equall length both day and night.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Line Line of Demarcation, or Alexandrian Line.

1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 210 And middle Natures, how they long to join, Yet never pass th' insuperable Line!

1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 67 Their different principles compose some of the strongest political lines which discriminate the parties even now subsisting amongst us.

1770 J. Reynolds Disc. Royal Acad. (1876) iii. 33 It is this intellectual dignity..that ennobles the Painter's art; that lays the line between him and the mere mechanic.

1840 H. H. Wilson Mill's Brit. India (ed. 4) I. i. iii. 69 To form a line between them and the Company, it was ordained, that [etc.].

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. i. 30 The line which bounded the royal prerogative.

1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. vii. 366 Hold on and hit away, only don't hit under the line.

1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) xviii. 303 The lines of separation of the great watersheds.

b. the line: = Mason–Dixon line n. at Mason–Dixon n. 1.

ΘΠ

the world > the earth > named regions of earth > America > North America > [noun] > United States > Mason-Dixon line

Mason–Dixon line1776

Mason–Dixon1834

the line1845

1845 F. Douglass Narr. Life F. Douglass xi. 101 We owe something to the slaves south of the line as well as to those north of it.

1861 J. R. Lowell E Pluribus Unum in Prose Wks. (1889) V. 51.

1909 ‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny xxi. 358 If you had come from below the line I reckon I would have liked you right smart.

1949 Sat. Evening Post 26 Mar. 38/2 The critic thunders, and below ‘the line’ the shades of Marse Robert and Jeff Davis inevitably are summoned forth to meet the charge.

c. Bridge. A line across a scorecard. So above the line, denoting points scored for game, honours, overtricks, or rubber, or for the failure of opponents to fulfil their contract; below the line, denoting points scored for tricks bid and won, and counting towards game.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > bridge > [adjective] > points

below the line1905

above the line1933

1905 H. A. Vachell Hill vii. 144 My partner..made the Little Slam, and scored nearly six hundred below the line.

1908 Westm. Gaz. 24 Dec. 14/2 Suppose the contract is two in hearts, and four by cards are made, the contracting side score 32 below the line, and game. If the contract had failed, and say two by cards had been lost, the adversaries would score 200 in their honour column.

1927 M. C. Work Contract Bridge ii. 9 The basic theory of Contract, viz., that Declarer may score below the line (toward game) only as many odd tricks as he has contracted to win.

1933 A. G. Macdonell England, their England vi. 78 Gone down 650 points above the line whereas he ought to have made two no-trumps.

1967 P. Anderton Play Bridge i. 15 They win ten tricks so they score three times the value of Spades below the line, i.e. 90 points plus another 30 points above the line as a bonus for making one more than their contract.

1970 S. Hughes Art of Coarse Bridge i. 12 This kind of spectacular finale happens far more often than one might expect, but it takes an awful lot of scoring above the line before anyone actually has..the right cards to do it with.

d. In phrases indicating the boundary between a debit and a credit in one's account, or between ordinary and extraordinary expenditure. (See also quot. 1973.) Also to pay on the line, to pay promptly.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > payment > pay [verb (intransitive)] > pay promptly

to pay on the line1934

society > trade and finance > management of money > keeping accounts > account or statement of > [noun] > account book > line

line1934

bottom line1973

1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra i. 20 There were only a few of the Lantenengo crowd who could get a favour out of Ed without paying cash on the line for it.

1938 S. V. Benét Thirteen o'Clock 249 I kept on schedule with the work, but I couldn't with the money. Each week, I'd be just a little over the line.

1940 Economist 13 Apr. 683/1 The figures ‘below the line’ in the Exchequer Return show the result of the issue of the 4 per cent.

1948 Economist 31 Jan. 195/1 Aggregate Government expenditure, including..the ‘below line’ expenditure.

1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 66 I paid on the line every time.

1966 A. Gilpin Dict. Econ. Terms 1 Since 1947 it has been customary for the British Budget to contain a full statement of the estimated expenditure and revenue for the following year, some items being shown as ‘above-the-line’..and others as ‘below-the-line’. Most current items appear above the line and most capital items below.

1973 New Society 28 June 736/2 The growth of petrol promotions has coincided with a growth of giveaways, gimmicks and competitions in the marketing of a wide range of products... Termed ‘below-the-line’ marketing, it is encroaching on the ‘above-the-line’ (advertising) share of manufacturers' marketing budgets.

e. bottom line: see bottom line n. 2b.

†18. Degree, rank, station. Obsolete.

ΘΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun]

estatec1230

statec1300

rowa1350

qualityc1425

calling1477

range1494

line1528

stature1533

respect1601

station1603

gradationa1616

ordinancea1616

repute1615

spherea1616

distance1635

impression1639

civils1650

footing1657

regimen1660

order1667

sect1709

caste1791

status1818

position1829

social status1833

standpoint1875

1528 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 121 Skiparis and seruandis of euery lyne.

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. iii. 166 To shew the line and the predicament, Wherein you range vnder this subtil king.

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. ii. 85 And in that very line Harry standest thou.

1782 T. Paine Let. to Abbe Raynal (1791) 37 One whom years, experience, and long established reputation have placed in a superior line.

1785 G. A. Bellamy Apol. Life (ed. 3) IV. 46 She..had received a more liberal education than is usually bestowed upon English women in the middle line of life.

III. Applied to things arranged along a (straight) line.

19.

a. A row or series of persons or objects. spec. = queue n. 7a (U.S.). Also elliptical = ‘receiving line’ (U.S.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > [noun] > a line or row

reweOE

rowc1225

ranka1325

rengec1330

ordera1382

rulec1384

rangea1450

ray1481

line1557

tier1569

train1610

string1713

rail1776

windrow1948

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > [noun] > a line or row > queue

queue1837

tail1837

line1930

1557 R. Record Whetstone of Witte sig. Hii Men call a line of Brickes, and a line of Asshelers stones, when many bee laied in a rowe, in lengthe.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 133 What will the Line stretch out to' th' cracke of Doome?

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 63. ¶4 The Officers planting themselves in a Line on the left Hand of each Column.

1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 28 Aug. (1965) I. 430 The street..is perhaps the most beautifull line of Building in the World.

1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 57/2 The bond was wrote obliquely, from right hand to left, the seals in a line, on the margin.

1836 W. Irving Astoria III. 260 A line of trading posts from the Mississippi and the Missouri across the Rocky mountains.

1840 T. Hood Up Rhine 29 Trees in formal line.

1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gipsy in Poems (new ed.) 209 The line of festal light in Christ-Church hall.

1863 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 158 In the whole line of the procession.

1879 S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Palestine xiv. 301 The valley..enclosed by lower lines of hills than [etc.].

1903 N.Y. Tribune 4 Oct. She has had several years' experience ‘behind the line’, and will doubtless be of great assistance to Mrs Roosevelt.

1930 M. Sullivan Our Times III. xii. 502 People..were herded by policemen into lines stretching away from the marble entrance.

1969 D. C. Hague Managerial Econ. xi. 222 The second kind of stock problem is the queueing problem... A queue (what Americans call a ‘line’)..will form.

1974 State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 15 Feb. 1– b/2 At least one employe went as far away as Forest Drive for gasoline and nearby stations, selling gasoline, quickly acquired lines.

1975 N.Y. Times 1 Apr. 35/5 It's to stand silently on unemployment lines with other surplus members of America's work force, waiting to sign for your unemployment check.

b. A fancy name for: A flock of geese.

1802 W. B. Daniel Rural Sports II. 465 [Geese in flight] form two oblique lines like the letter V, or if their number be small, only one line.]

1882 Standard 10 Feb. 5/3 To speak by the book, of a ‘line’ instead of a ‘flock’ of geese.

c. A row of machines or work stations where a product is progressively assembled, or a succession of operations performed on it, as it passes from one end to the other during manufacture or processing. Cf. assembly line n., production line n.

ΘΠ

society > occupation and work > workplace > factory > [noun] > assembly or production line

production line1905

assembly line1914

line1926

track1931

transfer line1956

1926 Encycl. Brit. II. 822/1 All of these lines, with their various machines and operations, are converging on the point where the leaves are assembled into springs.

1937 Times 13 Apr. p. xii/2 The raw material is delivered at one end of the machining line with the component passing from machine to machine until it reaches the view table.

1940 War Illustr. 16 Feb. 113 In one of Britain's ‘shadow’ factories bombers on the line will soon be ready to take the air.

1971 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 24 Sept. 531/1 Features of the production facilities at the new factory..include a fully automated machining line and the longest finishing line in the U.K.

d. In business or management organization, the chain of command or responsibility; the persons responsible for the administration and organization of a business (as opposed to the staff). Hence line manager, line management.

ΘΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > overseer or foreman

stewarda1400

surveyorc1440

supervisorc1454

overlookera1513

workmaster1525

supervisora1529

foreman1574

superintendent1575

overman1606

headman1725

overseer1766

gang leader1775

hagmaster1797

maistry1798

gangsman1803

kangany1817

capataz1826

gangman1830

ganger1836

gaffer1841

gang boss1863

ramrod1881

charge-man1885

mandor1885

captain1886

overganger1887

ephor1890

pusher1901

gangster1913

line manager1960

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > manager > responsible for administration

line manager1960

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > manager > responsible for administration > collectively

line management1960

1960 L. C. Nanassy & W. H. Selden Business Dict. 27 Following are the basic types of internal organization of a business: (1) line: The owner gives orders directly to the workers. As the business grows, the owner appoints a few executives, who are responsible to him... (3) line-and-staff: Authority flows from top to bottom, with responsibility falling on staff supervisors and special experts.

1964 J. M. Argyle Psychol. & Social Probl. viii. 111 In several British factories it was found that the division between ‘line’ supervisors and ‘staff’ technicians tended to disappear—technologists must have supervisory responsibility.

1967 C. Margerison in G. Wills & R. Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 25 The accountants considered that they had responsibility for the end-product and sought to control certain actions of line managers. Line managers resented this interference with their authority and started to obstruct the accountants in their ordinary accounting function.

1967 L. Coulthard & B. Smith in G. Wills & R. Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 206 A good deal of the failure of these techniques stems from the inability of personnel men to convince line management of their own vital role combined with the assumption by line management that the creation of a specialist department covering personnel policies, training, management development, etc., automatically relieves them of responsibility.

1972 Accountant 28 Sept. 391/1 If the internal auditor sees himself as a someone who can review and report upon the functions of line management on matters other than security, then there is one fundamental issue that has to be faced.

1974 Times 25 Mar. 17/4 It was a pity that so few line managers were present as it was their present and future competence that was being discussed.

20. Military.

a. A trench or rampart; plural (also collective singular), a connected series of field-works. Also, one of the rows of huts or tents in a camp or cantonment (see quots. 1872-6, 1876). line of circumvallation, line of defence, etc.: see the second nouns.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun] > series of fortifications

counter-line1598

line1665

trocha1896

society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > quartering > [noun] > encamping > row of tents

line1665

1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 613 The Line that incompassed his Camp was 8 Foot high.

1695 M. Prior Eng. Ballad 5 Regain the Lines the shortest way, Villeroy.

1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 139. ⁋7 He took the French Lines without Bloodshed.

1793 R. Burns in G. Thomson Sel. Coll. Orig. Sc. Airs I. i. 22 I left the lines, and tented field.

1839 T. Keightley Hist. Eng. (new ed.) I. 352 Lines were now run from bastille to bastille, and the town was completely shut in.

1846 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 II. i. 21 To attack the Gorkha positions at the western extremity of their line.

1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 263 Lines are formed for the entrenchment of armies, and are composed of a succession of redans, &c. (joined by curtains).

1872–6 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. In India..a cantonment contains barracks for European troops, and native huts termed lines for the Sepoys.

1876 Murray's Handbk. Surrey, Hants., Isle of Wight (ed. 3) 173 In the North Camp [Aldershot] the buildings are principally of wood, arranged in ‘lines’..which are lettered from A to Q. Each line is an oblong block of about 40 huts.

figurative.1835 I. Taylor Spiritual Despotism v. 220 They hastened to entrench themselves within the lines of absolute despotism.

b. In the war of 1914–18, the trenches collectively; the front line. So up the line (see quots.).

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > armed encounter > battlefield > [noun] > front or front line

edge1535

front1665

firing line1859

Eastern Front1914

Western Front1914

line1916

second front1941

warfront1950

society > armed hostility > armed encounter > battlefield > [adverb] > at or to front

out front1865

up the line1916

out there1917

1916 H. W. Fowler Let. 5 Mar. in S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) (1935) No. 43. 136 What may be going on up the line who knows?

1917 W. Owen Let. 4 Feb. (1967) 430 I am now indeed and in truth very far behind the Line; sent down to this old Town [sc. Abbeville] for a Course in Transport Duties.

1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 313 ‘Up the line.’ Term generally used in rest billets when Tommy talks about the fire trench or fighting line.

1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 52 Up the line, in action. ‘Up the line, with the best of luck’—a satirical phrase applied to men who, after being for some time in a safe occupation, were returned to fighting units.

1964 B. Gardner (title) Up the line to death.

21.

a. Military and Nautical. A row or rank of soldiers (distinguished from a column); a row of ships in a certain order. Also occasionally collective singular = ships of the line. line of battle: see battle n. 12. ship of the line: a line-of-battle ship.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > navy > a naval force or fleet > [noun] > formations of ships

battalia1613

line of battle1695

line1704

column1805

open order1805

society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > line

rengec1330

ray1481

ranka1533

hay1684

line1801

1704 London Gaz. No. 4054/1 Their Line consisted of 52 Ships and 24 Gallies.

1706 London Gaz. No. 4222/3 He had then 30 Ships of the Line,..besides two or three Frigats.

1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Abreast When the line is formed abreast, the whole squadron advances uniformly, the ships being equally distant from, and parallel to each other, so that the length of each ship forms a right angle with the extent of the squadron or line abreast.

1801 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 1800 Characters 56/2 Lord Cornwallis put him in command of the second line of the army.

1801 T. Campbell Battle of Baltic ii While the sign of battle flew On the lofty British line.

1805 in A. Duncan Life of Nelson (1806) 231 We have only 11 line, 3 frigates, and a sloop.

1813 R. Southey Life Nelson vi The fleet from Cadiz.. consisting of from seventeen to twenty sail of the line.

1815 Ld. Byron We do not curse thee, Waterloo iii While the broken line enlarging, Fell or fled along the plain.

1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Leila iv. i. 172 Suddenly the lines of the Moors gave way.

b. With the: in the British army, the regular and numbered troops as distinguished from the guards and the auxiliary forces; in the U.S. army, the regular fighting force of all arms.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > armed forces > [noun] > regular

line1802

society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > branch of army > [noun] > regular troops

line1802

1802 C. James New Mil. Dict.

1813 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) XI. 141 To prevent the men from volunteering to serve in the line.

1849 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) II. 184/2 The pay of a private..in the cavalry of the line [is] 1s. 4d..in the infantry of the line, 1s. 1d.

1859 E. Bulwer-Lytton What will he do with It? (1st Edinb. ed.) I. ii. v. 177 Then Charlie Haughton sold out of the Guards..[and] went into the Line.

1865–6 H. Phillips Amer. Paper Currency II. 148 The Connecticut line..assembled to return to their homes and leave the army to its fate.

1881 J. Grant Cameronians I. iii. 37 The new head-dress for the Line.

c. all along the line, all (the way) down the line: at every point. Also, somewhere along the line, at some point (in time).

ΘΠ

the world > space > place > here, there, etc. > [phrase] > everywhere

far and near or nighOE

in length and (in) breadth (or brede)a1250

high and low1525

here, there, and everywherea1593

in every stead1596

through long and broad ——1617

from Dan to Beersheba1738

all along the line1877

all over the auction1930

the world > time > particular time > [adverb] > at some time

somewhilea1240

somewhilec1250

somewhen1297

sometime1600

first and last1719

one of these fine days1762

some fine day1762

somewhere along the line1962

the world > time > frequency > [adverb] > always or in every case

alwayeOE

aldayOE

everOE

by night and (by) daylOE

ayc1175

algatea1200

alwaysc1225

everylikec1225

stillc1297

evermorea1300

algatesa1325

alikec1330

early and latec1330

at all assaysc1360

universallya1398

likec1400

continuallyc1460

tidely1482

ay-whenc1485

from time to (formerly unto) timea1500

at all seasons1526

at once1563

at every turn1565

throughout1567

still still1592

still1594

still and anona1616

still an enda1616

every stitch-while1620

everlastingly1628

constantly1651

everywhen1655

eternally1670

allus1739

any day (of the week)1759

everly1808

allers1833

every time1854

toujours1902

all (the way) down the line1975

1877 C. H. Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 246 God will be victorious all along the line in the present battle.

1880 T. Hodgkin Italy & her Invaders I. i. i. 117 The campaign of 378 opened auspiciously for the interests of Rome along the whole line.

1924 R. Fry Let. 27 June (1972) II. 553 Both he and Courbet did elaborate portraits of the same patron... Courbet wins all along the line.

1936 A. Huxley Eyeless in Gaza xxi. 297 A refugee from Germany... Aryan, but communist—ardently and all along the line.

1962 J. Wain Sprightly Running v. 189 There is always the wistful hope..that these young will not merely benefit from meeting each other, but will, somewhere along the line, actually be taught something.

1965 Listener 16 Sept. 402/2 It is difficult to estimate its direct effect, because all along the line there are people working hard to try to make sure that those defects do not come back on the patient.

1965 New Yorker 20 Nov. 162/3 Somewhere along the line, the surf and wind went out of his playing.

1969 B. Turner Circle of Squares xviii. 143 I've helped him all along the line, not always knowing why.

1972 Guardian 6 July 2/2 It has been clear that they had had to refer to Moscow for instructions all along the line.

1975 N. Luard Robespierre Serial xi. 87 You've lied to me, all the way down the line.

1975 N. Luard Robespierre Serial xvi. 146 I'm not going to let that little bastard get away with it. He's screwed us all down the line from Riyadh to Geneva.

22. A regular succession of public conveyances plying between certain places; e.g. the Cunard line (of steamers), the White Star line. Originally U.S.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > [noun] > regular succession of public conveyances

line1786

society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > [noun] > shipping business or trade > shipping line

line1848

surf line1848

sailing-line1905

shipping line1908

flag line1944

1786 Mass. Centinel (Boston) 11 Jan. 3/1 The new arrangement ordered by Congress, for the more safe and regular conveyance of the Mails, by the line of stages.

1818 Niles' Reg. 14 14/2 A regular line of waggons and packets are established between the city of New-York and Detroit.

1832 in Amer. State Papers (1834) XV. 348 The line of stages connecting Philadelphia and Delaware with the Eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia.

1837 W. Jenkins Ohio Gazetteer 56 The post office is supplied by daily lines of Coaches from Cincinnati to Dayton.

1848 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 424/2 Lines of large steamers are got up by companies as a speculation.

1900 F. T. Bullen Idylls of Sea 198 The better class of seamen will be found making voyage after voyage in the same vessel or at least in the same line.

1901 Scotsman 2 Mar. 10/1 The first vessel of the new direct line to Jamaica from England.

23. A row of written or printed letters.

a. gen. One of the rows of letters in any piece of writing or letterpress: often, esp. in plural, put for the contents or sense of what is written or printed. line by line, line for line: from beginning to end, seriatim; also, with hyphens, attributive. (For line for line in Fashion cf. sense 14b). to read between the lines: to discover a meaning or purpose not obvious or explicitly expressed in a piece of writing.

ΘΠ

society > communication > book > matter of book > [noun] > a line in a book

lineOE

rewOE

staff-rewOE

rowc1450

society > communication > writing > written text > layout > [noun] > line

lineOE

rowc1450

trait1572

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > [adjective] > following original exactly

line by line1487

perfect1523

verbal1598

sound1599

verya1616

literala1627

verbatim1651

undepraved1686

literatim1774

letter-perfect1867

line for line1876

the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > interpretation > interpret [verb (transitive)]

unloukOE

areadOE

spele?c1225

inredec1315

expounda1340

construe1399

interpretate1517

explain1538

scan1562

disentraverse1610

unspherea1616

explicate1628

spell1635

disenvelop1741

extract1775

interpret1795

clarify1823

to read between the lines1866

OE Riddle 42 10 Þær sceal Nyd wesan twega oþer ond se torhta Æsc an an linan, Acas twegen, Hægelas swa some.

1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. viii. 94 Þe Bulle In two lynes hit lay and not a lettre more.

1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. v. 428 In canoun ne in þe decretales I can nouȝte rede a lyne.

a1400–50 Alexander 1821 Loo ‘litill thefe’ in ilka lyne his lettir me callis.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 84 Quhen the marschall the cowyne Till bath the lordis lyne be lyne Had tald.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. i. 1 Com'st thou with deepe pre~meditated Lines? With written Pamphlets?

1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. III. 100 The good opinion you have of me, which is to be seene in every lyne of your Letter.

1711 London Gaz. No. 4807/4 Let him send a Line or two directed to the Blue Anchor and Crown.

1713 H. Felton Diss. Reading Classics 109 Two Lines would express all they say in two Pages.

1713 R. Steele Englishman No. 53. 344 Clerks amongst us make distant Lines, few words in those Lines.

1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) (In the plural) A letter; as, I read your lines.

1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice II. iii. 35 Not a note, not a line, did I receive in the mean time.

1816 C. Wolfe Burial Sir J. Moore 31 We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone.

1856 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 299 The distance between your lines in the letter just come.

1866 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 1st Ser. 118 No writer..was ever more read between the lines.

1876 J. Weiss Wit, Humor, & Shakespeare iii. 78 There was a worthy old deacon, who, repeating Watts's hymn line for line after his clergyman, said, ‘Return, ye rancid sinners!’

1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xiv. 194 In every line that he wrote Cicero was attitudinising for posterity.

1880 C. H. Spurgeon Serm. XXVI. 327 They do not say as much to their secret selves; but you can read between the lines these words—‘What a weariness it is!’

1886 Manch. Examiner 19 Jan. 5/4 People who have not the shrewdness to read a little between the lines..are grievously misled.

1896 T. L. De Vinne in Moxon's Mech. Exerc. (new ed.) I. p. xviii A line-for-line and page-for-page reprint of the original text.

1934 T. S. Eliot Elizabethan Ess. 17 A line-by-line examination of almost any Elizabethan play..would be a fruitful exercise.

1951 L. MacNeice tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust 9 I aimed at a line-for-line translation.

1958 Sunday Times 19 Oct. 25/1 ‘Line for line’ copies of French models are the current high fashion rage in New York.

1964 E. A. Nida Toward Sci. Translating ii. 17 Dryden felt that there were three basic types of translation: (1) metaphrase, a word-for-word and line-for-line type of rendering; (2) paraphrase..; and (3) imitation.

1969 Guardian 29 July 7/3 Line-for-line copies of his [couture] collection.

1971 Computers & Humanities 6 7 Comparisons are made on a line-for-line basis.

1971 Gloss. Electrotechnical, Power Terms (B.S.I.) iii. iv. 13 Line by line scanning, scanning in which the sweep is effected in straight, substantially horizontal strips extending over the entire width of the picture.

1973 Country Life 6 Dec. 1970/1 A perfect line-for-line copy of a couture Dior trouser suit.

figurative.?1573 L. Lloyd Pilgrimage of Princes f. 210 Death is the laste line of all thyng.

b. spec. in Printing. A row of types or quads.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > composed type > [noun] > row

line1659

1659 C. Hoole tr. J. A. Comenius Visible World (1672) 191 The Compositor..composeth words in a composing stick, till a Line be made.

1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 11 You must indent your Line four Spaces.

1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 1 It is not graceful to end a Break with a short word onely in a line.

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. Dict. 394 White-line, a Line of Quadrats.

1841 W. Savage Dict. Art of Printing 310 Head line, the top line of a page in which is the running title and folio, but sometimes only a folio.

†c. collective. A written record, message, etc. Obsolete.

ΘΠ

society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > written record, message

linea1400

a1400–50 Alexander 1932 [He] Vn-lappis liȝtly þe lefe & þe line [v.r. lines] redes.

a1400–50 Alexander 2060 And vneth limpid him þe lee þe lyne me recordis.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 9628 The Secund day suyng, sais me the lyne, Þe Troiens full tymli tokyn þe feld.

d. A few words in writing; often applied to a short letter.

ΘΠ

society > communication > correspondence > letter > [noun] > short letter or note

schedule1397

billet1579

breviate1596

notea1616

line1647

letterling1781

letteret1799

letterlet1812

notelet1823

epistolet1824

notekin1861

1647 H. Markham Let. in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 3 I..desire a line under your own hand to whom I shall deliver the castle.

1751 G. Berkeley Let. 25 July in Wks. (1871) IV. 326 A line from me in acknowledgment of your letter.

1775 J. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 352 I have this morning received a line from Mrs. Warren.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 415 History was too much occupied with courts and camps to spare a line for the hut of the peasant or for the garret of the mechanic.

1865 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 279 Dearest,—Just a line to say that all goes well.

1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella II. iii. iii. 307 Marcella scribbled a line on a half-sheet of paper, and..despatched Benny with it.

e. The portion of a metrical composition which is usually written in one line: a verse; plural verses, poetry. Also plural, (so many) lines of verse (sometimes, of prose) set to be written out as an imposition in school. to read the line (Sc.): to give out the words of a metrical psalm or hymn a line at a time (cf. line v.² 6).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > [noun] > poems or poems collectively

makinga1393

poetryc1395

rhymea1400

poetryc1475

line?1566

numbers1579

harping1819

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > line

versec900

staffc1450

line?1566

numeral1605

stich1723

stike-

society > authority > punishment > other types of punishment > [noun] > school punishment > written exercise or lines

imposition1746

poena1842

line1894

?1566–7 G. Buchanan Opinion Reformation Univ. St. Andros in Vernacular Writings (1892) 8 The regent sal cause thayme to writ twa or thre lynis of Terence.

1594 M. Drayton Ideas Mirrour xxix. sig. E3 And in my lynes if shee my loue may see.

1623 B. Jonson in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. sig. A4 Marlowes mighty line.

1632 J. Milton Epit. on Shakespear in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. (ed. 2) sig. A5 Each part, Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued Booke, Those Delphicke Lines with deepe Impression tooke.

1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 21 And ten low Words oft creep in one dull Line.

1752 D. Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 211 Each line, each word, in Catullus, has its merit.

1779 E. Parkman Diary 96 After which I..read Ps. 149, which was sung without reading the lines by the Deacon.

1792 W. Cowper (title) Lines addressed to Dr. Darwin.

1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 390 Lines forty thousand, cantos twenty~five!

1867 A. Dawson Rambling Recoll. (1868) 33 To dispense with reading the line in psalmody was by many held to be profane.

1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 252 The lines of Homer which you were reciting.

1894 W. H. Wilkins & H. Vivian Green Bay Tree I. 72 To commute the punishment to 500 Latin lines.

1907 Massacre of Innocents ii. 13 Vardon, do me five hundred lines.

1914 ‘I. Hay’ Lighter Side School Life vii. 182 Mr. Duckworth..had occasion to set Master Smith fifty lines for inattention.

1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xv. 325 At my junior school the boys had different doors from the girls and if a boy went through the girls' door he had a 100 lines to write out.

1961 D. Woodward tr. G. Simenon Premier ii. 36 He took lessons without appearing to see his pupils..and his only reaction was, if one of them grew restless, to give him two hundred lines.

1974 Age (Melbourne) 12 Oct. 12/2 Doing lines, being kept in to write out good resolutions, such as ‘I must not put squashed frogs in girls' sandwiches’.

f. plural. Short for marriage lines, the certificate of marriage. Applied also dialect to other kinds of certificates (e.g. of church membership).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > official announcements, permission, or records > [noun] > certificate

marriage certificate1821

line1829

1829 J. Hunter Hallamshire Gloss. Lines. Marriage-lines is a certificate of marriage often asked for and kept by the bride.

1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xi. 68 She could not produce her ‘marriage lines’.

1861–2 W. M. Thackeray Philip (1869) I. xii. 254 ‘How should a child like you know that the marriage was irregular?’ ‘Because I had no lines’, cries Caroline quickly.

1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 81 ‘Lines of admission’, or as we should call them letters of recommendation.

1901 Union Mag. Mar. 106/1 The old minister fell into a reverie in the very midst of filling in Sandy M'Turk's lines.

g. plural. The words of an actor's part.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > words spoken by actors

dialogue1572

side speech1728

words1761

line1882

1882 Daily Tel. 7 Dec. He [an actor] said, ‘Do let me get in some of my “lines”’.

h. line upon line: now taken as referring to the reiteration of statements in successive lines of writing or print (for the originally meaning see 5).

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > manner of writing > [noun] > reiteration of statements in successive lines

line upon line1837

society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > reiteration of statements in successive lines

line upon line1837

1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxviii. 10.

1837 F. L. Mortimer (title) Line upon line; or, a second series of the earliest religious instruction the infant mind is capable of receiving.

1896 Home Mission. (N.Y.) Aug. 218 A line-upon-line presentation of these facts.

IV. Serial succession.

24.

a. A continuous series of persons (rarely of things) in chronological succession. Chiefly with reference to family descent, a series in which each member is the parent of the one next following. So male line, line female, female line, direct line. For heir of line see heir n. Compounds 1.

ΘΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent

linec1386

descent?a1400

pedigree1440

series1599

Welsh pedigree1615

bloodline1658

family linea1694

stem-line1892

c1386 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 279 If gentillesse were planted natureelly vn-to a certeyn linage, doun the lyne.

1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 14696 ‘Flatrye’..by dyssent off lyne doun Eldest douhter off Falsnesse.

c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 48 In þe lyne vpward, þi fadyr is to þe in þe first degre of kynrede.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) i. l. 34 The rycht lyne of the fyrst Stewart.

a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) iv. l. 1786 He sulde be kynge of al þe haile, Þat cummyn war be lyne famale.

1508 Bk. Keruynge (de Worde) sig. B.vi A Marshall muste take hede of the byrthe and nexte of the lyne of the blode royall.

1641 Ld. Digby Speeches High Court Parl. 14 By a Concentring of all the Royall lynes in his Person.

a1700 R. Hog Decisions Court of Session, 1681 to 1691 (1757) 101 Alledged for the heir of the line female: That she had right by the contract 1634.

1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 13 There is no House in Europe that can show a longer Line of Heroes.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 457 Isaac, Jacob, Judah..and..Solomon, were preferred without any regard to the next in line.

1785 W. Cowper Task v. 211 In the line Of his descending progeny.

1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. III. 394 Purchases in the line of the mother or grandmother.

1809–10 S. T. Coleridge Friend (1865) 136 The property..derived from a long line of ancestors.

1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. xiii. 297 He and his sons, founded a long line of Priests.

1895 Law Times Rep. 72 817/1 The case is governed by a line of authorities extending over a century.

†b. by line: by lineal descent. Obsolete.

ΘΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [adverb] > in direct line

by linec1374

evenly?c1400

lineally1426

even1489

evenliklya1500

in a diametera1681

c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde v. 1481 Of þis lord descendede Tydeus By ligne.

c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 693 Of his lynage am I, and his of spryng By verray ligne.

1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur v. x My fader is lyneally descended of Alysaunder..by ryght lygne.

c1480 (a1400) SS. Simon & Jude 3 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 208 Of symone..& of Iudas..þat brethire ware be lyne of fles to sancte Iames callit þe les.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1841 Lord of þe londe as be lyne olde.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 134 The lawful ȝouth quha rycht be lyne was sproung of the kingis blude.

c. line of command.

ΘΠ

society > authority > command > [noun] > line or chain of command

line of command1930

chain of command1957

food chain1989

1930 Naut. Mag. Jan. 41 (title) The line of command.

1930 Naut. Mag. Jan. 43 When the machinery fails, then the old line of command is called upon to take its full responsibility.

1962 Rep. Comm. Broadcasting 1960 161 in Parl. Papers 1961–2 (Cmnd. 1753) X. 259 The planning and operation of a national programme of television can never be simple, even when there is a single objective to be pursued, when effective control resides in a single authority, and when there is a direct line of command.

25. Lineage, stock, race. ? Somewhat archaic.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun]

kinc892

strindc900

i-cundeOE

bloodOE

kindredOE

birtha1250

strainc1275

gesta1300

offspring?a1300

lineagea1330

descentc1330

linec1330

progenya1382

generationc1384

engendrurec1390

ancestry?a1400

genealogya1400

kind?a1400

stranda1400

coming?a1425

bedc1430

descencec1443

descension1447

ligneea1450

originc1450

family1474

originala1475

extraction1477

nativityc1485

parentelea1492

stirpc1503

stem?c1550

race1563

parentage1565

brood1590

ancientry1596

descendance1599

breeding1600

descendancy1603

delineation1606

extract1631

ancestory1650

agnation1782

havage1799

engendure1867

c1330 Arth. & Merl. 5462 (Kölbing) Aigilin, A wiȝt kniȝt of gentil lin.

c1440 Partonope 7253* He is of the lyne of king Priam.

c1450 (c1400) Sowdon of Babylon (1881) l. 357 I trowe, he were a develes sone, Of Belsabubbis lyne.

1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) ii. ii. 32 They had put out of rome tarquyn and..alle his lignee.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. vi Sole heyre male lefte of the ligne of Richarde duke of Yorke.

1637 J. Milton Comus 32 Virgin, daughter of Locrine Sprung of old Anchises line.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 131 Th'immortal Line in sure Succession reigns.

1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey V. xxiv. 588 Shame not the line whence glorious you descend.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. ix. 456 The party hostile to his line, his office, and his person.

1865 R. W. Dale Jewish Temple xiii. 139 He belongs to no consecrated line.

1874 G. Bancroft Footpr. of Time i. 78 The line of Cyrus being extinct.

V. A direction or course of movement.

26.

a. Track, course, direction; route: e.g. line of march, line of operations. line of communication: a line by which a field army maintains communication with its base; spec. = communication line n. at communication n. Compounds 3a; (see also quot. 1802); also line(s) of communication(s). telegraph line: see telegraph n. Compounds 1.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > [noun]

lodeOE

wayOE

gatea1300

tracea1300

raik?c1350

coursec1380

racec1390

line1426

fairwayc1440

tradec1480

voye1541

tract1555

track1565

career?1614

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > [noun]

wayOE

route?c1225

line1426

itinerary?a1475

tract1555

road1598

wad1854

society > armed hostility > military organization > signals > [noun] > line of communication

communication line1660

line(s) of communication(s)1802

1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 21779 That lyne ryht shal lede the To the place..Wych thow hast..souht.

1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated i. ii. 15 All earthly bodies are by a right line carried and directed to the Center of the Terrestriall Globe.

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §224 Sounds that move in oblique and arcuate lines.

1637 H. Hexham True & Briefe Relation Famous Seige of Breda 15 This night also the line of Communication, was begun betweene the French and the English.

1643 Acts & Ordinances Interregnum (1911) 321 The City of Westminster, the Borough of Southwarke, and other parts of the Counties of Middlesex and Surrey within the Forts and Lines of Communication.

c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1642 (1955) II. 80 I went from Wotton to Lond, to see the so much celebrated line of Communication.

1690 J. Child Disc. Trade ii. 66 The City of London and Westminster, Burrough of Southwark, and all other places within the usual Lines of Communication.

1739 J. Bancks Short Crit. Rev. Polit. Life O. Cromwell viii. 167 The bay was..united by a line of communication from one fort to another.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. vii. 213 This would have carried us in a direct line to the Island of Quibo.

1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 574 Though..the shaft..err but little from the intended line.

1792 G. Hanger Anticipation Freedom of Brabant 46 I know full well that twenty thousand men, or at most twenty-five thousand, are sufficient to act on any enemy's line of communication.

1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. Lines of communication, are trenches that unite one work to another..: thence the whole intrenchment round any place is sometimes called a line of communication, because it leads to all the works.

1819 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 5 737 Lying in a diagonal direction across the line of march.

1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Line, the route of a stage-coach, railroad, packet, or steamer.

1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea II. 193 The neck of country by which he keeps up his communications with the base is called the ‘line of operations’.

1872 B. Stewart Elem. Physics (1876) ii. 3 You must know..the direction or line in which I am moving.

1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 346/1 A system..by which along a regular chain of posts, or ‘line of communications’, an army received its supplies of food, [etc.].

1895 I. Zangwill Master i. vii. 82 They ran on parallel lines that never met.

1899 Westm. Gaz. 16 Nov. 5/2 Inspector-General of Lines of Communication.

1900 A. Conan Doyle Great Boer War 201 One dashing raid carried out by a detachment from Methuen's line of communications.

1925 R. H. Mottram Sixty-Four, Ninety-Four! 228 Some lines-of-communication Head-quarters.

1959 Listener 12 Nov. 820/1 Duchamp's activity, progressively destroying all the old lines of communication.

1992 S. Verona Mil. Occup. & Diplomacy i. ii. 34 With regard to maintaining the Soviet lines of communication through Romania, for example, these documents imply that Moscow could not be basing its choice on routes and logistics.

b. Short for line of rail at sense 26b(c), railway line n. at railway n. Compounds 1a, tramline n. Cf. branch III.In railway language variously applied (a) to a single track of rails, as in the up line, the down line; (b) to a railway forming one of the parts of a system, as in main line, branch line, loop line; (c) sometimes to an entire system of railways under one management, as in the Midland line. line clear, a signal indicating that a line is unoccupied and that a train may therefore proceed; line of rail (see quot. 1965; cf. end of steel n. at end n. 6f).

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > under one management

line1825

society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > track

way1700

track1806

rail track1824

railway track1824

line1825

main track1830

railroad track1830

single track1832

railway line1836

electric line1850

society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway > forming part of a system

line1825

main stem1832

society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway > forming part of a system > types of

branch line1825

sideline1831

stem1832

light rail1836

suburban1839

branch railway1840

main line1841

spurring1842

local line1843

trunk line1843

extension1852

feeder1855

main trunk1858

loop-line1859

loop1863

spur1878

main1886

spur line1924

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road laid with parallel planks, slabs, or rails > [noun] > laid with rails > rail > set or line of

line1825

railing1825

metal1842

society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway

railway1681

railroad1824

rail line1825

road1825

car line1833

chemin de fer1835

line1861

pike1940

society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > types of signal system > specific signal

red light1790

danger1841

danger-signal1848

line clear1869

highball signal1894

starter1895

red board1903

stop signal1923

identification light1931

1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 643 The numerous projected lines of rail-road for diminishing the friction of carriages.

1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 251/1 Curves on a main line of railway being..objectionable... When the Liverpool and Manchester line was projected.

1848 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 411/2 The plan of laying down continuous lines or tram~ways of smooth pavement for the wheels to roll over.

1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. IV. 1148 Model of a patent railway, with a third line of rails, to prevent running off the line.

1861 G. M. Musgrave By-roads in Picardy 195 The farmers..use the line to advantage by sending flour to inland and coast consumers by every train.

1869 Cornhill Mag. Mar. 282 Signalman at 3 tells signalman at 2, ‘line clear, send train.’

1888 R. Kipling in Pioneer Mail 29 July 148/3 Naturally a father who has worked for the line expects the line to do something for the son.

1898 F. Montgomery Tony 11 A few stations down the line.

1907 Daily Chron. 16 Oct. 7/4 Martin should have pulled up until he got the line-clear signal.

1936 Gloss. Terms Railway Signalling (B.S.I.) 9 The block indicator shows ‘Line Blocked’ or ‘Normal’, ‘Line Clear’ and ‘Train on Line’.

1963 G. M. Kichenside & A. R. Williams Brit. Railway Signalling v. 46 The signal controlling entry to the block section can only be cleared..when the block indicator for the section ahead is at ‘line clear’.

1965 Economist 8 May 655/2 The figure [of unemployed] exceeds 75,000 and..they are concentrated in the few towns along the so-called line-of-rail, the thin strip of urbanisation in which is concentrated..the country's [sc. Zambia's] economic activity.

1971 E. Afr. Jrnl. Mar. 17/2 A few co-operatives, along the line-of-rail especially, produce poultry products for sale.

c. U.S. to ride the line: to make the circuit of the boundary of a cattle-drift in order to drive in stray cattle.

ΚΠ

1888 T. Roosevelt in Cent. Mag. Mar. 669/1 Those who do not have to look up stray horses, and who are not forced to ride the line day in and day out.

d. Hunting. The straight course in the hunting field, esp. in phrases to ride the line, to take, keep one's own line.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > [noun] > type of run

wanlacea1425

ring1717

point1789

line1836

1836 New Sporting Mag. 10 62 Nothing is so unsportsmanlike or so dangerous as to cross a man at a leap; every one should keep his own line, and if a man when he gets close to it fears the fence before him, he should pull up.

1895 Outing Dec. 196/2 A parson he was, after a sportsman's heart... Though an old man when I knew him, he always rode the line religiously.

e. Chiefly Canadian and New Zealand. A settlement road, a bush road.Such roads often later developed into roads of standard size and quality, and the word line appears in many road-names in both countries. The term may be of English dialectal origin.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > bush

line1828

1828 Brockville (Upper Canada) Gaz. 26 Dec. 3/4 A teamster by the name of M'Pherson from the Scotch Line.

1830 W. S. Moorsom Lett. from Nova Scotia ix. 344 The greater part of this line is either a rough horse-path, or in the same state as that described under the name of a ‘new cut’.

1841 N.Z. Jrnl. No. 43. 224/2 Colonel Wakefield is also about to direct a line or bridle road (the basis of the future road) to be cut.

1853 J. C. Richmond Let. 11 Nov. in Richmond-Atkinson Papers (1960) II. 133 There is what we call a good bush road to Rata Nui but beyond it there are two miles of bush walking along what is called a ‘line’; a line is made by cutting the supple jacks and small shrubs with a bill-hook.

1863 E. H. Walshe Cedar Creek 103 They wished even for the corduroy expedient a little farther on, when the line became encumbered with stumps left from the under-brushing.

1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Line,..(2) a road. The new roads are so called.

1890 E. H. Searle Angela i. 2 This track was known to the neighbourhood as ‘Mount's Line’.

1933 ‘P. Slater’ Yellow Briar 172 This grain was hauled down the 6th line and stored till the spring in Isaac Chafee's warehouse.

1943 Amer. Speech 18 87 In some country districts [in New Zealand] (the Manawatu, for example) the roads are named lines—McDonell's Line, Richardson's Line, Union Line—presumably from early boundary or surveyors' lines.

1961 C. Price & C. C. Kennedy Notes Hist. Renfrew County [Ontario] 110 McNaughton's Plan of 1836 shows Queen's Line as an opened road.

1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 99 Line, a road, route or highway.

f. A row of traps or of poison bait.Widely used in English-speaking areas outside the U.K.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun] > series of

line1854

trap-line1889

1854 M. Reid Young Voyageurs 190 Moreover, he [sc. the wolverine] will follow the tracks of the trapper from one to another, until he has destroyed the whole line.

1871 R. L. Dashwood Chiploquorgan viii. 109 We followed an old ‘sable line’,..a line of traps set for that animal.

1949 Sat. Evening Post 22 Jan. 98/2 It is usually a glum day for the trapper when he pays his periodic visit to his line and sees in the snow the tracks of a wolverine joining the tracks that he made himself on his previous swing around.

1960 B. Crump Good Keen Man 31 Working from the same hut at first, we laid cyanide lines up every ridge within reach of the camp. The dodge was to work in pairs, one laying blobs of flour flavoured with oil-of-aniseed for bait, the other adding crushed cyanide to each heap of flour. We'd do this for three days, then go back over the lines cutting the ears off the dead possums for tokens.

1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 39 Whenever a fox got on the line they lost about a quarter of their morning's catch. It would go round all the traps killing and tearing the rabbits until it was disturbed or caught in an unsprung trap.

g. A pipe or tube (of great or indefinite length in relation to its thickness).

ΘΠ

the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > cylinder > [noun] > quality of being hollow cylinder > hollow cylinder or tube > of great or indefinite length

line1862

1862 W. J. M. Rankine Man. Civil Engin. iii. ii. 739 From..reservoir to..town the main pipes may form a double line, so that in the event of a failure of one line, a supply..may be conveyed through the other line.

1895 W. T. Brannt Petroleum vii. 237 Beside the lines leading from the oil region to Baku..there are a number of branches which lead from the 21 principal lines to the refineries.

1921 W. F. Durand Hydraulics of Pipe Lines v. 231 The buried line cannot be inspected or repaired or repainted on the outside, and these conditions will..reduce the serviceable life of the line.

1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics x. 411 As the propellants flow through the feed lines to the pump a certain amount of pressure will be lost due to friction.

1966 A. E. C. Vizard in P. Hepple Natural Gas 55 By using large diameter lines at relatively high pressures the potential carrying capacity of a single line can be greater.

1974 Sunday Express 14 Apr. 1/3 Detectives investigating the death of a diver..have found that his support line was cut. The line carried oxygen and communication cables to two divers 350 feet down.

h. Golf. (See quot. 1910.)

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [noun] > direction required for shot

line1887

1887 W. G. Simpson Art of Golf ii. ix. 166 If their advice as to the line and strength be followed, and the putt comes off, it is supposed..that there was no other way of doing it.

1910 Encycl. Brit. XII. 223/2 Line, the direction in which the hole towards which the player is progressing lies with reference to the present position of his ball.

1971 L. Trevino & O. Fraley I can help your Game (1972) v. 72 (caption) The putt has been stroked but I maintain my immovable body position, concentrating on keeping the blade square to the line.

i. up the line: on leave. Nautical slang.

ΚΠ

1942 Gen 1 Sept. 13/2 When a sailor goes on leave he goes ‘up the line’.

j. the end of the line (transferred and figurative). Cf. the end of the road at end n. 3h.

ΘΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > most extreme

worstc1275

extremityc1425

extreme fortune1531

exigents1588

fine1596

devil1681

limit1906

the end of the line1948

1948 Amer. Speech 23 29 Calcutta commandos..reached the End of the Line [sc. China] by flying..over the Hump.

1955 J. Potts Death of Stray Cat (1956) vii. 75 Lillian..turned to face Floyd, as a signal that this was the end of the line for him.

1959 E. Burgess Divided we Fall xx. 228 It looks like the end of the line for Roylake. Unless he can think up something—fast!

1967 P. G. Wodehouse Company for Henry v. 79 ‘Don't tell me we're there already.’.. ‘Yes, this is the end of the line.’

1974 ‘J. Graham’ Bloody Passage x. 133 They have nowhere to go. This is—how do the Americans say it?—the end of the line.

27. Course of action, procedure, life, thought, or conduct.

ΘΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > [noun] > (a) course of conduct or action

wayeOE

pathOE

waya1225

tracea1300

line13..

dancea1352

tenor1398

featc1420

faction1447

rink?a1500

footpath1535

trade1536

vein1549

tract1575

course1582

road1600

country dance1613

track1638

steeragea1641

rhumb1666

tack1675

conduct1706

walk1755

wheel-way1829

13.. K. Alis. 7266 For his barouns and for myne This weore the ryghtest lyne.

c1330 Arth. & Merl. 6492 (Kölbing) Þe king aros by wrongful lines &..He forlay þe stewardes wiif.

1629 N. Carpenter Achitophel 39 The same hand of Kingly munificence which..pointed him out the lines of his obliged loyaltie.

1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 112 The line I have observed with him has been [etc.].

1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Family III. 57 Promising to consult with him, in regard to what line of life he should pursue.

1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey I. ii. xv. 231 I should then,..have inherited some family line of conduct, both moral and political.

1850 G. C. Lewis Let. 28 Dec. (1870) 233 The Protectionists, as a party, have taken no line in the matter.

1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preaching (ed. 3) v. 131 You should consider by what lines of thought..you would be able to make the truth clear to them.

1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism (1882) xvi. 121 The line that shall be taken upon all the questions of the day.

1893 A. C. Swinburne Stud. Prose & Poetry (1894) 42 Few men..whose line of life lay so far apart from a naturalist's or a poet's can ever have loved nature or poetry better.

28.

a. A department of activity; a kind or branch of business or occupation.The sense seems to be largely due to the influence of quot. 1611, where, however, line (= Greek κανών, lit. ‘measuring rod’, Revised Version ‘province’) was probably meant by the translators in a sense belonging to branch II. The phrase line of things, sometimes used instead of line in the sense above explained, certainly arose from misapprehension of this text, where the words ‘in another mans line’ are parenthetical.

ΘΠ

society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > line of business or work

line1638

way1642

lay1707

walk1715

slang1789

métier1792

Fach1838

lark1934

line of work1957

1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. x. 16 And not to boast in another mans line of things made ready to our hand. ]

1638 F. Rous Heavenly Acad. x. 176 Keep thou especially in thine owne line, neither trouble thy selfe..for the line of another.

1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ii. 116 It is not out of Curiosity or Busybodinesse, to be medling in other mens Lines.

1677 W. Hubbard Narr. Troubles with Indians New-Eng. ii. 86 To intrude our selves into that which is out of our Line, or beyond our Sphere.

1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses I. 266 He entred on the Physick line, but took no degree in that Faculty.

1777 S. Johnson Let. 20 Sept. (1992) III. 71 Seeing things in this light, I consider every letter as something in the line of duty.

1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 95 If I can be made useful to you in any line whatever here.

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1777 II. 171 Johnson was..prompt to repress colloquial barbarisms; such as..line, for department or branch, as, the civil line, the banking line.

1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. iv. 67 Introd. Any thing much worse than usual in that line?

1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. v. i. 345 I had got into the matrimonial line.

1820 Ld. Byron Blues ii. 94 Stick to those of your play, which is quite your own line.

1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 159 Mr. Augustus Cooper was in the oil and colour line.

1887 Spectator 16 Apr. 535/2 The line of this story is correctness rather than interest.

b. in (or out of) one's line: suited (or unsuited) to one's capacity, taste, etc.; not one's line, not one's vocation or calling, not among one's pursuits or interests; to step (or get, etc.) out of line, to behave in an unconventional or unexpected manner.

ΘΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > direct one's conduct by a rule [verb (intransitive)] > not conform to standard behaviour

to swim against the stream or the tide1592

to step (or get, etc.) out of line1791

the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > suitable or appropriate [phrase] > to a person

in my (his, etc.) way1740

in (or out of) one's line1838

the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupied or busy [phrase] > not among one's activities or pursuits

not one's line1857

the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > unsuitable or inappropriate [phrase]

out of the waya1450

out of my (your, etc.) way1555

out of place1560

in (or out of) one's line1886

out of key1920

1791 J. Lackington Memoirs xxv. 191 I cannot help noticing that in one of his [sc. Wesley's] publications (stepping out of his line) he betray'd extreme weakness and credulity.

1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist II. xxvi. 94 Have you got any thing in my line to-night?

1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago I. Introd. p. xviii ‘He..wanted to call me out.’ ‘Did you go?’.. ‘I told him that wasn't my line.’

1886 R. Kipling Departm. Ditties (1899) 35 Her jokes aren't in my line.

1888 Harper's Mag. July 183 Store-keeping was not in my line.

1932 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls ii. 37 Reasonably safe for anyone who does not get too far out of line.

1937 M. Sharp Nutmeg Tree xix. 249 ‘Wouldn't you like to be Lady Waring?’.. ‘No, I wouldn't..it's not my line.’

1938 D. Runyon Furthermore iii. 45 He is out of line in giving Frankie the hot foot.

1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. xiii. 87 The welfare worker act..wasn't her line at all.

1962 P. Gregory Like Tigress at Bay iii. 28 As long as he doesn't get out of line too often, I'll keep him on.

1962 J. Ludwig in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 244 Women weren't Sidney's line.

1973 N. Graham Murder in Dark Room viii. 58 You do it his way or else. I stepped out of line when I checked on Redman.

c. line of business n. in the 18th- and 19th-century theatre, the kind of parts for which an actor or actress was specifically engaged. Cf. business n. 18.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > part or character > [noun] > usual type of part for actor

line of business1775

1775 F. Abington Let. in D. Garrick Private Corr. (1832) II. 106 Knowing the impossibility of my attempting that line of business while I am necessarily engaged in so many plays.

1807 A. Holbrook Mem. Actress 33 Another shocking custom is, that of giving no distinct line of business; for people, let them possess what talent they may, excel more in certain parts than in others.

1831 P. Egan Show Folks 27 Waiting in turn to engage young men for different ‘lines of business’ to complete their companies.

1845 Ainsworth's Mag. 8 150 I have alluded to country actors..acting characters not in their ‘line of business’.

1849 Theatr. Mirror 17 Sept. 20 We were surprised to see Mrs. W. Daly playing the part of Lady Macbeth, being quite out of her lines of business.

1901 C. Morris Life on Stage vii. 40 These were the principal ‘lines of business’, and in an artistic sense they bound actors both hand and foot.

d. one's line of country, one's pursuit, field of interest, area of study, etc. (Frequently in neg. contexts.) Also, line of work.

ΘΠ

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > affair, business, concern > [noun] > field of interest

mattera1387

campa1538

champian1596

domain1764

champaign1839

ground1847

one's line of country1861

society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > line of business or work

line1638

way1642

lay1707

walk1715

slang1789

métier1792

Fach1838

lark1934

line of work1957

1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. viii. 138 This sort of thing isn't my line of country at all.

1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train ii. v. 115 I don't advise you to join it [sc. the R.C. church]. I don't think it's your line of country, exactly.

1943 N. Balchin Small Back Room viii. 94 What? Pinching strange females?.. That's more his line of country than yours.

1951 W. Empson Struct. Complex Words 15 A mistake made by Richards..is a great deal more illuminating than the successes of other writers in this line of country.

1957 G. Faber Jowett v. 94 Josephine's absorption in her new ‘line of work’.

1966 ‘M. Brewer’ Man against Fear i. 15 I'd like to help... But it's not my line of country. Only the police can catch them.

1972 News & Observer (Raleigh, N. Carolina) 30 Dec. 4/3 No one lives in the sticks or is asked his line of work very often.

†29. Used by Shakespeare in plural for: ‘Goings on’, caprices or fits of temper. [Compare the Warwickshire dialect phrase on a line = in a rage.]

ΘΠ

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > capriciousness > a caprice or whim > caprices

humours1589

linea1616

a1616 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida (1623) ii. iii. 129 Yea watch His pettish lines, his ebs, his flowes [Mod. edd. lunes].

a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iv. ii. 18 Your husband is in his olde lines againe.

30.

a. Commerce. An order received by a traveller or agent for goods; the goods so ordered; also, the stock on hand of a particular class of goods, goods of a particular design.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > particular class of

line1834

town-made1835

run1861

brand1864

sideline1886

make1909

name brand1944

white goods1947

brown goods1976

positional goods1976

society > trade and finance > buying > [noun] > order

special order1547

order1746

mail order1867

line1892

pre-order1957

1834 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 3 9/3 Even those [travelling salesmen] whose line seems the most hopeless and frivolous.

1882 Daily News 4 Mar. Spinners content themselves with supplying special lines and immediate requirement.

1892 Money Market Rev. 6 Feb. Another error committed by some of the Trusts has consisted in taking inordinately large ‘lines’ of particular Stocks.

1892 Daily News 11 Apr. 6/6 In spite of the new French tariff we still continue to receive fair ‘lines’ for silver goods from Paris.

1930 H. Cousins in V.A. Demant Just Price v. 102 No business can expect that all its ‘lines’ will be successful.

1959 Punch 16 Sept. 177/1 I can do a nice line in powder compacts.

1971 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 1 Oct. 15/3 Rather than let a slow selling line stand on the shop floor it is reduced immediately.

b. The amount which one underwriter (or one company) accepts as his share of the total value of the subject matter covered by insurance.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > insurance > [noun] > insurance policy > associated expense, amount, or charge

premio1622

premium1661

reversion1768

reversionary bonus1833

insurance1838

loading1867

hazard rate1872

single premium1877

margin1881

line1899

strain1910

deductible1927

no-claims bonus1933

co-pay1959

co-payment1966

1899 F. Hooper & J. Graham Mod. Business Methods 144 The names and the amounts on the back of a policy..would appear thus... Each of the above persons is said to ‘take a line’ in the policy.

1905 [see sense 17c].

1931 Times 14 Mar. 12/6 Many of those [sc. insurance companies] who have written large lines..are known to have been influenced by a desire [etc.].

1974 W. L. Catchpole Business Guide to Insurance xxiv. 202 If the chosen underwriter.. agrees to accept a substantial line at an equitable risk, he becomes the leading underwriter on the slip.

c. line of credit n. a loan by one country to another, to be utilized by the second for buying goods from the first; credit extended by a bank to a commercial concern to a certain amount; the amount so extended.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > moneylending > [noun] > loan > national or international

loan1765

soft loan1954

line of credit1958

Euroloan1961

1958 Listener 18 Sept. 407/1 A line of credit for £8,000,000 from Australia will have helped matters.

1971 Daily Tel. 1 Jan. 1/1 A total of 41 million Canadian dollars..was repaid on the Canadian line of credit.

Compounds

C1.

a. Simple attributive and objective.

(a)

line battalion n.

1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 50/1 2 companies from each of the line battalions assigned to the sub-district.

line end n.

1748 W. Hardy Miner's Guide 184 Your Assistant having made a mark upon the Ground, where the Line End touched last.

1908 Daily Chron. 23 Oct. 9/4 Now he types instead of stamping the last words so as to obtain an even line end.

1930 T. Sasaki On Lang. R. Bridges' Poetry i. v. 21 The strongest stress..is the one at the line-end.

1961 T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 226/1 Line division mark, a vertical line or double vertical lines used in bibliographical transcription to indicate the place of the ends of lines... Also called line end stroke, dividing stroke.

line-guard n.

1888 ‘J. Bickerdyke’ Bk. All-round Angler ii. 28 A Nottingham reel fitted with a little invention..intended to prevent the line uncoiling..off the reel. This line-guard has answered beyond my expectations.

line-length n.

1905 Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. 20 814 The uniform background of the recurrent line-lengths.

1929 H. Crane Let. 30 Aug. (1965) 344 The line-lengths are longer than in any other section.

line-maker n.

line-making v.

1897 Daily News 13 Sept. 7/3 Some six miles further on, the point where [railway] line-making was actually in process.

line-numbering n.

1953 S. W. Amos & D. C. Birkinshaw Television Engin. I. ii. 33 The system of line numbering must be explained... The lines are numbered according to the positions they occupy in the raster, number 1 being the top line and, in the British system, 405 the bottom line.

1966 Eng. Stud. 47 296 His marginal references to Folio lines and passages (using the line-numbering of the Globe edition).

line-pair n.

1867 A. Cayley in Coll. Math. Papers (1893) VI. 201 A conic is a curve of the second order and second class; quà curve of the second order it may degenerate into a pair of lines, or line-pair.

line-regiment n.

1864 G. O. Trevelyan Competition Wallah ix. 299 Eighteen months in such a school would have turned the French line-regiments into Zouaves.

line-rhyme n.

1860 G. P. Marsh Lect. Eng. Lang. xxv. 554 Line-rhyme is a constituent of all but the most ancient forms of Icelandic verse.

line-room n.

a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) iii. ii. 41 To hang up cloaths, or any thing you please. Your Worship cannot want line-room.

(b)

line-numbered adj.

1905 Academy 14 Oct. 1072/2 We can see him turning over the page, line-numbered.

1959 Notes & Queries Sept. 313/2 The recent line-numbered edition by W. J. B. Owen.

line-throwing adj.

1887 Daily News 9 Mar. 6/7 A Line-throwing Gun.

†b. Botany. Used = linear adj. 4b. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. Families of Plants I. 37 The leaflets line-lanc'd, keel'd, erect.

1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. Families of Plants I. 41 Seeds one, cover'd, line-oblong.

1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. Families of Plants I. 105 Filaments five, line-compress'd.

C2. Special combinations. Also lineman n., linesman n., line standard n.

line angle n. Dentistry the angle at the junction of two surfaces of a tooth or cavity.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > mouth > substance or parts of teeth > [noun] > junction of surfaces

line angle1908

1908 G. V. Black Work on Operative Dentistry I. 295 Line angles.

1930 W. H. O. McGehee Text-bk. Operative Dentistry xi. 338 Flatten the gingival and axial walls, making a definite line angle at their junction.

1963 C. R. Cowell et al. Inlays, Crowns, & Bridges iii. 15 Complete the proximal box, using a chisel to plane its vertical walls and to sharpen the line angles.

† line-angular adj. Obsolete (see quot.).

1774 M. Mackenzie Treat. Maritim Surv. p. xviii A Line~angular Survey is, when the Coast is measured all along with a Chain, or Wheel, and the Angles taken at each Point and Turn of the Land with a Theodolite, or magnetic Needle.

line-at-a-time printer n. = line printer n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > [noun] > computer printer > types of

line-at-a-time printer1955

line printer1955

chain printer1962

laser printer1979

dot matrix1982

thermal printer1982

thimble printer1982

1955 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery 2 294 Line-at-a-time printer (92 characters per line), operating at a speed of 150 lines per minute.

1963 I. H. Gould & F. Ellis Digital Computer Technol. xi. 141 The line-at-a-time printers have, in the main, been adapted from the tabulating machines of punched card practice.

line-backer n. American Football andCanadian Football (See quot. 1961).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > types of player

side tackle1809

nose guard1852

rusher1877

goalkicker1879

quarterback1879

runner1880

quarter1883

full back1884

left guard1884

snap-back1887

snapper-back1887

running back1891

tackle1891

defensive end1897

guard1897

interferer1897

receiver1897

defensive back1898

defensive tackle1900

safety man1901

ball carrier1902

defensive lineman1902

homebrew1903

offensive lineman1905

lineman1907

returner1911

signal caller1915

rover1916

interference1920

punt returner1926

pass rusher1928

tailback1930

safety1931

blocker1935

faker1938

scatback1946

linesman1947

flanker1953

platoon player1953

corner-back1955

pulling guard1955

split end1955

return man1957

slot-back1959

strong safety1959

wide receiver1960

line-backer1961

pocket passer1963

tight end1963

run blocker1967

wideout1967

blitzer1968

1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Linebacker, a football player stationed within one to four yards of the line of scrimmage and expected to make quick tackles close to the line of scrimmage on running plays and to protect against short passes.

1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 29/1 Darryl Burgess, a 225-pound linebacker from St. Mary's.

1969 Eugene (Oregon) Register-Guard 3 Dec. 10/2 Oregon linebacker Tom Graham..played well enough to make both UPI and AP All-Coast teams as a rookie.

1970 Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 18/5 We can always move Corrigall to linebacker.

1973 Washington Post 13 Jan. C5/4 The most misguided portion of the show comes during Jones' interviews of Jim Brown, the former football player-turned-actor, and Ray May, a linebacker for the Baltimore Colts.

line-bait n. bait used in line-fishing.

1895 Outing 30 432/1 Minnows, frogs, crayfish or any favorite line bait.

line-ball n. Baseball (see quot.); also in Tennis

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1874 H. Chadwick Base Ball Man. 55 A ‘line ball’ or ‘liner’ is a ball sent swiftly from the bat to the field almost on a horizontal line.

1891 F. C. Burnand Miss Decima 22 Chorus (outside—watching a game of Lawn Tennis)..Ah! ‘Line’ ball.

line blanking n. Television the suppression of signals that would contribute to the picture during fly-back of the scanning spot between the transmission of successive lines; frequently attributive.

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society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > scanning, etc.

scanning1927

scanning spot1929

flying spot1933

interlacing1935

line scanning1935

interlace1936

line scan1938

matrixing1951

line blanking1952

1952 J. O'C. Howe & G. Ducloux tr. F. Kerkhof & W. Werner Television iv. 76 The total line blanking of the picture signal is 0·15 L.

1957 S. W. Amos & D. C. Birkinshaw Television Engin. (rev. ed.) I. ii. 31 The synchronising signals are not the only form of intelligence which must be transmitted between lines; an additional signal, known as the line-blanking signal, must also be inserted.

1966 G. H. Hutson Television Receiver Theory I. iii. 31 The line blanking period is divided into..the front porch, the line sync. pulse and the back porch.

line block n. a block bearing a design in relief from which an illustration made up of lines without variations in tone may be printed; an illustration printed in this way; also attributive.

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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > relief engraving > [noun] > other techniques > line block

line block1896

1896 A. Beardsley Let. 29 Sept. (1971) 173 The rest of the drawing has come out so hardly and coldly in the line block.

1924 E. Pound Let. 3 Dec. (1971) 191 I think the idea of ten or twelve Blacks of size that cd. go by post, and that cd. be done in line block, might be useful.

1936 Burlington Mag. Mar. p. xiv/1 Line-block illustrations from the author's own drawings.

1956 Nature 18 Feb. 301/1 The illustrations are well chosen, both the line-blocks and the half-tones.

1972 P. Gaskell New Introd. Bibliogr. 272 The detail of all but the very best photographic line blocks tends to be slightly rougher at the edges than that of wood engravings.

line-book n. (a) Printing (Obsolete exc. Historical), a book in which compositors working in companionships (chiefly 19th cent.) kept account of the lines of set type credited and debited to them; (b) (also lines-book) R.A.F. slang a record of boasts (see 13g).

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society > communication > printing > record and reference books > [noun] > compositors' accounts

line-book1876

the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > [noun] > a boast > record of boasts

line-book1876

1876 J. Gould Letter-press Printer 33 The system adopted in some of the smaller houses is for each compositor to make up and impose his own pages, the making-up being passed from one compositor to the companion who follows him, accompanied by the line book.

1942 Observer 4 Oct. 7/2 ‘There I was, upside down, in cloud, ten-tenths, at 1,500 ft...’ But you never get to the end of your story if you were so foolish as to begin like that. ‘Lineshoot!’ they would cry. ‘Line!’ And most squadrons have a Line Book in which such statements are written down, to their authors' perpetual shame.

1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 40 Lines book, in which are recorded exaggerated statements made at one time or another by Mess members.

1945 E. Taylor At Mrs Lippincote's xxiii. 194 Quick, the line-book!

1972 P. Gaskell New Introd. Bibliogr. 193 He [sc. the clicker] kept an account of the number of lines that each man set, both in a line-book and by marking the copy.

line-bred adj. produced by line-breeding.

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the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > heredity or hereditary descent > [adjective] > descent from common ancestor

pure1569

truly1650

thoroughbred1719

thorough-blood1774

monogeneous1857

genetic1860

monogenous1866

homogenetic1870

homogenetical1870

homogenous1870

monophyletic1874

clean-bred1882

homodemic1883

homophylic1883

homosystemic1883

line-bred1891

synepigonic1904

cladistic1960

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by breed > [adjective] > thoroughbred or highly bred

blooded1776

blood-like1796

blood1824

line-bred1891

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [adjective] > that is bred or has died in particular way

traiked1828

metis1848

mestizo1854

half-bred1891

line-bred1891

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bos taurus or ox > [adjective] > bred in particular way

high-grade1847

graded1876

line-bred1891

1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xxxi. 400 The impression that tuberculosis is more prevalent among high line-bred shorthorns than among the ordinary country-bred cattle.

1960 Times 19 Sept. 3/4 20 dams were chosen..these being line-bred.

1971 Amer. Notes & Queries Apr. 126/2 The quarter horse, developed from cross-breeding Spanish stock imported to America via Florida (Chickasaw horses) and what Nelson Nye calls ‘line-bred orientals’ from England, was originally a sport animal.

Categories »

line-breeding n. U.S. ‘the breeding of animals with reference to securing descent from a particular family, especially in the female line’ (Webster Suppl. 1879).

line-camp n. North American a camp, esp. a cabin, for ranch hands in an outlying part of a large ranch.

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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > camp or encampment > [noun] > type of

ordu1673

chantier1823

douar1829

outcamp1844

log-camp1858

lumbering-camp1858

yayla1864

refugee camp1865

cow-camp1873

gypsyry1873

work camp1877

tent town1878

logging-camp1880

lumber-camp1882

town camp1885

base camp1887

line-camp1888

wanigan1890

isolation camp1891

tent village1899

sheep-camp1911

safari camp1912

jungle1914

transit camp1919

Siwash camp1922

health camp1925

tent city1934

fly camp1939

bivvy1961

1888 Cent. Mag. Mar. 667/2 But some of the men are out in the line camps, and the ranchman has occasionally to make the round of these.

1949 10 Story Western May 12/2 He had been telling them all how he was going to winter here at the Buffalo Crossing line camp.

1963 R. D. Symons Many Trails v. 52 Most outfits had what they call ‘line camps’ strung along the limits of their range, from which ‘line riders’ operated.

line-cast adj.

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society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > composed type > [adjective] > a line at a time

linotyped1908

line-cast1973

1973 S. Jennett Making of Bks. (ed. 5) xv. 286 The italic [of Linotype Baskerville] is a little loose fitting, its width, as in other line-cast type-faces, being governed by the roman.

line-caster n.

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society > communication > printing > composing equipment > [noun] > type-setting machines > machine which sets a line at a time

Linotype1888

monoline1902

lino1907

Intertype1913

Linograph1913

line-caster1972

1972 Physics Bull. Sept. 533/1 These ‘second generation’ photosetters..are reasonably cheap and are considerably faster than the latest line-casters which are also tape driven.

line-casting adj. of a composing machine, casting type a line at a time.

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society > communication > printing > composing equipment > [adjective] > type of composing machine

line-casting1913

1913 Inland Printer July 486 (advt.) There are thousands of publishers all over the United States who have been waiting for a line-casting and composing machine so simple and easy to operate that it would prove practical in the small shop.

1916 L. A. Legros & J. C. Grant Typogr. Printing-surfaces iv. 15 Line-casting machine type-metal undergoes a wastage or depreciation.

1973 S. Jennett Making of Bks. (ed. 5) v. 83 The Intertype Fotosetter was also an adaptation, of the Intertype line-casting machine.

line-cod n. cod-fish caught with a line.

1877 E. W. H. Holdsworth Sea Fisheries 80 Very few line-cod are caught in the North Sea for the next three months.

line-conch n. a large gasteropod of Florida, Fasciolaria distans, marked by black lines ( Cent. Dict.).

line-coordinate n. Mathematics one of a set of quantities defining the position of a line.

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1866 A. Cayley in Coll. Math. Papers (1892) V. 521 Considered as (what in the theory of line-coordinates it in fact is) a particular case of the double tangent.

line density n. (see quot.); also gen., density or concentration of lines.

1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism I. 68 In this case we may define the line~density at any point to be the limiting ratio of the electricity on an element of the line to the length of that element when the element is diminished without limit.

1963 Reshaping of Brit. Railways (Brit. Railways Board) 65 Line densities are not the only measure of the use made of the railway.

1971 Fremdsprachen 15 276 It can be used to restore old drawings and to improve line density for microfilming.

line drawing n. a drawing done with a pen or pencil; also figurative.

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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > in specific medium

coal work1651

crayon1662

pastel1791

pencilling1803

pen sketch1847

pen-picture1853

sanguine1854

pen and ink1860

black lead study1862

sepia1863

stylograph1866

charcoal1884

fusain1884

line drawing1891

celluloid1920

1891 A. Beardsley Let. 25 Dec. (1971) 32 I am anxious to say something somewhere, on the subject of lines and line drawing.

1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. vii. 205 To undertake wash-drawings, line~drawings, colour-work or lithography.

1959 Listener 9 July 76/3 It [sc. an overture] is finer line-drawing than the Gordon Jacob work.

1966 Listener 6 Jan. 36/3 Over 300 [flowers] are illustrated in close-up colour photographs and 100-odd more in line drawings.

1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage ii. 51 There is a tendency to produce line drawings which might just as well have been done with a pencil.

line-drawn adj. made by line-drawing.

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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [adjective] > drawn > in specific medium

pencilled1594

pen and ink1810

chalked1823

pen-and-pencila1845

pen-and-wash1893

line-drawn1903

1903 Westm. Gaz. 17 Oct. 4/2 An order of the King in Council was published with two line-drawn illustrations.

line-drive n. Baseball a ball driven straight and low above the ground.

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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > batting > types of hit

skyscraper1842

single1851

grass trimmer1867

safe hit1867

roller1871

sacrifice1880

triple1880

two-bagger1880

sacrifice hit1881

pop-up1882

pop fly1884

fungo1887

bunt1889

safety1895

bunting1896

drive1896

hit and run1899

pinch hit1905

Texas leaguer1905

squeeze1908

hopper1914

scratch hit1917

squib1929

line-drive1931

nubber1937

lay-in1951

squeeze bunt1952

comebacker1954

moon shot1961

gapper1970

sacrifice fly1970

sacrifice bunt1974

1931 Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Va.) 9 July 5/3 Boyles turned in the star catch of the day by racing..to pull down a line drive with one hand.

1968 Washington Post 4 July c1/3 Mantle was safe as Ron Hansen's throw, after snagging a line drive by Andy Kosco, was a trifle tardy.

line drop n. Electrical Engineering the voltage drop between two points on a transmission line (as a result of resistance, leakage, or other causes).

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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > distribution system > [noun] > transmission line > loss during transmission

line drop1894

line loss1894

transmission loss1922

1894 [see line loss n.].

1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 86/1 D.C. boosters are normally low-voltage d.c. generators employed for adjusting a supply voltage, in line-drop compensation and as an aid in controlling the charging of large accumulator batteries.

line-ending n. (a) = line-filling n.; (b) the end of a line of poetry.

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society > communication > writing > written text > decoration > [noun] > flourish

dash1607

flourish1653

knota1680

purlicue1808

quirk1840

squirl1843

curlicue1844

line-filling1895

line-finishing1906

line-ending1928

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > line > subdivision of line > end of line

falling out1586

acrostic1737

line-ending1928

1928 E. G. Millar Eng. Illumin. MSS XIVth & XVth Cent. i. 9 Many of the line-endings..were added in the fifteenth century.

1962 W. Nowottny Lang. Poets Use v. 120 The method he adopts is the eccentric placing of line-endings.

line-engine n. an engine having several cylinders arranged in a straight line.

1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 41/2 A double-acting line engine with cylinders in tandem.

line-engraved adj. inscribed with a line engraving.

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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [adjective] > line-engraved

line-engraved1802

1802 Monthly Mag. 14 253/1 The best line-engraved prints preserved their superiority.

1881 Stamp-collector's Ann. 5 The fall of the penny stamp and all its line-engraved family.

1936 Discovery Dec. 386/1 Practically all [18th-century tradesman's cards] are line- or stipple-engraved.

1965 Stamp Collecting (‘Know the Game’ Series) 44/1 Stamps printed from recess-plates are said to be line-engraved.

line-engraver n. one who does line engraving.

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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > line engraving > person

line-engraver1873

1873 Illustr. London News 15 Mar. 247/3 This eminent line-engraver.

1879 C. E. Clement & L. Hutton Artists of 19th Cent. I. 332 At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a line-engraver.

1965 O. Doughty & J. R. Wahl in D. G. Rossetti Lett. I. 9 Charles Warren (1767–1823), line-engraver and a noted illustrator.

line engraving n. the art of engraving ‘in line’, i.e. by lines incised on the plate, as distinguished from etching and mezzotint; an engraving executed in this manner.

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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > line engraving

line engraving1802

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > line engraving > an engraving

stroke engraving1793

line engraving1802

1802 Monthly Mag. 14 253/1 The line engraving is now attaining its deserved preeminence.

1810 Trans. Soc. Arts 28 14 Line Engravings of Historical Subjects.

1849 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) II. 729/2 Effect is obtained in etching in the same manner as in line-engraving—namely, by depth.

line-fence n. North American a boundary fence between two farms or ranches.

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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > fence

line-fence1845

1845 J. Comly Reader & Bk. Knowl. 96 Always keep good line-fences.

1854 S. H. Hammond Hills, Lakes & Forest Streams xxv. 250 Later still, the old line fence was pulled away.

1874 B. F. Taylor World on Wheels ii. ii. 198 We..propped up the line fence and shingled the kitchen.

1886 Harper's Mag. Dec. 43/1 He jumped his horse over the line fence.

1893 E. R. Young Stories from Indian Wigwams 34 One morning I..went off to help a couple of Indians about their line fences.

1946 Chicago Daily News 23 Mar. 1/8 He got into an argument with the boy's parents over the building of a line fence between their properties.

1954 C. Bruce Channel Shore 12 From there a person could look east and west along..the northern fields..separated by line fences.

line-filling n. a flourish or ornament serving to fill up a line of writing.

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society > communication > writing > written text > decoration > [noun] > flourish

dash1607

flourish1653

knota1680

purlicue1808

quirk1840

squirl1843

curlicue1844

line-filling1895

line-finishing1906

line-ending1928

1895 M. R. James Abbey St. Edmund at Bury 93 The small initials..as well as the line-fillings, are of the most absolutely perfect kind.

line finder n. Telephony a selector which searches for the calling subscriber's line when he lifts his receiver so that the line can be connected to a group of selectors available to any caller.

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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > exchange > exchange equipment

private line1852

bank1884

call-disc1884

howler1886

trunk1889

multiple switchboard1891

rack1893

line switch1898

heat coil1900

relay rack1902

multiple1905

listening key1906

telharmonium1906

wiper1906

preselector1912

line finder1922

rank1924

routiner1928

keysender1929

uniselector1930

wiper arm1933

1922 R. Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 834/2 The line finder corresponds to the answering plug in a manual exchange.

1950 J. Atkinson Herbert & Procter's Teleph. (new ed.) II. i. 19/2 If..the volume of traffic and the number of 1st selectors are considerable, then line~finders may become more expensive than subscribers' uniselectors.

1968 E. H. Jolley Introd. Telephony & Telegr. viii. 232/2 The subscribers' lines are multiplied over the bank of contacts of the line-finders so that each subscriber's line appears on each line-finder.

line-finishing n. = line-filling n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > written text > decoration > [noun] > flourish

dash1607

flourish1653

knota1680

purlicue1808

quirk1840

squirl1843

curlicue1844

line-filling1895

line-finishing1906

line-ending1928

1906 E. Johnston Writing & Illuminating xii. 205 Line-finishings are used to preserve the evenness of the text when lines of writing fall short.

line-firing n. Military firing by a body of men in line.

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society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > type of firing

point and blank1590

false fire1602

potting1613

point-blank1614

running fire1629

pounding1633

bulleting1635

platooning1706

sharp-shot1725

street firing1727

ricochet1740

fire curtain1744

plunging fire1747

reverse fire1758

sniping1773

enfilade1796

rapid fire1800

line-firing1802

concentric1804

sharpshooting1806

rake1810

sniping fire1821

cross-firing1837

file-firing1837

curved fire1854

night firing1856

file-fire1857

volley-firing1859

cross-fire1860

joy-firing1864

snap-shooting1872

stringing1873

pot-shooting1874

indirect fire1879

sweeping1907

rapid1913

curtain of fire1916

ripple1939

ripple-firing1940

ripple fire1961

1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. Line-firings are executed separately and independently by each battalion.

1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 405 For close quarters, line-firing, or quickness of loading, the musket will hold its place for centuries to come.

line-fisherman n. a man who fishes with a line.

1899 Daily News 12 Apr. 6/2 The line-fishermen off our coasts.

line-fishing n. and adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [noun] > fishing with line

lining1833

line-fishing1848

longlining1858

hand-lining1868

Murrumbidgee whaling1873

night-lining1894

1848 C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 242 They depend for this supply on line-fishing.

1897 Daily News 10 Feb. 6/2 The screw line-fishing boat George Baird.

line frequency n. Television the number of scanning lines produced per second.

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society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > signals, types, or parts of

picture frequency1926

picture signal1927

black level1935

line frequency1936

pedestal1937

line scan1938

picture black1938

white level1938

porch1941

test signal1945

spot wobble1950

luminance1953

1936 O. S. Puckle tr. M. von Ardenne Television Reception i. 11 The total number of lines in the complete picture is 240, scanned sequentially and horizontally at 25 picture traversals per second... The line frequency is thus 6,000 impulses per second.

1973 Newnes Colour Television Servicing Man. I. i. 26/1 Sawtooth voltage at line frequency is developed across the inductive network.

line gale n. U.S. = line-storm n.

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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [noun] > stormy weather > a storm > equinoctial

line gale1836

line-storm1850

1836 Knickerbocker 7 17 I must take the oars myself, for that blamed line gale has kept me in bilboes..a dog's age.

line gauge n. Printing a ruler showing the size of a type or types.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > printing > miscellaneous printers' equipment > [noun] > gauges

male gauge1683

gauge1841

line gauge1948

type-gauge-

1948 M. E. Skillin & R. M. Gay Words into Type 544 Line gauge, a printer's measuring rule, marked off in nonpareils and picas, sometimes showing other type measurements also.

1967 R. R. Karch & E. J. Buber Graphic Arts Procedures: Offset Processes 544 Line gauge, a printer's ruler usually having 6 and 12 point graduations. Sometimes with other point scales, as: agate, 9-point, 10-point, etc.

line graph n. = graph n.¹ 2 (as distinguished from a bar graph, in which vertical rectangles represent the values of the dependent variable).

ΘΠ

society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > [noun] > diagram > graph > type of

wave-line1888

periodogram1898

periodograph1899

Lorenz curve1909

bar chart1914

growth curve1916

bar diagram1923

bar graph1925

line graph1956

1956 Spaceflight 1 27/2 Received at the ground station, this signal is decoded automatically and interpreted as a series of line graphs.

1972 Scholarly Publishing 3 274 Bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, and other illustrative devices.

line haul n. U.S. slang (see quots.).

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > transport of goods in a vehicle > [noun] > by motor lorry > on long journeys or between cities

line haul1942

trunk1968

trunking1968

1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §770 Line haul, a scheduled truck route.

1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 99 Line haul, a scheduled truck run or movement of freight between cities.

line-hunter n. a hound which follows its quarry by the line of the scent alone.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > that hunts by scent

brachc1400

brachetc1400

draught-hound1598

draught-dog1656

line-hunter1851

drag-hound1884

bratchet-

1851 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour lxvii, in New Monthly Mag. Mar. 319 Many of them [sc. hounds] had their heads up... Some few of the line hunters were persevering with the scent over the greasy ground.

1856 G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Coventry xii They are capital ‘line~hunters’, so says John.

1890 Sat. Rev. 1 Feb. 135/1 In the vast forests of Europe a line-hunter on the scent of an ungalled hart would be lost to all eternity.

line-hunting adj.

1890 Sat. Rev. 1 Feb. 135/1 The old slow line-hunting staghound.

line-integral n. Mathematics the integral, taken along a line, of any differential that has a continuously varying value along that line.

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1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism I. 71 Line-Integral of Electric Force, or Electromotive Force along an Arc of a Curve.

line-integration n. the operation of finding a line-integral.

1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magn. (1881) II. 232 The magnetic potential, as found by a line-integration of the magnetic force.

line-knife n. a knife used on a whaler for cutting the harpoon rope.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > whaling equipment > [noun] > knife for cutting harpoon rope

line-knife1851

1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xli. 202 One captain, seizing the line-knife from his broken prow, had dashed at the whale.

line loss n. Electrical Engineering loss of electrical energy along a transmission line (as a result of resistance, leakage, or other causes).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > distribution system > [noun] > transmission line > loss during transmission

line drop1894

line loss1894

transmission loss1922

1894 A. T. Snell Electr. Motive Power iv. 126 The line loss remains constant when the percentage of the line drop is kept the same for variations of supply pressure.

1953 C. F. Hockett in S. Saporta & J. R. Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 64/1 To supply one hundred-watt light bulb, a generator must transmit one hundred watts of power, plus a bit more to make up for line-loss.

1970 D. Waterfield Continental Waterboy iii. 29 And you have line loss, particularly with very long transmission lines.

line-maker n. ‘a manufacturer of rope, sash-lines, clothes-lines, etc.’ (Simmonds Dict. Trade 1858).

ΘΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of rope or cord > [noun]

ropera1387

string-maker14..

ropemakera1425

ropierc1440

cord-maker1579

line-maker1667

cord-winder1707

1667 S. Pepys Diary 19 July (1974) VIII. 344 The pretty woman, the Line-maker's wife that lived in Fanchurch-street.

line management n. see sense 19d above.

line manager n. see sense 19d above.

line officer n. a military or naval officer of the line.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer or soldier of rank > [noun] > combatant officer

line officer1850

combatant officer1868

1850 R. Glisan Jrnl. Army Life (1874) i. 2 This rank..avails its possessor..in everything except commanding troops when a line officer is present.

1909 Westm. Gaz. 1 Feb. 2/1 Wives of line-officers, engineers, servants.

1925 R. Graves Welchman's Hose 29 They hadn't one Line-officer left, after Arras.

line pin n. one of the iron pins used to fasten a bricklayer's line (see quot. 1842).

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for marking out work > [noun] > plumb-line or chalk-line > part of

lead1340

line pin1688

plumb bob1836

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 395/2 Two Line Pins, with a Line lapped or raped about part of both.

1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 10 A Pair of Line Pins of Iron, with a length of Line on them.

1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 387 The Line Pins, consist of two iron pins, with a line of about sixty feet, fastened by one of its extremities to each.

1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. ii. iii. 514 The line pins..for fastening and stretching the line at proper intervals of the wall, that each course may be kept straight in the face and level on the bed.

line pipe n. pipe specially manufactured for use in pipelines.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > oil and natural gas recovery equipment > [noun] > pipe-line > pipe for use in

line pipe1923

1923 Amer. Petroleum Inst. Bull. 31 Dec. 117/2 The work of this committee has been..to the end that a specification might be had that would: (1) Minimize losses arising out of the use of casing line pipe, tubing and drill pipe, in oil field operations.

1930 L. D. Burritt in J. H. Walker & S. Crocker Piping Handbk. xiv. 719 Line-pipe threads are of the same form and taper as American Standard threads, but the pipe is threaded with a longer length of thread than is standard pipe.

1967 Times Rev. Industry Feb. 45/3 The rising demand for line pipe made sense of a connexion between South Durham and Stewarts and Lloyds, which has been marketing X60 seamless line pipe up to 18 inches in diameter for many years.

line printer n. a printer that is capable of printing a whole line of characters in each cycle of operation and is usually operated under the control of a computer.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > [noun] > computer printer > types of

line-at-a-time printer1955

line printer1955

chain printer1962

laser printer1979

dot matrix1982

thermal printer1982

thimble printer1982

1955 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery 2 294 Output: Line printer of a BULL tabulating machine.

1962 Mod. Lang. Rev. 57 171 The Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory possesses a line-printer which is directly operated by EDSAC 2.

1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing iv. 73 A normal speed for a computer line printer is 1,000 lines per minute.

1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xi. 164 A mechanical line printer has one printing device for each printing position in the line (for each ‘column’). The number of printing positions is often between 100 and 160.

† line-reel n. Obsolete a reel upon which a gardener's line is wound.

1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique ii. l. 326 When you haue cast your grounde, you shall begin to stretch your line with good and firme line-reeles, to take the bredth and length of your borders round about.

line-ride v. U.S. (intransitive) to perform the action of line-riding.

ΚΠ

1883 Rep. Productions Agric. 10th Census 1880 (U.S. Census Office) 971 The cattle-raisers were obliged to fence or to ‘line-ride’ to keep their cattle from trespassing.

line-rider n. North American one engaged in line-riding.

ΚΠ

1883 Rep. Productions Agric. 10th Census 1880 (U.S. Census Office) 973 The cowboys engaged in this work are called ‘line-riders’.

1898 H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 134 The line riders came in at night, reeking and dusty.

1920 J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas I. 298 The fence rider, also called the ‘line rider’, is employed to ride fences and repair them.

1924 C. E. Mulford Rustlers' Valley vii It was evident that they carefully had planned the murders of the two line riders.

1942 E. E. Dale Cow Country 119 This by no means did away with the work of the line rider, though it was made somewhat easier.

1963 [see line-camp n.].

line-riding n. U.S. riding the line (see sense 26c).

ΚΠ

1883 Rep. Productions Agric. 10th Census 1880 (U.S. Census Office) 971 The cattle of northwest Texas are in a large measure controlled or held on their ranges by a system of ‘line-riding’.

1888 T. Roosevelt in Cent. Mag. Mar. 668/2 Line-riding is very cold work, and dangerous, too, when the men have to be out in a blinding snowstorm.

line-rocket n. a small rocket attached to a line or wire along which it is made to run.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > light > firework > [noun] > types of

fire sword1482

firedrake1608

fiend1634

fire club1634

fire lance1634

fire-target1634

saucisson1634

fire-trunk1639

runner1647

fire pole1708

fire fountain1729

fire-flyer1740

line-rocket1740

devil1742

fire tree1749

Grecian fire1774

jet1774

fire pan1799

metamorphose1818

Saxon1839

lightning paper1866

asteroid1875

brilliant1875

pearl1884

1740 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (rev. ed.) App. p. xliv Charges for the Line Rockets.

line scan n. (a) the motion of a scanning beam or spot along a line; (b) the electrical signal which causes this; (c) an apparatus or technique which scans an object or scene line by line.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical skills and techniques > [noun] > optical scanning > line scan

line scan1938

society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > signals, types, or parts of

picture frequency1926

picture signal1927

black level1935

line frequency1936

pedestal1937

line scan1938

picture black1938

white level1938

porch1941

test signal1945

spot wobble1950

luminance1953

society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > scanning, etc.

scanning1927

scanning spot1929

flying spot1933

interlacing1935

line scanning1935

interlace1936

line scan1938

matrixing1951

line blanking1952

society > communication > broadcasting > television > transmitting or receiving apparatus > [noun] > scanning devices

mirror drum1927

scanning disc1927

scanner1929

Nipkow disc1934

line scan1938

scanning coil1938

the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments for observing > [noun] > scanning devices > other scanning devices

line scan1938

1938 J. H. Reyner Testing Television Sets iv. 46 If the time base is operating the appropriate noise will be heard—a rapid ticking on the frame scan and a high squeal on the line scan.

1957 D. G. Fink Television Engin. Handbk. x. 12 The harmonic components of the line-scan spectrum may thus be thought of as carrier waves, each with a 60-cps modulation envelope.

1962 Daily Tel. 28 Aug. 13/5 Line scan is a system for reconnaissance and mapping at low levels.

1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. 257 The line scans being automatically repeated 50 μm apart.

1971 Daily Tel. 22 Jan. (Colour Suppl.) 22/1 False colour photography..does not record gradations of temperatures exactly, and these can be very important. The instrument which does this is the infra-red linescan, which scans the scene line by line like a television scanner, building up a composite picture from the heat records.

line scanning n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > scanning, etc.

scanning1927

scanning spot1929

flying spot1933

interlacing1935

line scanning1935

interlace1936

line scan1938

matrixing1951

line blanking1952

1935 Television Today 1 300/2 The line scanning is usually spoken of as the scanning motion.

1971 H. E. Ennes Television Broadcasting iii. 125 Picture information is contained in the fundamental and harmonics of the 60-Hz field frequency and the 15,750-Hz line-scanning frequency.

line-sequential adj. Television applied to a system of colour television in which each line of the picture is in one of the three primary colours, the colour changing for each successive line.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [adjective] > colour systems

sequential1947

line-sequential1949

1949 Electronics Dec. 68/3 The change of color is introduced between successive lines in the scanning field, that is, the system is in the line-sequential class.

1965 G. du Cloux tr. W. A. Holm Colour Television Explained (ed. 2) iii. 55 The R.C.A. appeared to have arrived at the ultimate solution with a line-sequential, or possibly even a dot-sequential system.

line shaft n.

1881 Spons' Dict. Engin. Suppl. III. 1093 For the bearings of line shafts cast iron is..the best.

1936 W. Staniar Mech. Power Transmission Handbk. v. 145 Jack~shafts. Location.—Either between head and line shafts, or between line- and countershafts.

1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XI. 253/2 In the days when all machines in a shop were driven by one large..prime mover, it was necessary to have long lineshafts running the length of the shop and supplying power..to shorter countershafts, jackshafts, or headshafts.

line shafting n. a shaft, or shafting, of relatively great length from which a number of separate machines are driven by countershafts or endless belts.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > shaft > [noun] > others

axle-tree1659

axle-shaft1837

propeller shaft1839

crank-shaft1854

sub-shaft1859

driveshaft1860

half-time shaft1861

cardan joint1868

line shafting1872

thrusting-shaft1906

1872 J. Richards Treat. Wood-working Machines 95 Pulleys for line-shafting running at high speed should be light and true.

1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) XII. 240/2 The delivery of power to the machines in a shop has generally been converted from line shafting to individual electric motors for each machine.

line-side n. attributive adjacent to a railway line.

ΚΠ

1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Lineside, adjacent to a railway line.

1967 Listener 26 Jan. 123/1 This can be prodigiously expensive if it involves disturbance of lineside property.

1975 Daily Tel. 18 July 2/8 By next year it is expected that there will be fewer faults in the 547 lineside signals and 465 points controlled by the new box.

line-soldier n. a soldier of the line, a linesman.

ΚΠ

1864 E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene 510 More than two-thirds of each line-soldier's service is passed abroad.

line space n. the space provided for a line of typescript; so line-space lever, line-space mechanism, etc., the device that turns the platen of a typewriter to a new line of writing.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > space available for or occupied by print

spacec1480

space1657

line space1951

1951 Oxf. Junior Encycl. IV. 472/2 When it reaches the end, a line space lever is pushed to move the paper up to a new line and return the carriage to the right.

1962 Which? Dec. 357/1 Some of the models..had only two positions for their line space selector, the others all had three.

line-spacing n. the space between successive lines of typescript; attributive, of the device that moves the platen to a new line.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > printing > typing > typewriter > [adjective] > line-spacing device

line-spacing1957

society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > space left intentionally > between lines of type

white1594

white line1676

line-spacing1957

1957 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 645/1 The machine was soon renamed the Remington. Among its original features which were still standard..in the 1950s are the paper cylinder with its line-spacing and carriage-return mechanism.

c1961 Imperial Type Faces (Imperial Typewriter Co.) The number of words which can be typed on a quarto page..var[ies] according to the pitch of the letter and line-spacings.

line spectrum n. a spectrum containing lines distributed apparently at random (rather than in groups as in a band spectrum); hence, an emission (of light, sound, or other radiation) composed of a number of discrete frequencies or energies.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > characterized by lines

line spectrum1873

1873 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 46 406 When the gas is near atmospheric pressure, the line-spectrum of nitrogen is brilliant.

1885 H. E. Roscoe Spectrum Anal. (ed. 4) iii. 130 Nearly all bodies..have been found to exhibit both a band and a line spectrum, the band spectrum always belonging to the lower temperature.

1923 R. Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics IV. 780/1 Luminous spectra can be divided into two classes, namely continuous spectra..and discontinuous spectra... Discontinuous spectra may be subdivided into line and band spectra.

1955 G. A. Miller & P. E. Nicely in S. Saporta & J. R. Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 165/2 Acoustically, this means that the voiceless consonants are aperiodic or noisy in character, whereas a periodic or line-spectrum component is superimposed on the noise for voiced consonants.

1962 H. D. Bush Atomic & Nucl. Physics iv. 96 There are two main features of a β-particle spectrum, a continuous spectrum with energies ranging from zero to a maximum value..and a line spectrum consisting of a number of discrete energies superimposed on the continuous spectrum.

1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 254 A sound which is composed of individual frequencies (fundamental and harmonics or partials, or a combination of pure tones) has a line spectrum. Bands of noise have a band spectrum.

line-squall n. a squall, consisting of a violent straight blast of cold air with snow or rain, and occurring along the axis of a V-shaped depression.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [noun] > a disturbance of the elements > sudden and violent

pirrie1440

fuddera1522

fret1582

squall1719

flaw1791

williwaw1832

willy1832

line-squall1887

1887 R. Abercromby Weather 241 This class of atmospheric disturbance, which, for the sake of classification, we will call ‘Line-squalls’.

line-storm n. U.S. an equinoctial storm.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [noun] > stormy weather > a storm > equinoctial

line gale1836

line-storm1850

1850 N. Kingsley Diary (1914) 115 A fine day with a strong West wind; rather think the line storm is over.

1867 J. G. Whittier Palatine 63 Along their foam-white curves of shore They heard the line-storm rave and roar.

1939 R. Frost Coll. Poems 38 The line-storm clouds fly tattered and swift.

line-sync n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [adjective] > signals, types, or parts of

line-synchronizing1935

line-sync1940

luminance1953

1940 W. T. Cocking Television Receiving Equipm. xix. 281 When a very large amplitude of line sync pulse is applied to the line generator it is tripped at half-line intervals during the frame sync pulses.

1969 C. R. G. Reed Princ. Colour Television Syst. vi. 71 The line sync pulse duration is 4·7 μs.

line-synchronizing adj. Television applied to a pulse transmitted in a television signal at the end of each line which initiates fly-back of the scanning spot in the receiver, so keeping the scanning process in synchronism with that in the transmitter; also abbreviated to line-sync n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [adjective] > signals, types, or parts of

line-synchronizing1935

line-sync1940

luminance1953

1935 Television Today 1 300 The time duration of the line synchronising pulse is usually about 10 per cent. of that of each line.

1953 S. W. Amos & D. C. Birkinshaw Television Engin. I. i. 16 A synchronizing signal is sent out every time the scanning beam at the transmitter reaches the end of a line; this signal is termed the line-sychronizing signal (abbreviated to line-sync signal) and has the function of initiating line flyback at the receiver.

line-thunderstorm n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > thunder > thunderstorm

thundera1400

tempest?1533

tornado1589

tornade1634

thunder-storma1656

line-thunderstorm1887

1887 R. Abercromby Weather 248 We will now give an example of line~thunderstorms which are not associated with the trough either of a V or a cyclone.

line-tub n. a tub in which a whaling line is kept.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > whaling equipment > [noun] > tub for keeping line in

line-tub1839

1839 J. N. Reynolds in Knickerbocker May 382 Line-tubs, water-kegs, and wafe-poles, were thrown hurriedly into the boats.

1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick cxxxiv. 617 Reaching out after the revolving line-tubs, oars and other floating furniture.

line-way n. †(a) a tow-path; (b) ‘a straight direct path’ (Halliwell 1847).

ΘΠ

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > track, trail, or path > [noun] > beside a canal or river for towing

line-way1464

towing-path1726

tow-path1788

track-road1828

track-path1839

trackway1873

barge-walk1880

1464 Rolls of Parl. V. 569/2 A waye on either syde of the seid water called a lyne weye, to convey the said Trowes, Botes, Cobles and Shutes, on the seid water.

line-width n. Physics the width of a spectral line as measured by the difference in wavelength, wave number, or frequency between its two sides.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > spectral line > width of

line-width1946

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > band or line forming part of > width of

line-width1946

1946 Nature 28 Sept. 450/1 Measures of effective line-width, made..upon the brilliant reversal of the Hα (λ 6563) contour.

1962 Sci. Surv. 3 67 The current reports of the line-width of the radiation produced by the helium-neon optical maser show the line-width is approximately one cycle per second.

1971 New Scientist 3 June 565/2 Molecular linewidths are of the order of 10^–3 cm^–1 at room temperature.

1972 Physics Bull. Feb. 83/2 A dye laser tuned to give a sodium linewidth of a hundredth of an ångstrom.

line-wire n. Telegraphy the wire which connects the stations of a telegraph-line.

ΚΠ

1870 F. L. Pope Electr. Telegr. (1872) iii. 24 A Telegraphic Circuit consists of one or more batteries, the line wire, the instruments and the earth.

line-work n. (a) drawing or designing executed with the pen or pencil (as opposed to wash, etc.); (b) (see quot. 1968); (c) work as a lineman.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > drawing in specific manner

purfling1601

outlining1795

lining1823

sketching1824

free-hand1841

model-drawing1843

cartooning1846

line-work1895

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > relief engraving > [noun] > other techniques

gypsography1840

chemigraphy1853

cameo-embossing1878

chemigraph1892

line-work1895

blind printing1904

gauffrage1904

1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. vii. 205 Cross-hatching, solid black, line-work.

1904 Brit. Printer Apr. 86/2 Line work negatives are printed on to zinc.

1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights ii. 32 I'm just through with a summer's line~work in the West.

1962 Times 10 Jan. 13/4 The pen drawing..is admirable..projecting in its free and open linework all the completeness of an oil composition.

1968 Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 10 Line work, copy or reproduction consisting of solid elements only, as distinct from half-tone.

Draft additions 1993

As the final element in words denoting telephone services which provide entertainment, counselling, information, etc. of the kind indicated by the first element, as chat line n. at chat n.¹ Additions, help-line n. at help n. Additions, talkline, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > telephone services

answering service1904

information1910

speaking clock1934

talking clock1936

TIM1936

telebus1942

wake-up service1946

subscriber trunk dialling1952

freephone1959

telephone hotline1961

WATS1962

call waiting1963

night line1970

phone-in1970

telephone helpline1970

help-line1980

line1983

Cellnet1984

chat line1984

Vodafone1984

telepoint1987

callback1992

1983 Chicago Sun-Times 5 July 15 The Kids' Line will be added by Talkline, an Elk Grove Village-based service that has offered telephone counseling to adults for the past 10 years.

1986 Advertising Age 9 Jan. 7 Incredible Dial-A-Message Directory..lists more than 2,500 telephone numbers... There are a few lines that would curl Ma Bell's blue hair. An example is the High Society Sexline.

1990 Independent 29 Jan. 8/8 The Wellington Parentline, a telephone advice service, has received 32 calls reporting violence from children towards parents.

Draft additions 1997

(Usually as the line). In various sports and games, a mark limiting an area of play on a court or pitch; spec. a mark that must be crossed in order to score; in a race, a mark on the track (actual or notional) that must be crossed in order to win; in Rugby, etc. = line of scrimmage n. at scrimmage n. Phrases 3; contextually = bye-line at bye n.¹ 1c, goal line n., touchline n. 3a. Also figurative in phr. (taken from American football, but influenced by sense 20b) to hold the line, to maintain or support a position, viewpoint, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] > starting or finishing mark > finishing mark

marklOE

glovec1380

goal1531

winning-post1759

ending-post1760

goalpost1834

tape1867

the line1892

finishing-post1895

finish line1899

1892 Football Cal. 1892–3 63 Not more than 25 yards behind the goal line, and parallel thereto, shall be lines, which shall be called the Dead-Ball Lines.

1902 W. Camp How to play Football Introd. 10 If he elects to continue his running attempts, and eventually carries the ball across the line, he secures a touchdown at the spot where the ball is finally held, after being carried over.

1935 Encycl. Sports, Games & Pastimes Pl. 30 (caption) A throw-in from the line.

1965 Austral. Encycl. VII. 535/2 Prizes are awarded both for the handicap and for the first yacht across the line.

1976 J. Archer Not Penny More xiv. 162 They're neck and neck—one hundred yards to go—it's anybody's race and on the line it's a photo finish.

1978 Rugby World Apr. 40/3 They played commendably open and entertaining Rugby, scoring a total of 30 tries and failing on only one occasion to cross their opponents' line.

1987 Greyhound Star Sept. 7/5 The other semi went to Rogley Avalong who led from trap to line in 34.49.

Draft additions 1997

U.S. Betting. The odds quoted by a bookmaker, esp. on a non-racing event (cf. morning line n. at morning n., adv., and int. Compounds 5); also, the point-spread predicted in a football game, from which such odds are calculated.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > odds

odds1748

price1829

betting1901

line1964

1964 Maclean's 7 Mar. 14/2 A line of ‘Ottawa eight’ for an Ottawa–Edmonton football game means that Ottawa must win by eight points or more or its backers lose.

1976 N.Y. Times 15 Dec. a18 He is an amateur oddsmaker and has access to ‘the Las Vegas line’, the gambling underworld's football point spread.

1979 Maclean's 22 Jan. 35 The line, published in many daily newspapers, establishes for bookmakers and bettors across the continent the team favored to win each game and by how many points.

1992 Esquire Feb. 63/1 It was his line out of Las Vegas upon which all the bets across the country on college and pro games were based.

Draft additions 1997

a. In certain team games, a strategic formation of players in a row, as for a throw-in; spec. in Rugby = three-quarter line n. at three-quarter n., adj., and adv. Compounds; in Rugby Union = line-out n.¹

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > characteristics of team ball games > [noun] > actions or manoeuvres

ball1483

through-pass1673

intercept1821

fielding1823

outfielding1851

wrist stroke1851

goalkeeping1856

shot1868

scrimmage1872

passing1882

save1883

touchback1884

angle shot1885

shooting1885

pass1887

line1891

tackling1893

feeding1897

centre1898

chip shot1899

glovework1906

back-lift1912

push pass1919

aerial1921

screen1921

ball-hawking1925

fast break1929

tackle1930

chip1939

screenshot1940

snapshot1961

hang time1969

one-two1969

blooter1976

passback1976

sidefoot1979

1891 Football News 12 Sept. 1/4 The Newark Committee were very desirous to see the line of forwards opposed to some really good backs.

1896 B. F. Robinson Rugby Football xii. 209 Away it flies, fair and true, about half-way down the long line.

1929 Daily Express 15 Apr. 16/2 The line never moved with a swing that looked like bringing a goal.

1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. 39/5 Doug Acomb and Frank Hamill scored two goals each as their line turned in one of its best performances of the season.

1976 Leicester Mercury 14 Oct. 46/1 When the ball did come down the line it inevitably went to John Reeve.

1991 Don Heinrich's Pro Preview 91 28/2 Right tackle Howard..Ballard has come a long way since quarterback Jim Kelly fingered him two years ago as the line's weak link.

b. A dose of a powdered narcotic, esp. cocaine, laid out in a thin line for inhalation. slang.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > line of narcotics for inhalation

line1971

rail1983

1971 Black Scholar Sept. 36/1 He..rolled a ten dollar bill up into a quill and gave the coke and quill to Christine, who snorted half of the line on the card.

1980 Observer 30 Mar. 1/6 Everybody I know takes heroin... Every party I go to has smack available, lines and lines of it.

1988 J. McInerney Story of my Life iv. 59 Didi's just bought her stash for the night and she wants to come over. God, I don't know. A couple of lines would be nice, but I've got class in the morning.

1988 J. McInerney Story of my Life iv. 61 She rolls her own bill, [and] does a couple of monster lines—what Didi calls lines other people call grams.

1990 K. Wozencraft Rush iv. 49 I snuffed up the lines and passed the tooter back to him.

1992 Guardian 28 Mar. (Weekend Suppl.) 9 Some Krug, a couple of Es, a few lines and, nowadays, it shows. I suppose it's called getting old. I'm 26.

Draft additions 1997

spec. = airline n. 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > air or space travel > transport by air > [noun] > public service airline

airline1890

air service1911

airway1920

line1920

1920 Aerial Year Bk. 261/2 Many commercial lines have been established for carrying passangers.

1935 C. G. Burge Compl. Bk. Aviation 217/1 Where there is competition with other lines on the London–Paris route, this comfort is found to attract custom.

1960 C. H. Gibbs-Smith Aeroplane xiii. 99 The world's first daily commercial scheduled air service opened on August 25th [1919]... The line was operated..by..Aircraft Transport and Travel Ltd.

1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate v. 134 ‘There's a Dutch line from Amman...’ ‘Well, Joanna, there's no record of the name Vaughan on any of the airlines.’

1977 Rolling Stone 30 June 81/1 After a mere forty-minute lay-over we were to connect with that line's nine-hour-plus direct flight to Honolulu.

Draft additions 1997

Biology. = lineage n. Additions 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > heredity or hereditary descent > [noun] > line of descent > species each evolving from predecessor

lineage1940

line1951

1951 G. S. Carter Animal Evol. i. 30 This conception is very different from that generally held a few years ago. A population was then thought of as consisting of many lines or lineages, each evolving more or less independently and replacing each other as the result of natural selection.

1973 J. Bronowski Ascent of Man i. 38 Australopithecus robustus is manlike and his line does not lead elsewhere; it has simply become extinct.

1979 D. Attenborough Life on Earth (1981) ii. 35 To trace the invertebrate lines back to their origins, we must find another site where rocks were not only deposited continuously throughout this critical period, but have survived in a relatively undistorted condition.

1992 Nat. Hist. Feb. 70/3 Falk also notes common features in the brain venous sinuses of gracile australopithecines and hominids,..and she constructs the lineage accordingly. A. gracilis led to the hominid line in which brain size increased so dramatically.

Draft additions 1997

spec. A breed or variety of plant or animal universally characterized by a feature or trait whose strength is the criterion for continued selection by breeders. Cf. line-bred adj., line-breeding n. at Compounds 2 below.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > variety or species > [noun] > types of

stroller1723

natural order1785

subvariety1785

line1805

alliance1835

aggregate1859

stirps1866

segregate1871

cultigen1918

agamospecies1929

the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > livestock > stock or breed > with strong trait ensuring continued selection

line1805

1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. xiii. 1103 It would appear that..the most certain method..is to breed in the same line, perhaps in the same family; as, by a careful procedure in this way, the expert breeder may not only have the greatest security for attaining that improvement which he is anxious to produce, but run the least risk of deterioration.

1909 R. H. Lock Recent Progress Study Variation, Heredity & Evol. (ed. 2) xi. 318 In a single pure line genetic variability is sensibly absent. The members of such a pure line exhibit, however, very considerable acquired variability, so that in this way each line shows a normal variability of its own.

1974 A. Huxley Plant & Planet xiii. 123 Continuously self-pollinated plants of one species in limited habitats may produce such pure-breeding ‘lines’ as to create virtually new species.

1985 E. H. Hart German Shepherd Dog iv. 66 It is..not that these lines have disappeared; it is just that they have not been so seriously bred upon as they once had been.

Draft additions 1997

The scent that the hounds have of the quarry; esp. in to hit off the line, to pick up the scent after a check.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > work done by hounds > action of hounds [verb (intransitive)] > strike scent

scenta1398

find1565

hit it off1704

to hit off a fault1749

to hit off the line1977

1898 St. James's Gaz. 15 Nov. 6/1 Hounds drove along after their fox in rare style,..the line was worked out to Houghton.

1900 Ld. Coventry in A. E. T. Watson Young Sportsman 352 An old hound drops his nose; he shows a line; his companions follow his lead.

1930 I. Bell in C. Frederick et al. Fox-Hunting v. 59 They will try hard all day on a poor scent, yet at the first improvement..will quicken on the line.

1930 C. Aldin in C. Frederick et al. Fox-Hunting xxvi. 257 The huntsman hits off the line again with hardly a check.

1977 Abingdon Herald 17 Mar. 6/6 They were lifted back towards Besselsleigh, hit off the line again, and killed on the plough near the woods.

1991 Sports Illustr. 14 Jan. 5/3 The lead hound gives tongue, and the pack takes off, following the line of scent.

b. In Golf, the direction of the hole from the position of a player's ball. In Cricket, the direction of flight of the ball from the bowler's hand; frequently in to play (hit, etc.) across the line.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > bowl [verb (intransitive)] > motion of ball

to make haste?a1475

twist?1801

cut1816

shoot1816

curl1833

hang1838

work1838

break1847

spin1851

turn1851

bump1856

bite1867

pop1871

swerve1894

to kick up1895

nip1899

swing1900

google1907

move1938

seam1960

to play (hit, etc.) across the line1961

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > properties of

length1772

pace?1801

bias1822

pitch1833

line1961

1961 Times 18 Aug. 3/3 At 18 Pullar was bowled by Davidson, playing across the line.

1969 Times 25 Aug. 9/2 Harris, eventually, was leg-before, hitting enthusiastically across the line.

Draft additions 1997

line switch n. Telephony Originally: any switch for connecting a subscriber's line. Now: a preselector.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > exchange > exchange equipment

private line1852

bank1884

call-disc1884

howler1886

trunk1889

multiple switchboard1891

rack1893

line switch1898

heat coil1900

relay rack1902

multiple1905

listening key1906

telharmonium1906

wiper1906

preselector1912

line finder1922

rank1924

routiner1928

keysender1929

uniselector1930

wiper arm1933

1898 J. Bell & S. Wilson Pract. Telephony xii. 157 Suppose No. 5 wishes to speak to No. 3, he turns the handle of the line-switch until the pointer is opposite 3, presses the ringing button, takes the receiver off the hook, and, after finishing conversation, replaces the receiver, which causes the pointer to return automatically to zero.

1909 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 1908 27 509 For the benefit of those not familiar with automatic switchboards, the writer will state that each line terminates in what is generally called a line switch.

1924 H. H. Harrison Introd. Strowger Syst. Autom. Telephony i. 26 The preselector or line switch..hunts to find one of ten or more idle group selectors.

1938 C. W. Wilman Automatic Teleph. (ed. 2) iii. 20 Each subscriber's line is now connected to the wipers of a single-motion, non-numerical selector, known as a lineswitch.

1982 G. Langley Telephony's Dict. 115/1 Lineswitch, a switch in a dial office which connects a subscriber's line with the first available idle trunk in the next switching stage.

Draft additions September 2016

Medicine. A length of sterile tubing inserted into an artery or (more commonly) a vein in order to provide temporary access, esp. for the purpose of administering fluids, withdrawing blood samples, etc.

ΚΠ

1951 Ann. Surg. 134 716/2 The pressure in the arterial line was 1200 mm. Hg due to use of a small cannula.

1967 Dis. of Chest 51 451/1 A hole in the intravenous line..will allow air to be actively drawn into the system without leakage of fluid. This occurs when the line is raised above the hydraulic gradient.

2007 New Yorker 10 Dec. 88/3 She put a third, slightly thicker line, for dialysis, through his right upper chest and into the subclavian vein.

Draft additions June 2003

figurative. (to draw, run, etc.) a line in the sand: (to establish) a limit or boundary; (to specify) a level of tolerance or a point beyond which one will not go.

1850 Boston Post 23 July 2/5 He would prefer striking out the clause prohibiting the establishment or exclusion and extending the Missouri line without an express recognition of slavery south of it. It would be running a line in the sand.

1953 Daily Republican (Mitchell, S. Dakota) 28 July 4/1 The Communists..were obviously trying to see how far they could go before the free world drew a line in the sand and said,‘This is it.’

1978 Washington Post 29 Aug. a7/5 Notwithstanding the supposed public revulsion toward more federal spending, waste and bureaucracy-building, Congress seems to have gone out of its way to draw a wide line in the sand in front of Carter.

1995 Village Voice (N.Y.) 7 Mar. 20/2 From an organized-labor point of view, this is the line in the sand, the bottom of the ninth, the sudden death overtime.

1996 Scotsman 23 July 15/1 Whenever John Major draws a line in the sand, you can be sure some Eurosceptic bully will come along and kick it in his face.

2001 ON 5 Feb. 67/2 Like many other administrators, Hagen has become more willing to draw a line in the sand sooner and threaten troublemakers with expulsion sooner.

Draft additions March 2015

the latest (also last) in a long line of and variants: the most recent of many such examples; the latest manifestation of an established phenomenon or familiar pattern.

1857 W. Isham in Mag. of Trav. 1 xxxix. 357 A temple..[which is] the last in a long line of architectural wonders, commencing with the pyramids.

1890 Shelbyville (Indiana) Daily Democrat 25 Nov. 2/1 Nebraska..is the latest in a long line of states that have..emphatically rejected the nostrum.

1952 Econ. Jrnl. 62 398 An agrarian movement which is only the latest of a long line of similar movements.

1994 J. Campbell Pride's Last Race i. 4 This was only the last in a long line of irritations and problems.

2011 Scotsman (Nexis) 30 Aug. 43 This is only the latest in a long line of public criticisms of its investment practices.

Draft additions September 2018

colloquial (chiefly North American regional, Australian, and New Zealand). up the line: denoting a place or region further along a railway line or road, esp. a place situated to the north or in a more remote or rural area. Also used adverbially: in or towards such a place. Now also English regional (Devon and Cornwall): outside of Devon or Cornwall.

ΚΠ

1873 Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Jrnl. 1 Nov. The city has been full of ‘carpet baggers’ from up the line all week.

1944 M. Trist in Coast to Coast 1943 225 Else and that fellow from up the line. There's been sin.

1951 J. Kerouac On the Road: Orig. Scroll (2007) 126 A fairly new car stopped... ‘Where you going?’ ‘Denver.’ ‘Well I can take you a hundred miles up the line.’

1992 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 4 Sept. a3 The Richardsons had..scores of relatives ‘up the line’ and a family cottage near Perth.

2003 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 8 May 11 The South West's wealthy are apparently going up the line to Bristol and Bath to spend their money.

2012 @samkev22 11 Nov. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) He came down from up the line just so he could go to remembrance service on plymouth hoe.

Draft additions December 2019

line of report n. Business (originally) a channel of communication between two or more individuals, departments, etc.; (later usually) a system or relationship in which an employee reports to or is accountable to a particular manager; cf. report v. 3c, reporting line n. at reporting n. Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

1902 Street Railway Rev. 20 June 340/1 The accompanying diagram..shows the scheme of organization recently put in effect there... The solid lines indicates the direct line of report and the dotted lines indirect lines of report which may be necessary when emergencies arise.

1984 M. A. Allison & E. Allison Managing up, managing Down xvii. 202 They are to accept assignments and direction only from you (or those senior to you in your line of report).

2015 Strategic Finance June 43/1 This involves clearly defining accountability for each role filled as well as delineating the lines of report.

Draft additions March 2020

line break n. a point at which text is split into two lines; the end of a line.Particularly used in the context either of lines of poetry or of hyphenation of a word at the end of a line of continuous text.

1918 Jrnl. Educ. (Univ. of Boston School of Educ.) 7 Nov. 460/1 With all the strained adjectives, sprained similes, absurd line-breaks, absolute prose, and absolute bosh of many devotees of the ‘New Poetry’.

1990 B. Harkness & S. W. Reid in J. Conrad's Secret Agent 307 (note) [The first edition and manuscript] have in common a total of six..hyphenated forms, but two are at a line break in the MS, and only one of these appears to represent a genuine word-division hyphen.

2014 N.Y. Times 15 Sept. (Late ed.) b4/2 Some have hired programmers to hand-code poetry e-books so that line breaks and stanzas are maintained.

Draft additions June 2017

line call n. Sport (esp. Tennis) a decision made by a line judge, umpire, etc., as to whether a ball is out of play.

ΚΠ

1947 N.Y. Times 25 June 42/4 He became visibly disturbed by a line call.

1994 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 29 Aug. 38 The Canadian rallied in the second set and, aided by a dubious line call, skipped away to a 5-0 lead.

2013 Vanity Fair July 84/1 Four Courts, including Centre Court and No. 1 Court, are equipped with Hawk-Eye cameras to help decide line calls.

2013 S. S. Bates Topspin 120 She threw a little tantrum whenever she thought we made a bad line call.

Draft additions September 2013

line-caught adj. (of a fish) that has been caught by angling rather than in a net or trawl.

ΚΠ

1866 Jrnl. Agric. Jan. 376 Line-caught fish hauled up from great depths reach the surface of the water either dead or dying.

1992 M. Blonsky Amer. Mythologies (1993) iii. 92 Petrossian's more adept clientele know that his salmon is always line-caught to avoid the damage that can occur in seine-caught fish.

2007 Independent on Sunday 10 June (New Review) 57/1 Sea trout, river trout and salmon are all beautiful at this time of year—but you should always look for wild and line-caught.

Draft additions September 2018

line cook n. originally and chiefly North American a chef responsible for a particular area (or line) of production in the kitchen of a restaurant; a chef de partie.

ΚΠ

1965 Daily Jrnl.-Gaz. (Mattoon, Illinois) 8 Apr. 11/2 (advt.) Day shift help needed... 2 Line cooks.

1989 Ploughshares 15 70 He'd taken a job as a line cook at a truckstop in Red Bluff.

2000 A. Bourdain Kitchen Confid. (2001) 295 When you're a hungry, underpaid line cook, those filet mignons you're searing off by the dozen look mighty good.

2015 Philippines Daily Inquirer (Nexis) 7 May She was many things, but she never was a line cook in a restaurant.

Draft additions December 2013

line defect n. (a) a defect in a telegraph, telephone, or electricity line; (b) Crystallography a defect in a crystal lattice in the form of a linear dislocation of the atoms, such as an edge dislocation or a screw dislocation.

ΚΠ

1874 F. J. Goldsmid Telegraph & Trav. v.257 Major Champain reached Baghdad on the 5th March, having carefully scrutinised the line defects apparent on the road.

1918 Electr. World 16 Mar. 586/3 Notice of line defect.—In action for death of child from contact with a wire of a fence electrified by defendant's live wire, which had fallen upon it.

1938 U.S. Patent 2,113,140 4/2 The relays constitute part of a control means for adjusting the supervisory trip control for line defects.

1953 L. S. Darken & R. W. Gurry Physical Chem. Metals iii. 73 Line defects (dislocations). These provide the most widely accepted mechanism, or mechanisms, for plastic deformation.

1987 Physics Bull. Mar. 109/1 The types of crystal defect revealed in electron micrographs include line defects (dislocations), planar defects (stacking faults, twins) and small inclusions.

1987 InfoWorld (Nexis) 1 June 60 This study measured line defects over a large sample of long-distance connections.

2011 A. C. Reardon Metall. for Non-metallurgist (ed. 2) ii. 22/2 The main type of line defect is an edge dislocation, where a partial plane of extra atoms is present either above or below the dislocation line.

Draft additions June 2017

line judge n. Sport (in games played on a field or court) an official who assists the referee or umpire from the sideline or touchline, especially in deciding whether the ball is out of play; cf. line umpire n. at Additions.

ΚΠ

1925 North-China Herald 19 Dec. 530/1 There were neither line judges not referee.

1971 Sunday Times 31 Jan. 12/1 Tennis players lecture the line judge.

2014 S. Starkey Revenge of Bully vii. 74 The line judge walked over and picked up the ball I had spiked.

Draft additions June 2017

line umpire n. Sport (esp. Tennis) (in games played on a field or court) an official who assists the referee or umpire from the sideline or touchline, especially in deciding whether the ball is out of play; cf. line judge n. at Additions.

ΚΠ

1883 Morning Post 12 July 3/6 Messrs. Bird and Frere were the line umpires.

1920 Scotsman 31 Dec. 9/3 Brookes striking one return deliberately out in order to restore an assumed mistake by a line umpire.

2014 S. Levmore in S. Levmore & M. C. Nussbaum Amer. Guy xi. 224 Tennis players occasionally make calls against self-interest even where a line umpire is present.

Draft additions September 2022

line coach n. American Football an assistant coach in charge of the linemen; (now) spec. a coach of either the defensive or offensive line, as in defensive line coach, offensive line coach (cf. defensive line n. (b) at defensive adj. and n. Compounds, offensive line n.).

ΚΠ

1896 San Francisco Chron. 24 Feb. 5/7 This year he was line coach of the Yale team.

1949 Life 7 Nov. 11/2 The line coaches worked overtime trying to turn an assortment of backs, guards and tackles into ends in time for the next game.

1996 AFCA's Defensive Football Drills (Amer. Football Coaches Assoc.) i. 18 The defensive line coach designates who will rush and which technique he will use.

2011 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) (Nexis) 13 Apr. All offensive line coaches teach their players to hit and hit hard, and the line coaches under Bill Lynch were no exception.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online December 2022).

单词	line
释义	linen.¹ Brit. /lʌɪn/, U.S. /laɪn/ Forms: Old English lín, Middle English lynne, Middle English–1500s lyn, Middle English–1600s lyne, Middle English–1600s, 1700s–1800s dialect lin, 1500s–1600s linne, Middle English– line. Etymology: Old English lín neuter = Old Saxon lîn (Dutch lijn in combination), Old High German lîn (Middle High German lîn , modern German lein- in combination), Old Norse lín (Swedish lin ), Gothic lein < Common Germanic type lîno^m , < or cognate with Latin līnum* flax (whence French lin ), cognate with Greek λίνον (ῐ ), and perhaps with λῑτί dative, λῖτα accusative, linen cloth. The modern dialect form lin (with the antecedent lynne , linne ) is apparently a back-formation from compounds like lincloth n., linseed n. Now chiefly dialect. 1. = flax n. †a. The fibre of flax. Obsolete except as in 1b.In the 16–17th centuries asbestos was often described as a kind of ‘line’ or flax (cf. linen n. 1c, Latin linum indicum, linum fossile). ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > flax, hemp, or jute > [noun] linec975 hempc1300 flaxc1325 jute1746 c975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. xii. 20 Hread þæt wagende ne to breceþ & lin smikende ne adwæscet. c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 539 The bondes..weren of ful strong line. c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xi. 49 Þat ressayued þe messangers of Israel..and feled þam in hir hous amang towe of lyne. ?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 795/18 Hoc asperum, a stryke of lyne. 1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Asbestinum, a kynde of lyne which can not be burned. 1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Linum, lyne or flaxe. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Lin, line, flax. Lin vif, a Kind of Indian line, or linnen, which the fire purifies, but consumes not. 1659 C. Hoole tr. J. A. Comenius Visible World (1672) 121 Line and Hemp, being rated in water and dried again, are braked with a wooden Brake. b. In modern technical use, flax of a fine and long staple, which has been separated by the hackle from the tow. Occasionally applied to the similar fibre of other plants. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > treated or processed textiles > [noun] > flax, hemp, or jute > heckled > finest parts tear1541 tire1601 line1835 1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 215 The heckled flax, called line, when freed from the tow, is carried away to be sorted. 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. I. 198 China grass..half-bleached and full-bleached line from this grass. 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 278 The long fibres called line, which remains in the hand of the heckler. c. The plant itself. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > yielding fibre, thatching, or basket material > [noun] > flax plants flaxc1000 linseedc1000 linec1420 lint1458 wild flax1878–86 c1420 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 28 Now lyne and puls is sowe. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Preaching of Swallow l. 1825 in Poems (1981) 71 The lint ryipit, the carll pullit the lyne. 1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. E.i^v Linum is called in englishe Flax, lyne or lynte. 1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. x. 50 In August he shall pull his line and hempe. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1289 The herbe Line..furnisheth us wherewith to make a simple, plaine, and slender vestment. 1839 W. B. Stonehouse Hist. Isle of Axholme 28 Fields of hemp are now no longer to be seen; but line or flax is still grown. 2. a. Flax spun or woven; linen thread or cloth. †Also, a napkin of linen; and in plural linen vestments. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun] > made from flax, hemp, or jute > linen linea700 Bruges thread1473 inkle1545 outnal1545 spinal16.. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > made from specific material > flax or hemp > linen linea700 linenc1330 lingerie1835 snowy1877 the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from flax, hemp, or jute > [noun] > linen linea700 flaxc897 linclothc1290 linen1362 flaxen1520 a700 Epinal Gl. 634 Manitergium, liin [a800 Corpus Gl. 1270 lin]. c975 Rushw. Gosp. John xx. 6 Simon petrus..ineode in ða byrgenne & gesæh ða lin gisetedo. c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 163 Þe haued line sward, and hire winpel wit. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11112 He..wered noþer wol ne line. c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 730 [He] solde alle his goud boþe wolen and lynne. c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 82 A fair towaille of lyn. a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 30 Fars hit þurghe a clothe of lyne. 1558 Act 1 Eliz. c. 17 §1 No person..withe any Devise or Engyne made of Heere, Wooll, Lyne or Canvas..shall take and kyll..Spawne or Frye of Eeles, Salmon, Pyke or Pyckerell. 1591 E. Spenser Muiopotmos in Complaints sig. X Nor anie weauer, which his worke doth boast In dieper, in damaske, or in lyne. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads ii. 459 Little he was, and euer wore a breastplate made of linne. 1631 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 299 Ten yeardes of line for a sirptcloth. a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 111 The kindes of linnes or huswife-cloath are brought aboute of peddlers. 1807 J. Robinson Archæol. Græca iv. iii. 342 Some of the thoraces were made of line, or hemp twisted into small cords, and set close together. 1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. Lin, linen; the fabric made with the fibre of flax; in contradistinction to the plant itself, which is sounded Line. †b. under line (occasionally in line), in one's clothes; used in Middle English poetry as a mere expletive. Cf. under gore at gore n.² 2a. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing specific material woolwardc1315 under line (occasionally in line)c1330 fox-furred1592 furred1592 tuftaffeta1598 tissued?16.. satin1603 silk1603 russet1604 tuftaffety1612 plush1615 sericated1623 sheepskinned1628 silken1640 lawny1647 plushed1650 satined1652 harden1654 sackclotheda1656 bearskinned1694 well-furred?1707 furry1717 brocaded1767 flannelled1784 lawned1798 buckskinned1829 corduroyed1832 silked1837 silkened1841 friezy1849 fustianed1849 velveted1850 buffed1863 buckramed1880 craped1880 crapy1891 velveteened1896 mohaired1914 tweeded1921 tweedy1923 leather1961 c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 1202 Þe quene, Louesom vnder line. a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 45 Ah wolde lylie-leor in lyn yhere leuely lores myn. c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 1814 Þat lufsum vnder lyne. c1400 Rowland & O. 846 He..drissede hym in his worthy wede, þat lofesome vnder lyne. †3. The seed of flax; linseed n. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > yielding fibre, thatching, or basket material > [noun] > flax plants > seed or seed-vessel linseedc1000 hoppec1325 flax-hoppe14.. linget1477 line-boll1483 line1540 flaxseed1562 the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > medicine composed of a plant > [noun] > plant used in medicine > specific seeds linseedc1000 lupinesa1398 nigellaa1398 cardamom?c1425 line1540 semendacy1714 ispaghul1810 ergot1860 Physostigma1864 1540 R. Jonas tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde i. f. xxxiv Take camomell & lyne of eche lyke much. 1558–68 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes 90 b Take thre pounde of the Oyle of lyne. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 38^v They call the seede Lyn and the plant Flaxe. Compounds C1. General attributive. a. (In sense 1.) † line beat n. Obsolete (cf. beat n.²) ΚΠ 1483 Cath. Ang. 217/2 A Lyne bete, linitorium. † line-beater n. Obsolete ΚΠ 1483 Cath. Ang. 217/2 A Lyne beter, linifex, linificator. † line-boll n. Obsolete (cf. boll n.¹ 3.) ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > yielding fibre, thatching, or basket material > [noun] > flax plants > seed or seed-vessel linseedc1000 hoppec1325 flax-hoppe14.. linget1477 line-boll1483 line1540 flaxseed1562 1483 Cath. Angl. 217/2 A Lyne bolle, linodium. line-dresser n. ΚΠ 1720 London Gaz. No. 5909/4 John Northropp, late of Leeds, Line dresser. † line-house n. Obsolete ΚΠ 1483 Cath. Angl. 217/2 A Lyne howse, linatorium. line-sorter n. ΚΠ 1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 215 Line-sorters. line-spinner n. ΚΠ 1723 London Gaz. No. 6186/10 Corbort Roman,..Line-Spinner. line-spreader n. ΚΠ 1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 216 Girls, termed line-spreaders, are employed to unite the locks of line into one sliver. line stump n. ΚΠ 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. I. 198 Line stumps, or the raw flax plant with the seed..as pulled and dried. line tow n. ΚΠ 1897 Daily News 6 Mar. 8/6 Line tow and jute yarns in buyers' favour. line-weaver n. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > method of > weaving other types of fabric > one who tapenera1400 line-weaver1415 linen-weaver1474 sayman1488 say weaver1565 silk-weaver1572 narrow weaver1594 say maker1611 linen-webster1642 broad-weaver- 1415 in York Myst. Introd. 27 Lynweuers. 1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 35 Gabriel the lynweuar. † line-webber n. Obsolete ΚΠ ?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. B.vj Lyne webbers, setters with lyne drapers. line weft n. ΚΠ 1890 Daily News 20 Aug. 2/7 Some stocks of line wefts are almost nil. line-wick n. ΚΠ 1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. i. 10 With a line-wick, another Esquimaux plan, we could bake bread. line work n. ΚΠ 1483 Cath. Angl. 218/1 Lyne warke, linificium. line-yard n. ΚΠ 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ligneraye, a line~yard, or flax-yard. line yarn n. ΚΠ 1886 Daily News 4 Sept. 6/7 Line yarns quiet. b. (In sense 2.) line bed n. ΚΠ 1418 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 37 ij. remenauntz of the Lynne bed. line clout n. ΚΠ c1450 Two Cookery-bks. 112 Tak a fare lynne cloute, & do therynne a disshful of ote-mele. 1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 105 Lin-clout, linen rag. † line-draper n. Obsolete ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in textiles, clothing, or yarns mercerc1230 clothier1362 draper1362 woolman1390 yarn-chopper1429 line-draper1436 Welsh drapera1525 telerc1540 purple-seller1547 linen-draper1549 staplera1552 silkman1553 woollen-draper1554 wool-driver1555 woolster1577 linener1616 woolner1619 linen-man1631 ragman1649 rag merchant1665 slop-seller1665 bodice-seller1672 piece-broker1697 wool-stapler1709 cloth-man1723 Manchester-man1755 fleece-merchanta1774 rag dealer1777 man's mercer1789 keelman1821 man-mercer1837 cotton-broker1849 slopper1854 shoddyite1865 costumier1886 cotton-man1906 1436 Close Roll 15 Hen. VI Lynnedraper. Categories » † line sock n. Obsolete † line stock n. Obsolete ΚΠ 1483 Cath. Angl. 218/1 A Lyne soke (A. Lynstoke), linipedium. line table-cloth n. ΚΠ 1619 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 75 One lin tablecloth..for the communion table. C2. † line-finch n. Obsolete ? a linnet (cf. flax-finch n. at flax n. Compounds 2a). ΚΠ 1483 Cath. Angl. 217/2 A Lyne fynche, linosa. line-gout n. some plant which hinders flax in its growth. ΚΠ 1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique v. xviii. 701 The good huswife must be carefull when the lyne is growne, to free it from being intangled with the weede vsing to winde about it, and which of some is called lynegowte. † line-spurge n. Obsolete a proposed name for Euphorbia Esula. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Euphorbiaceae (spurges and allies) > [noun] catapucec1386 Euphorbiaa1398 spurgea1400 tithymala1400 faitour's grassc1440 cat's-grassc1450 nettlewort1523 essell1527 lint-spurge1548 sea wartwort1548 spurge thyme1548 line-spurge1562 myrtle spurge1562 sun spurge1562 wolf's-milk1575 cypress tithymal1578 devil's milk1578 mercury1578 sea-spurge1597 sun tithymal1597 welcome to our house1597 wood-spurge1597 Euphorbium1606 milk-reed1611 milkwort1640 sun-turning spurge1640 spurge-wort1647 caper-bush1673 Portland spurge1715 milkweed1736 Medusa's head1760 little-good1808 welcome-home-husband1828 three-seeded mercury1846 cat's-milk1861 turnsole1863–79 mole-tree1864 snow-on-the-mountain1873 seven sisters1879 caper-plant1882 asthma herb1887 mountain snow1889 crown of thorns1890 olifants melkbos1898 1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 93 Pitiusa..may be called lynespourge of the lyknes y^t it hath with linaria. † line-strike n. Obsolete a hank of flax. ΚΠ 1483 Cath. Angl. 217/2 A Lyne stryke, linipulus. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online March 2022). linen.² Brit. /lʌɪn/, U.S. /laɪn/ Forms: Old English líne, Middle English–1600s lyne, Middle English lin, lingne, Middle English–1500s ligne, lygne, Middle English lyn, lynye, Middle English– line. β. ScottishMiddle English lynge, Middle English–1500s ling. Etymology: Two words, ultimately of the same etymology, have coalesced. (1) Old English líne weak feminine = Middle Dutch lîne (modern Dutch lijn ), Old High German lîna (Middle High German lîne cord, line, modern German leine cord), Old Norse lína (Swedish lina , Danish line ); either a native Germanic formation on lîno- flax, line n.¹, or (more probably) an early Germanic adoption of Latin līnea* (see below); (2) Middle English ligne , line , < French ligne = Provençal ligna , Portuguese linha (Spanish linea , Italian linea (in learned form)) < popular Latin linja representing classical Latin līnea* (earlier līnia ), originally ‘linen thread’, a substantive use of līnea feminine of līneus (līnius ) adjective, flaxen, < līnum* flax = line n.¹; the substantive use of the adjective is due to ellipsis of some feminine noun, possibly fībra fibre n.In continental Germanic the popular Latin linja was adopted as Old High German linia* (Middle High German, modern German, Dutch, Danish linie). I. Cord or string (and derived senses). 1. a. A rope, cord, string; †a leash for dogs or for hawks. Chiefly Nautical or as short for clothesline n., etc. Also applied with words prefixed to particular ‘makes’ of rope, e.g. cod-line, house-line, whale-line. spec. as used by climbers (usually opposed to rope). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > types of tools generally > [noun] > rope, string, cord, etc. stringa900 linea1000 lacec1230 cordc1305 whipcord?a1500 thumb-rope1601 thumb-band1639 chord1645 spun-yarn1685 hairline1731 tie-tie1774 rope1841 wire rope2001 the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping dogs or cats > [noun] > keeping or affinity with dogs > place to exercise hounds > collars, leads, etc. linea1000 collar1377 torretc1386 dog collar1485 doghook1528 terret1530 slip1564 dogwhip1583 trash1611 shangan1787 puzzle-peg1789 puzzle1792 shangy1825 leading-strap1856 nosepiece1865 dog tag1882 lead1893 harness1895 silent whistle1923 standing iron1934 the world > food and drink > hunting > hawking > falconry or hawking equipment > [noun] > leash creance14.. loync1400 lunea1470 leash1497 line1590 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > mountaineering or climbing > [noun] > artificial aid > types of runner1688 runner ring1791 ice axec1800 alpenstock1829 rope1838 climbing-iron1857 piolet1868 snap-link1875 prickera1890 middleman('s) knot (also loop, noose, etc.)1892 chock1894 glacier-rope1897 piton1898 run-out1901 belaying-pin1903 snap-ring1903 ironmongery1904 line1907 Tricouni1914 ice claw1920 peg1920 sling1920 ice piton1926 ice hammer1932 karabiner1932 rock piton1934 thread belay1935 mugger1941 running belay1941 piton hammer1943 sky-hook1951 etrier1955 pied d'éléphant1956 rope sling1957 piton runner1959 bong1960 krab1963 rurp1963 ice screw1965 nut1965 traverse line1965 jumar1966 knife-blade1968 tie-off1968 rock peg1971 whammer1971 Whillans whammer1971 Whillans harness1974 a1000 Solomon & Saturn 294 Yldo..ræceð wide langre linan, lisseð eall ðæt heo wile. c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 182/24 Spirae, linan. 1390–1 Earl Derby's Exped. (Camden) 40 Pro..v lynes parvis pro les ankeres et seyles.] a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) l. 29532 Cursing es þe fendes lyne þat harles a man to hell pine. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ix. l. 176 The seymen..Thair lynys kest and waytyt weyll the tyd. c1520 in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1888) III. 206 Pro vj^xx fawdom long lyne for the convaans of the schryne with ij lytyll lynys callyd syde ropes. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Josh. ii. D She knyt the rose coloured lyne in the wyndowe. 1589 J. Rider Bibliotheca Scholastica The gesses, lemniscus. The lines, tænia. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A3^v And by her in a line a milkewhite lambe she lad. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 186/2 The string wherewith we lead them;..for a Spaniel [it is called] a Line. 1700 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises (1703) 247 A Line seldom holding to strein..above 50 or 60 feet. 1758 S. Johnson Idler 3 June 65 Shirts waving upon lines. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 446 Deep-sea soundings for scientific purposes are recorded in thousands of fathoms, in which case the line is sometimes made of silk. 1889 A. B. Goulden Mission of St. Alphege 51 Family washing is hung on lines stretched across the lane. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 700/2 Fine alpine line. 1923 G. D. Abraham First Steps to Climbing ii. 35 A light Alpine line is also supplied but that is mostly used by experts on exceptionally difficult courses... For the beginner the ordinary rope is advisable. 1935 D. Pilley Climbing Days xi. 224 We set aside the ordinary Alpine rope, and used 120 feet of Alpine line. 1950 Mountaineering Handbk. (Assoc. Brit. Members Swiss Alpine Club) ii. 27 Line can be used on ice or rock..or for rappel slings... Doubled, it can be used as a light rope. 1957 R. W. Clark & E. C. Pyatt Mountaineering in Brit. ix. 160 One development in technique was..the increasing use of line in preference to full size rope. b. In generalized sense, as a material: Cord. ΘΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > other manufactured or derived materials > [noun] > rope or cord rope1548 line1797 cord1835 1797 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 487/1 The making of two strand and three strand line. †c. A ‘cord’ in the body. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > vascular system > blood vessel > [noun] eddreOE arm-eddrec1230 veina1325 pipec1385 weasand1398 venaa1400 conceptacle1576 vene1606 line1611 blood vessel1655 sinus1673 sanguiduct1681 blood sinus1857 the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > [noun] sinew1398 nervea1400 cordc1400 chord?1541 line1611 lingual1778 1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Linéa álba, the white line, the vmbellical veine, the line or hollow tying from the nauel. 1780 W. Cowper Table Talk 487 She pours a sensibility divine Along the nerve of every feeling line. d. Applied to a spider's thread. poetic. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > member of (spider) > thread line1733 1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 202 The Spider's touch, how exquisitely fine, Feels at each thread, and lives along the line. 1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 495 Spun as fine As bloated spiders draw the flimsy line. 1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 49 A gossamer line sighing itself along The air. e. (a) A telegraph or telephone wire or cable. Also (with mixture of sense 26), a telegraph route, a telegraphic system connecting two or more stations; a telephonic connection; an individual ‘number’ or extension. Cf. to hold the line at hold v. 6h, hotline n. Also figurative, esp. in to get the lines crossed, to become confused. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > [noun] > line wire1813 line1847 wire line1848 loop1863 landline1865 saddle wire1876 telephone line1877 concentric cable1888 Pupin cable1904 multiple twin1922 quad1922 twisted pair1923 star quad1927 music line1929 coaxial cable1934 coax1945 society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telegraphy > [noun] > channel or route line1847 channel1848 society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > line line1900 wire1902 phone line1935 the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > be or become confused [verb (intransitive)] wonder1297 confusec1350 maskera1375 studya1375 to annoy of?c1400 muse?c1430 marc1440 manga1450 puzzle1605 dunce1611 quandary1616 wavera1625 wilder1658 to scratch one's head1712 maffle1781 to strike up1844 turn1852 to fall over oneself1889 fuzz1930 to get the lines crossed1973 1847 Handbk. Electric Telegr. 11 So rapid is the transmission of the electric current along the lines of wire, that..to carry the wires eight times round the earth..would occupy but one second of time. 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. IV. 1191 Five great electric telegraphic lines... The extent of line thus served appears to be about fifteen hundred miles. 1854 J. W. Brett Specif. Patent 10,939 21 This said cable or rope I denominate my Oceanic Line. 1900 C. H. Chambers Tyranny of Tears i. 2 Miss Woodward. (Speaking into telephone—very sweetly.)..Mr. Parbury's just coming in now—he'll speak to you—keep the line. 1901 Scotsman 9 Mar. 9/3 The American trans-Pacific line. 1921 Conquest Jan. 127/2 The ‘busy tone’ is sent back to the calling subscriber if the line he wants is busy. 1934 Punch 21 Mar. 332/1 The notepaper should carry—(1) The name of the firm. (2) Its address. (3) Fictitious address for creditors. (4) Telephone number (at least ten lines). 1944 H. McCloy Panic 6 Ronnie showed the doctor how to get an outside line and he dialed a number. 1951 Oxf. Junior Encycl. IV. 448/1 The Post Office took over all ‘trunk’ long-distance lines in 1896, and 6 years later opened the first of several large London exchanges, the ‘Central’, with 14,000 lines. 1970 B. Knox Children of Mist iv. 77 Thane lifted the telephone. When the desk constable answered he asked for a line... Then he began dialling. 1972 J. Wilson Hide & Seek iii. 61 What? I can't hear you. It's a terrible line. 1973 Times 16 Apr. 14/6 It clearly has the advantage of keeping all the lines from getting crossed and establishing the priorities of policy. 1973 ‘K. Royce’ Spider Underground iii. 50 He told me he couldn't see me then and to get off the line. 1974 Times 15 Mar. 8/2 Mr Nixon has admitted that he ordered a cover-up of the plumbers' activities, but suggested that his staff got their lines crossed and took this to be an order to cover up the Watergate affair as well. (b) Hence, any wire or cable that serves as a conductor of electric current, for whatever purpose. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > wire as conductor > [noun] wire1746 electric wire1819 rheophore1827 live wire1881 line1886 power wire1890 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > distribution system > [noun] > transmission line line1886 power line1894 transmission line1906 tie-line1949 1886 G. Kapp Electr. Transmission of Energy viii. 205 Overhead lines, whether used for electric lighting or transmission of energy, are exposed to the effects of lightning. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 35/2 Alternate current is used for lighting and continuous current for the tramway line. 1920 Whittaker's Electr. Engineer's Pocket-bk. (ed. 4) 407 Since the induced voltages due to lightning are the same whatever the working voltage of the line, the heavier insulation on extra high voltage lines renders them less subject to lightning trouble. 1930 Engineering 25 Apr. 548/2 Minimum expenditure on the transmission and distribution systems from those points, connoting the use of overhead lines. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 887/1 On the teleprinter at the other end of the line, the responses of the armature of a single electromagnet..cause the corresponding character to be printed. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio iv. 79 In a building the size of a broadcasting studio centre there is a danger not only of high frequency losses due to capacitance, but also induction of programme signals, hum, etc., from other lines. f. plural. Reins. dialect and U.S. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > reins rein1297 bridle reina1382 bridea1425 linkc1450 leading-rein1483 quinsell1598 bearing rein1790 bridoon rein1795 check-reina1809 ribbon1813 ribands1815 bit-rein1833 check-piece1833 nose-rein1844 lines1852 reinage1863 check1868 overdraw1870 single line1875 overcheck1963 1852 C. A. Bristed Upper Ten Thousand 67 Handing the lines to Ashburner, as he stopped his team, Masters leaped out. 1895 E. Rydings Manx Tales 77 He'd jus' puk up the lines on the hosses back. 1901 G. W. Cable Cavalier x He stepped into the carry-all and took the lines. †g. figurative. line of life: the thread fabled to be spun by the Fates, determining the duration of a person's life. Obsolete. Cf. sense 27. ΘΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > expectation of life > thread of life line of lifec1580 filleta1592 file1606 the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [noun] > the (three) Fates > thread spun by the fatal thread1447 line of lifec1580 lifeline1855 c1580 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David xxxix. iii Lo, thou a spanns length mad'st my living line. 1600 Certain Prayers in W. K. Clay Liturg. Services Q. Eliz. (1847) 694 That the line of thy mercies and the line of her life may be lengthened and run forth together. 1601 R. Yarington Two Lamentable Trag. iii. ii. E 3 b This fatall instrument, Was mark'd by heauen to cut his line of life, And must supplie the knife of Atropos. 1623 H. Holland in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. sig. A5 Though his line of life went soone about, The life yet of his lines shall neuer out. 1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace ix. 188 Our troubles about sin are but short, though they should run parallel with the line of life. 2. a. A cord bearing a hook or hooks, used in fishing. (Also fishing-line.) ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > fishing-line > [noun] linec1374 fishing-line1466 string1585 thread1602 fish-line1639 taum1670 c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde v. 777 To fysshen here, he leyde out hook and lyne. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13285 At see sant Iohn and Iam he fand, Quils þai þair lines war waitand. a1450 Fysshynge wyth Angle (1883) 8 Arme ȝowr crop at þe ovir ende down to the frete with a lyn of vi herys & double the lyne. 1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope xvi Of a fyssher whiche with his lyne toke a lytyll fysshe. 1590 L. M[ascall] (title) A Booke of Fishing with Hooke & Line. a1609 J. Dennys Secrets of Angling (1613) i. xx. sig. B4 The Line to lead the Fish with wary skill. 1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler ii. 55 Put it [a grasshopper] on your hook, with your line about two yards long. View more context for this quotation 1827 W. M. Praed in Port Folio 22 359/2 The line the Abbot saw him throw, Had been fashioned and formed long ages ago. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 50 I thought you never left your books except To trim the boat and set the lines. b. In allusive phrases referring to the ‘playing’ of a hooked fish at the end of the line; esp. to give line: to allow full play, scope, or latitude. ΘΚΠ society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > not restrain [verb (transitive)] slidec1386 to give a person rope (also enough rope, etc.)a1475 to give (the) rein(s) (to)1484 to let go1526 to give (a horse) his (also her, its, etc.) head1571 license1605 to give linea1616 unchecka1616 to give a loose (occasionally give loose) to1685 to give stretch to1777 to let rip1857 a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 182 I am angling now, (Though you perceiue me not how I giue Lyne ). View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (1623) iv. iii. 39 Giue him Line [1600 time], and scope, Till that his passions (like a Whale on ground) Confound themselues with working. 1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 124 We began to play, and I went wearying of them out by little and little, giving them line enough to runne themselues out of breath. 1670 J. Eachard Grounds Contempt of Clergy 34 So soon as he gets hold of a Text, he..falls a flinging it out of one hand into the other, tossing it this way and that; lets it run a little upon the Line, then tanutus, high jingo, come again. a1687 E. Waller Maid's Trag. Alter'd (1690) 57 The meanest Wretch, if Heav'n should give him Line, Would never stop, till he were thought Divine. a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 435 The King was willing to give Oates line enough, as he expressed it to me. 1854 C. Dickens Hard Times ii. viii. 219 It's policy to give 'em line enough. †3. plural. Strings or cords laid for snaring birds. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > fowling equipment > [noun] > trap or snare panter1299 linesc1325 pitfalla1382 gilderta1400 pantle?a1450 shrape1532 pitfold1575 strap1584 scrape1620 pole trap1879 teagle1908 c1325 Song of Yesterday 130 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 136 Þe schadewe cacchen þei ne myht For no lynes þat þei couþe lay. 1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. v. 199 As hose leiþ lynes to lacche wiþ Foules. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Lines, among fowlers, is used to express the strings by which they catch birds... These lines are made of long and small cords, knotted in different places. 4. a. A cord used by builders and others for taking measurements, or for making things level or straight. (Cf. plumb-line v.) line-and-plummet (attributive): rigidly methodical. ΘΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for marking out work > [noun] > plumb-line or chalk-line poundereOE righteOE line1340 plummeta1398 plumba1400 perpendicle?c1400 plumb rulec1400 levelc1440 pendant1440 plumb linea1456 levelling-rule1598 perpendicular1604 plummet levelc1850 point-brass1850 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 150 He deþ al to wylle and to þe line, and to þe reule, and to þe leade, and to þe leuele. 1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. xi. 135 I..lered hem liuel [v.r. leuel] and lyne, þauȝ I loke dimme. c1440 York Myst. viii. 98 To hewe þis burde I will be-gynne, But firste I wille lygge on my lyne. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxix To take a lyne and set it there as thou wylte haue thy hedge, and to make a trenche after thy lyne. 1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. i. i. f. 5 Ane biggare can nocht make ane euin vp wal without direction of his lyne. 1611 Bible (King James) Ezek. xl. 3 A man..with a line of flaxe in his hand, & a measuring reed. View more context for this quotation 1758 J. Watson Mil. Dict. (ed. 5) Cordeau, a Line divided into Fathoms, Feet, &c. to mark Out-works on the Ground, used by Engineers. 1848 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 515/2 The gardener measures and marks off all his figures in the ground with his line and spade. 1849 D. M. Mulock Ogilvies (1875) xii. 89 There was a line-and-plummet regularity, an angular preciseness, in Mrs. Breynton's mind and person. 1871 W. C. Bryant tr. Homer Odyssey I. v. 131 Trees then he felled..and carefully He smoothed their sides, and wrought them by a line. figurative.c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde i. 1068 Eueri wight þat hath an hous to founde..wole..send his hertes lyne out fro with Inne Alderfirst his purpos for to wynne.1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxiii. 218 This decencie is..the line & leuell for al good makers to do their busines by.1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám xli. 9 For ‘Is’ and ‘Is-not’ though with Rule and Line, And ‘Up-and-down’ without, I could define. b. by line: chiefly in figurative contexts, with methodical accuracy. Also by line and level, by rule and line, etc. ΘΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adverb] rightlyeOE righteOE evenOE evenlya1225 redlyc1275 justicelya1375 justilya1375 justlya1375 redilya1375 trulya1375 properlya1382 precisec1392 preciselyc1392 truec1392 straitlya1395 leala1400 arightc1405 by linec1420 justlyc1425 featlya1450 rule-righta1450 to the letter?1495 exquisitely1526 evenliklya1530 very1530 absolutely1538 jump1539 just1568 accurately1581 punctually1581 jumplya1586 arights1596 just so1601 plumb1601 compassly1606 nicelya1616 squarely1626 justa1631 adequately1632 mathematicallya1638 critically1655 exquisitively1660 just1665 pointedly1667 faithfully1690 correctlya1704 jus1801 jest1815 jes1851 neat1875 cleanly1883 on the nose1883 smack-dab1892 spot on1920 forensically1974 c1420 Anturs of Arth. (Douce) 477 Þei settene listes by lyne one þe loȝ lande. 1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 43^v Through cunning w^t dybble, rake, mattock & spade: by line & by leauell, trim garden is made. 1578 T. Timme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Gen. 281 The deeds of Men..are..to be examined by Gods level and line. 1612 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. vi. sig. F3 To carry Quarrells, As Gallants doe, and manage 'hem, by line . View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 238 We steale by lyne and leuell, and't like your grace. 1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. i. 5 It [sc. the matter] is not hudled, but built up by Plummet and Line, with proportion to Time and Place. 1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 414. ¶5 Plantations of our Europeans, which are laid out by the Rule and Line. 1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 252 A poet does not work by square or line, As smiths and joiners perfect a design. c. plural. Appointed lot in life. In echoes of Psalm xvi. 6, where the reference seems to be to the marking out of land for a dwelling-place. ΘΠ the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [noun] > that which is ordained by fate > personal destiny or one's lot lotOE chance1297 fallc1300 weirds1320 cuta1340 fatec1374 vie1377 parta1382 foredoom1563 event1577 allotment1586 fatality1589 kincha1600 lines1611 fortunea1616 dispensation1704 1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xvi. 6 The lines are fallen vnto mee in pleasant places; yea, I haue a goodly heritage. View more context for this quotation 1849 J. G. Whittier Leaves from Margaret Smith's Jrnl. in Prose Wks. (1889) I. 175 My brother's lines have indeed fallen unto him in a pleasant place. 1865 Daily Tel. 25 Oct. 7/3 The poor Pope's lines seem just now to have fallen in most unpleasant places, and are indeed hard lines. †5. Rule, canon, precept; standard of life or practice. [Compare 4b.] Obsolete. rare.Line has been used in several places in the King James Bible to translate Hebrew qav (primarily ‘cord’) in this sense. Cf. line upon line at sense 23h. ΘΚΠ society > authority > control > [noun] > regulation > a regulation or rule lawa1225 precepta1325 line1340 observancea1382 rulea1387 reglec1475 regimentc1485 reuglec1485 instruction1526 maxima1564 maxim1578 preception1620 reglement1622 positure1624 gnomon1627 regulationa1640 parapegm1646 rubric1891 reg1904 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 124 Uor be þise uirtue al þet man deþ..al he diȝt and let and reuleþ to þe lyne of scele. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 160 Þo þet ne zeneȝeþ..ac doþ al be riȝtuolnesse and be lingne. a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 141 Thys thyng apperyth mervelouse straunge, pepul to have the lyne of theyr lyfe to be wryte in a straunge tong. 1557 Bible (Whittingham) 2 Cor. x. 13 We wil not reioyce aboue measure..but according to the measure of that line [κατὰ τὸ μέτρον τοῦ κανόνος], wherof God hath distributed vnto vs a measure. 1563 N. Winȝet Wks. (1890) II. 7 An infallible, as it is a general, reul to al richt, an ewin lyne of lawtay. 1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. Proem sig. M4^v Let none then blame me, if..I doe not forme them to the common line Of present dayes, which are corrupted sore. View more context for this quotation 1607 T. Middleton Michaelmas Terme ii. sig. C^v A man must not so much as spit but within line and fashion. 1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xix. 4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. View more context for this quotation 6. hard lines: see hard line n. 1b. hard line money: see hard line n. and adj. Compounds. II. A thread-like mark. 7. a. A stroke or mark, long in proportion to its breadth, traced with a pen, a tool, etc. upon a surface. line of burden, line of floatation, line of war (on the hull of a ship): see the nouns. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > stroke linea1382 tittlec1384 stroke1567 minim1587 pot-hook1611 dash1615 hair-stroke1634 hook1668 foot stroke1676 stem1676 duct1699 hanger1738 downstroke?1760 hairline1846 up-stroke1848 skit1860 pot-crook1882 ligature1883 coupling-stroke1906 bow1914 ductus1922 ascender1934 society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing lines > [noun] > other lines linea1382 rulec1475 stroke1567 trig1648 ductor1658 style1690 pencil line1758 guideline1785 section-line1827 subhorizon1829 broken line1937 wiggle1942 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xxxviii. 8 I shal make to turne aȝeen the shadewe of lynes, bi the whiche it hadde go doun in the oriloge of Acath, in the sunne, bacward bi ten lynes. c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) xvii. 184 Be the gret Compas devised be Lines in manye parties; and that alle the Lynes meeten at the Centre. c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 305/2 Lyne, or lynye, linea. 1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. Defin. Euery lyne is drawen betwene twoo prickes, wherof the one is at the beginning, and the other at the ende. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 122 Draw a right line from A unto D. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V i. ii. 210 As many lines close in the dyall center: So [etc.]. 1610 A. Willet Hexapla in Danielem 195 Archimedes..was drawing of his lines. 1679 Guillim's Display of Heraldrie (ed. 5) 12/1 [Gules] is expressed in Graving by Lines drawn streight down the Escucheon... [Azure] is expressed by Lines drawn cross the Shield. 1691 W. Petty Treat. Naval Philos. in T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 125 The line of Burthen, or fourth Line. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Lines, in heraldry, the figures used in armories to divide the shield into different parts, and to compose different figures. 1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 171 He draws upon life's map a zig-zag line. 1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing ii. 100 An expression of forms only by simple lines. 1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 134 The writing-master first draws lines with a style. figurative.a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. ii. 81 His life is paralel'd Euen with the stroke and line of his great Iustice. View more context for this quotation1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §ii If thou have drawne in me some lines, & notes of able indowments.1677 W. Temple Let. to Charles II in Wks. (1731) II. 438 I promised to represent the whole to Your Majesty in the truest Lines and Colours I could possibly.1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. I. i. 80 The lines of his character are indeed too broad and clear to be overlooked. b. Music. One of the horizontal parallel equidistant strokes forming the stave, or placed above or below it (ledger lines). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > notation > [noun] > stave > lines of stave rulec1475 line1602 ledger line1697 1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida v. sig. H4 Iudgement gentlemen, iudgement. Wast not aboue line? I appeale to your mouthes that heard my song. 1654 J. Playford Breefe Introd. Skill Musick 3 Five lines is onely usuall, as being sufficient to containe the compass of Notes thereto belonging. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 157/1. 1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 3 The Spaces, as well as the Lines of the Stave, furnish situations for the notes. c. line of lines, Gunter's line. line of numbers, line of shadows : see number n., shadow n. Π 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Gunter's Line Line of Lines, and Line of Numbers, is a graduated Line usually placed on Scales, Rules, Sectors, &c. d. Fine Art. Applied spec. to the lines employed in a picture; chiefly collective or in generalized sense, character of draughtsmanship, method of rendering form. Also plural (cf. sense 15) the distinctive features of composition in a picture. line of beauty: the curve (resembling a slender elongated letter S), which according to Hogarth is a necessary element in all beauty of form. Also, with reference to engraving (see line engraving n. at Compounds 2). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > character of draughtsmanship line1616 the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > beauty of shape or form > [noun] > curved element of line of beauty1753 1616 B. Jonson Forrest xiii. 20 in Wks. I I, that..haue not..so my selfe abandon'd, as..I should..feare to draw true lines, 'cause others paint. 1753 W. Hogarth Anal. Beauty vii. 38 The waving line, which is a line more productive of beauty..for which reason we shall call it the line of beauty... The ..line of beauty..being compos'd of two curves contrasted, becomes still more ornamental. 1753 W. Hogarth Anal. Beauty x. 52 For as..there is but one that truly deserves the name of the line of beauty, so there is only one precise serpentine-line that I call the line of grace. 1756 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (new ed.) II. ii. 42 A bold stroke with the line of beauty, and well shaped stalks, leafs, and flowers..are the only things a designer has to observe in compleating of a well-designed damask pattern. 1824 T. F. Dibdin Libr. Compan. p. iv Miniature engravings in the line manner. 1849 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) II. 727/1 To this state of etching..professional engravers bring their plates to be finished in the line manner. 18.. Bookseller's Catal. First impressions of..the 27 fine portraits..all beautifully engraved in line. 1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. i. 126 To translate into colour and line all this huge pageant of life. 1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. iii. 154 We praise the mellow Virgilisms in Tennyson, but we are down upon the painter who repeats another's lines. e. Geomancy. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by symbols, letters, figures, etc. > [noun] > by shapes or figures > figures in geomancy mother1591 nephew1591 linea1593 a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. A3 Lines, circles, sceanes, letters and characters. f. In various games, as tennis, football, etc., the line denotes a particular line which marks the limit of legitimate or successful play; in Cricket, the line of flight of the ball from the bowler's hand. Also in phr. (taken from American football, but influenced by sense 20b) to hold the line, to maintain, support, a position, viewpoint, etc. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > place for sports or games > [noun] > line line1550 trig1648 sideline1862 touchline1863 foul line1870 backline1890 trigger1891 centreline1920 by-line1936 stripe1967 the mind > will > decision > constancy or steadfastness > be constant or steadfast [verb (intransitive)] standeOE cleavec1275 to stand stiffa1290 stick1447 to stand or stick to one's tackling1529 to stand in this1538 to set down (the or one's) staff1584 to stand one's ground1600 to stand to one's pan pudding1647 to maintain one's ground1736 to nail one's colours (also flag) to the mast (also masthead)1808 to stay put1843 to stand firm1856 to sit tight1890 to keep the flag flying1914 to dig in one's toes1933 to hold the line1956 1550 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue (new ed.) ii. xi. sig. Civ Thou hast striken the ball, vnder the line. 1642 J. Howell The Vote 6 Poore mortals are so many balls Tossd, some o're line, some under Fortune's walls. 1887 Daily News 10 Jan. 3/5 The English forwards dribbled the ball close up to the Welsh line and nearly scored. 1890 C. G. Heathcote Lawn Tennis in J. M. Heathcote et al. Tennis (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 334 It will often be extremely difficult for him to judge on which side of the line the ball was dropped. 1899 F. Mitchell in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 210 When the throw~out belongs to his opponents, every forward on coming up to the line must mark his man. 1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues xi. 116 But 52nd Street couldn't hold the line against Negroes forever. 1960 I. Wallach Absence of Cello (1961) 48 Her voice had a factious quaver as she dug in and prepared to hold the line on Perry's team. 1962 Listener 19 Apr. 672/2 ‘Holding the line’..of costs, prices, and wages is vital to what he believes to be the continuance of American prosperity. 1963 A. Ross Australia 63 iii. 87 He moved solidly behind the line, early in position for anything that kept low. 1968 W. Safire New Lang. Politics 190/2 ‘Holding the line against inflation’ remains a cliché, taken from a football metaphor (‘Hold-that-line!’) which in turn comes from a military expression. g. Ballet. The total effect of the disposition of the dancer's limbs, body, and head in movement or repose. (Cf. sense 7d.) ΘΚΠ society > leisure > dancing > ballet > [noun] > movements > disposition of body and limbs body line1898 line1912 1912 J. E. C. Flitch Mod. Dancing xi. 170 Her purity of line is never broken by..inartistic feats of athletic dexterity. 1922 C. W. Beaumont & S. Idzikowski Man. Theory & Pract. Class. Theatr. Dancing 26 Beauty of line is one of the dancer's greatest assets. 1936 A. L. Haskell Prelude to Ballet xvii. 85 Fluidity and large movements whose line can be extended indefinitely are the essential characteristics of the Russian School. 1948 Ballet Ann. 2 91 He has a fine classical technique and excellent line. 1960 Times 7 Mar. 3/7 She is already a dancer of great charm..with a particularly striking sense of line that showed to advantage in lifts. h. Music. Instrumental or vocal melody; a structured sequence of notes or tones. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > melody or succession of sounds > [noun] melody1728 line1923 1923 R. H. Myers Mod. Mus. vi. 80 His music has line..and the enormous merit of condensation. 1955 Times 26 Aug. 3/5 In spite of the cello's natural inclination to ruminative melancholy..it has plenty of cantilena... But it is line, always line, not harmony, that is the essence of the matter. 1961 Listener 14 Dec. 1046/3 What do singers mean when they talk about ‘maintaining the line’?.. It means striking a level in the voice from which all expression is controlled. 1961 Listener 14 Dec. 1046/3 This ‘line’ of the singer is a physical conception. 1961 Listener 21 Dec. 1089/3 The music takes shape by means of a simple recitative-like vocal line, modal, flexible, limpid, with an orchestral part of matching directness and simplicity. 1962 Radio Times 22 Feb. 43/1 I was concerned at the time with the idea of inventing melodic line and harmonic texture directly from the fund of the twelve notes available within the octave. 1967 Melody Maker 28 Jan. 7/5 I consider jazz to be a lot of horns and one of those top speed bass lines. i. Each of the narrow strips into which an image is divided for transmission and reproduction by television, corresponding to a single (usually side-to-side) passage of the scanning spot across the camera tube or picture tube: often with prefixed number, as 625-line(s), indicating the number of lines making up a complete picture. ΘΚΠ society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > picture elements, lines, or rasters picture element1925 line1929 scanning line1929 scanning field1935 scanning raster1935 field1938 line standard1959 pixel1965 1929 Proc. IRE 17 1586 He first arrived at a correlation between the number of ‘halftone lines per inch’ and the corresponding television ‘scanning lines’. 1929 Proc. IRE 17 1586 Halftones of letters and photographs were made up, and their appearance compared with the television image on a 48-line system of the same original. 1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 633/2 The service was continued, using exclusively a standard of 405 lines 50 frames interlaced scanning. 1961 G. Millerson Technique Television Production ii. 20 To reduce flicker problems, the beam is made to read the odd lines (odd field) of the image first (i.e. lines 1, 3, 5,..) and then return to scan the even lines between them (i.e. lines 2, 4, 6,..). 1963 Ann. Reg. 1962 27 They duly authorized the B.B.C. to start a second television channel by 1964 on U.H.F. and with an improved picture of 625 lines. 1974 Sci. Amer. Jan. 115/2 Each 1·25-second signal comprises a ‘line’ of picture data that is analogous to the line of a television picture. About 850 lines..complete a weather-signal picture. 8. a. Something resembling a traced mark, chiefly in natural objects; e.g. a thin band of colour; a suture, seam, furrow, ridge, etc. line of growth (Conch.): see quot. 1839. ΘΠ the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > linearity > [noun] > a linear object or mark linec1290 train?1440 c1290 S. Edmund 96 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 299 In al is bodi nas o weom..bote ase is heued was of I-smyte..A smal red line is al-a-boute. c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 91 Longe leuys..þat hauyn whit lynys yn hem. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 266 The Lione he settis in the midis; than tua lynes, on the vttir syd, Wouen in threid of golde. 1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 476 The lynes it hath are long and almost superficiary, yet diuided manifold..by the thin membrane running betwixt them. a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) ii. i. 103 Yon grey Lines, That fret the Clouds, are Messengers of Day. View more context for this quotation 1682 N. Grew Idea Philos. Hist. Plants 6 in Anat. Plants Those several Lines, by which both the said Varieties [of plants] are determin'd. 1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. 290 Line, a narrow longitudinal stripe. 1839 G. B. Sowerby Conchol. Man. 57 Lines of growth, the eccentric striæ or lines, formed by the edges of the successive layers of shelly matter deposited by the animal, by which it increases the shell. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. iii. 26 Along the faces of the sections the lines of stratification were clearly shown. 1880 R. Rimmer Land & Freshwater Shells p. xxiii The line of growth. 1883 F. M. Peard Contradictions xiv There were black lines under her eyes the next morning. 1895 I. Zangwill Master i. x. 111 A thin line of light crept again under the door. b. A furrow or seam in the face or hands. In Palmistry: A mark on the palm of the hand supposed to indicate one's fate, temperament, or abilities; e.g. line of life, line of fortune, line of the head, line of the heart, line of health; also hepatic line, line of the liver (see liver n.¹ and adj.² Phrases 1). ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > skin > textures or states of skin > [noun] > wrinkle rimpleeOE rivellingOE rivelc1325 crow's footc1374 frounce1390 wrinklea1400 frumplec1440 freckle1519 line1538 lirkc1540 shrivel1547 plait1574 furrow1589 trench1594 crowfoot1614 seam1765 thought-line1858 laughter line1867 laugh line1913 smile-line1921 worry lines1972 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > palmistry > [noun] > mark on the hand line1538 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > palmistry > [noun] > mark on the hand > line of life line of life1538 lifeline1571 vital line1653 vitala1824 1538 T. Elyot Dict. Incisuræ,..the lynes in the palme of the hande. 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 56 The small lynes in our hande. 1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. ii. 155 I shall haue good fortune; goe too, heere's a simple lyne of life. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. ii. 74 He does smile his face into more lynes, then is in the new Mappe. View more context for this quotation a1637 B. Jonson Masque of Gypsies 58 in tr. Horace Art of Poetry (1640) You..meane not to marry by the line of your life. 1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 42 The Line of Life, or of the Heart... He that hath this..entire, long, clear and ruddy,..he shall live a happy life. 1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 42 Line of liver, liver line [see [see liver n.¹ and adj.² Phrases 1]. , [see liver line n. at Compounds 3]. ]. a1716 R. South 12 Serm. (1717) V. 276 No more than he can read the future Estate of his Soul in the Lines of his Face. 1843 H. W. Longfellow Spanish Student iii. v. 156 The line of life is crossed by many marks. 1895 I. Zangwill Master iii. ii. 290 There were lines of premature age on the handsome face. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XX. 650/1 at Palmistry A line starting above the head of the second metacarpal bone and crossing the hand to the middle of its ulnar border is the line of the head. c. A narrow region in a spectrum, appearing to the eye as a fine straight black or shining stroke transverse to the length of the spectrum (cf. Fraunhofer n.). Hence in extended use, a component of emitted radiation at what is nominally a single discrete wavelength (in practice, over a narrow range of wavelengths containing one at which the intensity is a maximum). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > spectral line line1831 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > band or line forming part of band1831 line1831 Fraunhofer lines1837 1831 D. Brewster Life I. Newton v. 68 Among the most important modern discoveries respecting the spectrum we must enumerate that of fixed dark and coloured lines, which we owe to the sagacity of Dr Wollaston and M. Fraunhofer. 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 21/1 The beautiful discovery made by Wollaston and Fraunhofer of the existence of dark spaces, bands transverse to the length of the spectrum, and now generally designated Fraunhofer's lines. 1932 Sci. Abstr. A. 35 1561 (heading) Line emission in infra-red. 1962 Sci. Surv. 3 67 For a normal lamp, emitting a line in the visible spectrum, the width..of the line would be of the order of 10,000 Mc/s. 1971 D. W. Sciama Mod. Cosmol. ii. 21 He calculated that a sensitive radio receiver should be able to detect the 21 cm line as emitted by clouds of hydrogen gas in the Galaxy. 1971 Nature 31 Dec. 505/2 The atoms made up of the smaller mass particles would then radiate their characteristic lines at longer wavelengths. d. Jewellery. (See quot. 1883.) ΚΠ 1883 Daily Tel. 12 Feb. 5/2 The..cat's-eye..is characterised by possessing a remarkable play of light resulting from a peculiarity in its crystallisation. This ray of light is called ‘line’ by jewellers. 9. Mathematics. a. An element of configuration such as must be represented in geometrical figures by a ‘line’ (sense 7); a continuous extent (whether straight or curved) of length without breadth or thickness; the limit of a surface; the trace of a moving point. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] line1559 lineola1715 link1866 linearity1904 the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > [noun] > that which has length > without breadth or thickness line1559 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 17 A Circle is a plaine and flat figure comprehended within one line, which is called a circumference. 1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. i. f. 1^v A lyne is a magnitude hauing one onely space or dimension. 1660 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements i. 1 A Line is a longitude without latitude. 1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. iii. §28. 434 If from any point L of the Ellipse two right lines LS, LE be drawn. 1827 O. Gregory Hutton's Course Math. (ed. 9) I. 280 Lines are either Parallel, Oblique, Perpendicular, or Tangential. 1855 D. Brewster Mem. Life I. Newton (new ed.) II. xiv. 6 He considers a line as composed of an infinite number of points. 1885 H. W. Watson & S. H. Burbury Math. Theory Electr. & Magn. I. 155 The line x = κ log f. b. With various defining words: A curve connecting all points having a common property. ΚΠ 1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. xlix. 484 Fixed by the will of the Creator, rather than..regulated by any isothermal lines. 1850 D. T. Ansted Elem. Course Geol. 20 There is in the neighbourhood of the earth's equator, and cutting it at four points, an irregular curve called the magnetic equator or aclinic line. 1873 E. Atkinson tr. A. Ganot Elem. Treat. Physics (ed. 6) 565 The aclinic line is the line which joins all these places on the earth where..the dipping-needle is quite horizontal. 1877 R. Wormell Thermodynamics 130 If a substance can expand without gain or loss of heat, and a curve is drawn, such that the abscissa and ordinate of any point respectively represent the volume of a unit of mass, and the corresponding pressure for unit of area, this curve is termed an adiabatic line. 10. a. A circle of the terrestrial or celestial sphere; e.g. †ecliptic line, equinoctial line, †tropic line. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > celestial sphere > circle of celestial sphere > [noun] circle of altitudec1000 linea1387 the world > the earth > region of the earth > zone or belt > [noun] linea1387 climatea1393 clime1553 region1556 zone1559 belt1796 subzone1851 dead zone1926 the world > the universe > celestial sphere > circle of celestial sphere > [noun] > great circle > ecliptic ecliptic linea1387 sun path1599 ecliptic1625 ecliptic circlea1679 ecliptic way1712 the world > the universe > celestial sphere > circle of celestial sphere > [noun] > lesser circle > tropic tropic1503 tropic line1577 tropic line1667 tropic circle1893 a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 9 In Armenia, Macedonia, Italia, and in oþer londes of þe same lyne. c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) Prol. 3 The arising of any planete aftur his latitude fro the Ecliptik lyne. ?c1510 tr. Newe Landes & People founde by Kynge of Portyngale sig. Bii So haue we sayled ouer y^e linie equinocciall. 1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Bv For vnder the lyne equynoctyall..lyeth..greate and wyde desertes. 1553 R. Eden in tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India Pref. sig. aaviij The lyne, called Tropicus Cancri, and the Equinoctinal lyne. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 282 Under the Ethiop Line By Nilus head. View more context for this quotation 1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all v. 61 I have seen your..Eclipticks, and your Tropick Lines, Sir. 1837 D. Brewster Treat. Magnetism 238 The magnetic equator will meet the equinoctial line only in two points. b. With the: the equinoctial line; the equator. under the line: at the equator. (Sometimes written with a capital.) ΘΠ the world > the earth > geodetic references > [noun] > latitude > equator burning line1484 burnt line1555 equinox1579 equinoctial1584 line1588 equatora1613 the girdle of the world1626 palaeoequator1960 1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Comm. Notable Thinges in tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China 392 (margin) The straight of Malaca is vnder the line. 1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. iii. 5/2 The shippes are at the least two monthes before they can passe the line. 1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia i. 1 Sebastian Cabot..sayled to about forty degrees South~ward of the lyne. 1676 J. Glanvill Ess. iii. 27 Some of the Indians that live near the heats of the Line. 1728 A. Pope Dunciad iii. 62 Where spices smoke beneath the burning Line. 1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 5 The naked Negro, panting at the line. 1814 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) XII. 92 To prohibit all trade in slaves north of the Line. 1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 33 In a darker isle beyond the line. allusively.a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 235. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. iii. 42. 1656 A. Cowley Misc. 35 in Poems Cold frozen Loves with which I pine, And parched Loves beneath the Line.1668 J. Flavell Saint Indeed 178 The beams of his glory strike it but obliquely and feebly, but shortly it will be under the line; and there the sun shall stand still. 11. a. Often used for ‘straight line’ (sense 9); esp. in Physics and technical, as in line of the apsides, line of distance, line of force, line of sight (for which see those words). line of fire (see quot. 1859). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > straight linec1400 straight1892 society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > line of fire line of fire1859 firing line1918 c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xx. 90 Þe lyne þat es betwene þise twa sternez departez all þe firmament in twa partes. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 139 Marking diligentlye that the Center of the second Circle, be in the line of sighte. 1601 R. Dolman tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. III. 116 By meanes of the shadowes, or visuall lines, representing the saide shadowes. 1814 J. Playfair Outl. Nat. Philos. II. ii. iii. 266 The forces which act upon a body..may be resolved into the directions of three lines or axes. 1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic Gloss. 778 Line of centres, a line drawn from the centre of one wheel to the centre of another when their circumferences touch each other. 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 319 Whenever the axis of a single lens comes in the line between the observers and the focus. 1859 ‘Stonehenge’ Shot-gun 314 The line of fire is the indefinite projection of the axis of the barrel. 1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism I. 84 If a line be drawn whose direction at every point of its course coincides with that of the resultant force at that point, the line is called a Line of Force. 1897 Outing 30 250/1 Any number of players can take part..so long as they are not so crowded as to get into each other's line of play. b. Fencing. (See quot. 1728.) ΚΠ 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Line, in Fencing, is that directly opposite to the Enemy, wherein the Shoulders, the right Arm, and the Sword ought always to be found; and wherein are also to be placed the two Feet at the distance of 18 Inches from each other. In this sense a Man is said to be in his Line, to go out of his Line, &c. c. on the line: said of a picture in an exhibition which is hung so that its centre is about on a level with the eye. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > display of pictures > [phrase] > hung with centre of picture at eye level on the line1859 1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 314 The centre of the picture should not be much above the level of the eye. In an exhibition the pictures in this most favourable situation are said to be on the ‘line’. 1873 Punch 26 Apr. 169/1 Pictures hung ‘upon the line’ at the Academy, for reason of their merit. 1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. ii. 134 And I was also on the line in the big room. d. line of position n. = position line n. at position n. Compounds. ΘΠ the world > space > place > position or situation > [noun] > ascertaining or determining position of anything > line of position position line1777 line of position1865 1865 J. H. C. Coffin Navigation & Naut. Astron. (ed. 2) ix. 224 The nearer the body is to the prime vertical, the more nearly the line of position coincides with a meridian. 1919 G. C. Comstock Summer Line p. iii The line of position, or Summer line, is generally recognized as the best method for fixing the ship's place by observation of the sun or stars. 12. In adverbial phr. (mostly obsolete) having reference to the straight line, e.g. even as line, even by line, as straight as line (now, as straight as a line), as line right, right (up) as a or any line, in (intil) ane ling (Scottish): in a direct course, straightforward; also, straightway, at once. (Cf. line-right adj. and adv.) ΘΚΠ the world > time > relative time > immediacy > [adverb] soonc825 ratheeOE rathelyeOE rekeneOE rekenlyOE thereright971 anonOE forth ona1000 coflyc1000 ferlyc1000 radlyOE swiftlyc1000 unyoreOE yareOE at the forme (also first) wordOE nowOE shortlya1050 rightOE here-rightlOE right anonlOE anonc1175 forthrightc1175 forthwithalc1175 skeetc1175 swithc1175 with and withc1175 anon-rightc1225 anon-rights?c1225 belivec1225 lightly?c1225 quickly?c1225 tidelyc1225 fastlyc1275 hastilyc1275 i-radlichec1275 as soon asc1290 aright1297 bedenea1300 in little wevea1300 withoute(n dwella1300 alrightc1300 as fast (as)c1300 at firstc1300 in placec1300 in the placec1300 mididonec1300 outrightc1300 prestc1300 streck13.. titec1300 without delayc1300 that stounds1303 rada1325 readya1325 apacec1325 albedenec1330 as (also also) titec1330 as blivec1330 as line rightc1330 as straight as linec1330 in anec1330 in presentc1330 newlyc1330 suddenlyc1330 titelyc1330 yernec1330 as soon1340 prestly1340 streckly1340 swithly?1370 evenlya1375 redelya1375 redlya1375 rifelya1375 yeplya1375 at one blastc1380 fresha1382 ripelyc1384 presentc1385 presently1385 without arrestc1385 readilyc1390 in the twinkling of a looka1393 derflya1400 forwhya1400 skeetlya1400 straighta1400 swifta1400 maintenantc1400 out of handc1400 wightc1400 at a startc1405 immediately1420 incontinent1425 there and then1428 onenec1429 forwithc1430 downright?a1439 agatec1440 at a tricec1440 right forth1440 withouten wonec1440 whipc1460 forthwith1461 undelayed1470 incessantly1472 at a momentc1475 right nowc1475 synec1475 incontinently1484 promptly1490 in the nonce?a1500 uncontinent1506 on (upon, in) the instant1509 in short1513 at a clap1519 by and by1526 straightway1526 at a twitch1528 at the first chop1528 maintenantly1528 on a tricea1529 with a tricec1530 at once1531 belively1532 straightwaysa1533 short days1533 undelayedly1534 fro hand1535 indelayedly1535 straight forth1536 betimesc1540 livelyc1540 upononc1540 suddenly1544 at one (or a) dash?1550 at (the) first dash?1550 instantly1552 forth of hand1564 upon the nines1568 on the nail1569 at (also in, with) a thoughtc1572 indilately1572 summarily1578 at one (a) chop1581 amain1587 straightwise1588 extempore1593 presto1598 upon the place1600 directly1604 instant1604 just now1606 with a siserary1607 promiscuously1609 at (in) one (an) instant1611 on (also upon) the momenta1616 at (formerly also on or upon) sight1617 hand to fist1634 fastisha1650 nextly1657 to rights1663 straightaway1663 slap1672 at first bolt1676 point-blank1679 in point1680 offhand1686 instanter1688 sonica1688 flush1701 like a thought1720 in a crack1725 momentary1725 bumbye1727 clacka1734 plumba1734 right away1734 momentarily1739 momentaneously1753 in a snap1768 right off1771 straight an end1778 abruptedly1784 in a whistle1784 slap-bang1785 bang?1795 right off the reel1798 in a whiff1800 in a flash1801 like a shot1809 momently1812 in a brace or couple of shakes1816 in a gird1825 (all) in a rush1829 in (also at, on) short (also quick) order1830 straightly1830 toot sweetc1830 in two twos1838 rectly1843 quick-stick1844 short metre1848 right1849 at the drop of a (occasionally the) hat1854 off the hooks1860 quicksticks1860 straight off1873 bang off1886 away1887 in quick sticks (also in a quick stick)1890 ek dum1895 tout de suite1895 bung1899 one time1899 prompt1910 yesterday1911 in two ups1934 presto changeo1946 now-now1966 presto change1987 the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > a straight course > in a straight course [phrase] even as linec1330 right (up) as a or any line1546 as straight as a line1889 c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 150 After in a while com R. euen as lyne. c1330 Arth. & Merl. 6370 (Kölbing) Þurch þe wombe & þurch þe chine Þe spere ȝede euen bi line. c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde ii. 1412 (1461) To his Neces hous as Streyt as lyne He com. c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iii. 179 (228) Pandarus, as faste as he may dryue, To Troylus þo com as lyne right. c1422 T. Hoccleve Learn to Die 692 To purgatorie y shal as streight as lyne. c1480 (a1400) St. James Great 298 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 105 He gert fele knychtis in a lynge pryk efter þame. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xii. 49 Than sprent thai sammyn in-till a lyng [1489 Adv. ling]. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Husbandman l. 2337 in Poems (1981) 88 To the volff he went in to ane ling. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. viii. 43 Lyke as ane lyoun..Cummys braidand on the best fast in a lyng. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 687 Quhilk causit him go leip furth in ane ling. 1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Diii Thou folowist his stepps as ryght as a lyne. 1889 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xliii He..went as straight as a line. 13. a. A direction as traced by marks on a surface or as indicated by a row of persons or objects. to bring into (a) line: to align; figurative to cause (persons) to agree, to make unanimous. †to draw in a (or one) line: to be unanimous. ΘΠ the world > space > direction > [noun] > direction traced by marks on a surface linec1475 society > communication > indication > marking > a mark > [noun] > line streakc1000 linec1475 score1681 the world > space > relative position > quality or fact of being in a line (with) > bring into (a) line [verb (transitive)] align1693 allineate1785 line1796 to bring into (a) line1851 parallelize1853 c1475 Chess Probl. in MS Ashm. 344 f. 22 ^v Draw thy kyng..forth in to the lyne ther his kyng goth yn. 1556 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbs Eng. Tounge (rev. ed.) ii. vii. sig. Ev^v He loued me..We drew both in one line. 1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xlii. xxi. 1127 Seeing the LL. of the Senat thus drawing all in a line. a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. iii. 153 Now Powers from home, and discontents at home Meet in one line . View more context for this quotation 1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 6 The Bottom-line is the line that bounds the bottom of the Descending Letters. 1763 E. Hoyle Ess. Game of Chess 163 When your Adversary has a Bishop and one Pawn on the Rook's Line. 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 355 As the breech sight, the muzzle sight, and the object aimed at, are..at different distances from the eye, it is difficult to bring them at once into line. 1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone ix. 89 Livingstone..was going to get the horses in line, to start them for the farmer's Cup. 1860 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem (1861) III. ci. 2 Jonathan, too, is coming into line; his caustic wit is making its way into the press. 1897 Daily News 23 Apr. 3/1 It was found a matter of no small difficulty to get all the owners into line. b. Military. (See quot. 1872-6.) Cf. sense 21. ΚΠ 1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 98 When the open Column, halted on the Ground on which it is to form, wheels up into Line. 1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. (at cited word) When the light infantry companies are in line with their battalions. 1872–6 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) (at cited word) The term in line is applied to a battalion when its companies are deployed on the same alignment to their full extent, i.e. in two ranks. Columns are said to be in line when their fronts are on the same alignment. 1882 Ld. Tennyson Charge Heavy Brigade i. in Macmillan's Mag. Mar. 337 And he call'd ‘Left wheel into line!’ c. In Politics (originally U.S.), a particular policy or set of policies which a politician may maintain or expect others to follow; = party line n. Also transferred. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > [noun] > party principles or line party line1837 party platform1848 line1892 tabernacle1902 1892 San Francisco Examiner 9 Nov. 1/7 (heading) In the line! California joins the Democratic procession by a decisive majority. 1934 H. M. Chevalier tr. A. Malraux Man's Fate 149 He knew, too, that Moscow would maintain its line. 1934 H. M. Chevalier tr. A. Malraux Man's Fate 169 ‘There's a general line that directs us—must follow it.’ ‘And give up our arms! A line that leads us to fire on the proletariat is necessarily bad.’ 1938 Ken (Chicago) 7 Apr. 46/2 The Intelligence Service of the Foreign Office is a state within a state, virtually Britain's second, secret Government as far as foreign policy is concerned. It often pursues a line different from the Government's policy. 1943 San Francisco Chron. 25 May 14/2 The Nazis have done Senator Happy Chandler of Kentucky the honor of picking up his line... Chandler's line may not get far in this country, but the Nazis are not slow to appreciate it. 1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax v. 60 I think the line was made perfectly clear. 1955 Times 2 June 6/6 The issue before the court is not so much whether Mr. Lattimore is guilty under the indictment as whether such a nebulous charge as following the Communist ‘line’ is sufficiently defined to enable him to offer an adequate defence. 1958 Economist 29 Nov. 767/2 They think that the liberal line—uncontrolled immigration—can be held for a few more years, but not indefinitely. 1960 News Chron. 25 Feb. 2/5 Mr. Barber denied that a ‘line’ had been agreed on as to the shape of the reports to be sent by..British reporters. 1974 R. Hawkey & R. Bingham Wild Card xxiii. 188 The official line on what had happened was, at best, grossly understated. d. transferred. A marked tendency, a policy or trend (in any activity). In weakened use (slang): a glib or superficially attractive mode of address or behaviour, plausible talk. So to do a line with (Australian and New Zealand), to (try to) enter into an amorous relationship with.Not clearly separable from senses 28a, 28b Cf. also to shoot a line at sense 13g. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > [noun] > agreeable behaviour > blandness or suavity > instance of line1903 the mind > emotion > love > flirtation or coquetry > flirt with [verb (transitive)] > (try to) enter amorous relationship with to do a line with1944 1903 ‘H. McHugh’ Out for Coin vi. 83 Are you handing me a line of bogus conversation? 1920 F. S. Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise i. ii. 76 Lordy, Isabelle—this sounds like a line, but it isn't. 1923 Cosmopolitan Apr. 82/1 ‘Where have I been all your life, good lookin'?’ ‘If you think that line will get you anything here, you're crazy!’ 1933 J. G. Cozzens Cure of Flesh i. 61 He falls in love with Coral and says that some day, when he makes good, he will come back and marry her. Coral thinks it's just a line with him. 1941 Illustr. London News 198 488/2 The jacket mentions Huckleberry Finn. Mr. Baum is not, of course, on that level; but that's his line. 1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 23 Do a knock (line) with: to take an amorous interest in a member of the opposite sex. 1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path i. 102 They'll think it's a line, sir. 1944 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target viii. 63 He was doing a heavy line with the saddler's daughter. 1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 91 I could do a line with Maggie. 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) x. 156 Do you know young Len's doing a line with Gran'pa's little angel? 1953 Encounter Oct. 1/2 Appearing at this time, and amidst these problems, Encounter seeks to promote no ‘line’, though its editors have opinions they will not hesitate to express. 1956 A. L. Rowse Early Churchills ii. 33 He has a fine line in Churchillian invective. 1958 D. Reeman Prayer for Ship viii. 202 He gave me a terrific line about the hold-up. Said it was his partner's fault. But he promises definitely it'll be here tomorrow evening. 1967 Observer 6 Aug. 4/6 The sect's most telling line—plugged in all its broadcasts and pamphlets—is that the end of the world is due shortly, probably about 1975. The Arab-Israeli war in June was seen as the first step to Armageddon. e. to get a line on, to acquire information about (a thing), to come to know. So to give (someone) a line on. colloquial (originally U.S.). ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)] seeOE fanda1000 finda1200 kenc1330 lenda1350 agropea1393 contrive1393 to find outc1405 outsearch?a1439 ripec1440 inventc1475 disclose?a1500 fish1531 agnize?1570 discover1585 to grope out1590 out-find1590 expiscate1598 vent1611 to learn out1629 to get to know1643 develop1653 ascertain1794 stag1796 root1866 to get a line on1903 establish1919 society > communication > information > action of informing > give (information) [verb (transitive)] > inform (a person) to teach a person a thingc888 meanOE wiseOE sayOE wittera1225 tellc1225 do to witc1275 let witc1275 let seec1330 inform1384 form1399 lerea1400 to wit (a person) to saya1400 learn1425 advertise1431 givec1449 insense?c1450 instruct1489 ascertain1490 let1490 alighta1500 advert1511 signify1523 reform1535 advise1562 partake1565 resolve1568 to do to ware1594 to let into one's knowledge1596 intellect1599 possess1600 acquainta1616 alighten1615 recommenda1616 intelligence1637 apprise1694 appraise1706 introduce1741 avail1785 prime1791 document1807 to put up1811 to put a person au fait of1828 post1847 to keep (someone) straight1862 monish1866 to put next to1896 to put (one) wise (to)1896 voice1898 in the picture1900 to give (someone) a line on1903 to wise up1905 drum1908 hip1932 to fill (someone) in on1945 clue1948 background1961 to mark a person's card1961 to loop in1994 1903 Sun (N.Y.) 18 Nov. 4 ‘These dressmakers’..cannot get a line on the styles except at the Horse Show. 1915 Literary Digest 21 Aug. (advt.) p. ii Get the right ‘line’ on the clothes the best dressed men will wear this fall. 1920 B. Cronin Timber Wolves 138 It ain't over wise to give anyone a line on to what's doing. 1923 R. D. Paine Comrades Rolling Ocean iii. 41 How about these other birds. Give me a line on them. 1927 H. V. Morton In Search of Eng. iii. § 6. 53 I don't know a darned thing about England yet,..but I'm getting a line on her, sure enough. 1928 D. L. Sayers Unpleasantness at Bellona Club xiv. 165 I did tumble to it that you'd got a line on me when you sent me down with that detective fellow to Charing Cross. 1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins v. 50 If you want to get a line on how she feels, she gave me a letter to give you... Here it is. 1942 Penguin New Writing 12 85 ‘They got a line on him,’ said the R.P. 1947 Chicago Tribune 22 July 1/5 If we can find any one who saw her at a dance after 10:30 p.m. we may be able to get a line on whom she was dancing with and whose company she was in when she left. f. to lay (or put) it on the line: (a) to hand over money; (b) to state (something) clearly, plainly, or categorically; (c) (with direct object) to put (one's career, etc.) at risk. Also with place, and the verb to be. Chiefly U.S. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > payment > pay [verb (intransitive)] > lay down money to show water1632 to post the cole1781 to come down with the money (dust, needful, etc.)1836 to lay (or put) it on the line1929 the mind > language > statement > state or declare [verb (transitive)] > clearly or explicitly clarifyc1420 representc1443 define1535 express1600 to lay (or put) it on the line1954 the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > endanger [verb (transitive)] > put at risk to put in adventurec1300 jeopardc1374 wage?a1400 adventurec1400 jeopardy1447 enhazard1562 hazard1569 venture1575 impawn1613 hazardize?a1616 to put in or to a (or the) venture1638 risk1660 compromise1696 commit1738 compromit1787 to lay (or put) it on the line1968 1929 D. Runyon in Cosmopolitan Aug. 73/1 My rent is away overdue for the shovel and broom..and I have a hard-hearted landlady... She says she will give me the wind if I do not lay something on the line at once. 1940 J. O'Hara Pal Joey 100 You fellows always put it on the line for me every pay day. 1950 J. D. MacDonald Brass Cupcake i. 13 Lay it on the line. You can't take it with you... Put it on the entertainment account. 1954 J. Symons Narrowing Circle xxxvii. 188 ‘I'll see you're not the loser. You put it on the line with Jake Beverley and he'll put it on the line with you...’ ‘Let me lay it on the line then, Jake.’ 1956 E. Pound tr. Sophocles Women of Trachis 17 Put it on the line, what do you know? Get it out clearly. 1967 ‘E. E. Sumner’ Chance Encounter v. 94 I'll lay it on the line for you, if you like. Are you thinking of asking my girl to marry you? 1968 M. L. King Trumpet of Conscience ii. 40 Our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. 1968 Listener 22 Feb. 244/3 America must fight in Vietnam..because it has laid its prestige on the line. 1968 Guardian 26 July 9/7 Mayor Stokes is putting his career on the line. And the people know it—they won't let him down. 1970 Guardian 9 May 2/4 It was clear to the [American] President that his credibility was on the line with the leaders in Hanoi. 1972 New Yorker 26 Aug. 17/2 He had decided to put his artistic reputation as a talented and original director of opera on the line at the outset of his American career with an unorthodox..production of Bizet's ‘Carmen’. 1972 ‘J. Quartermain’ Rock of Diamond xxiv. 153 I'll lay it on the line, Raven. You can say yes or no. 1973 Black Panther 7 July 8/3 The situation is as bad as before the takeover and it only serves to give the Indian people more reason to put their life on the line. 1973 Black Panther 6 Oct. 3/2 Egil Krogh..put it squarely on the line: ‘Anyone who opposed us we'll destroy.’ g. to shoot a line (cf. shoot v. 23g), to ‘put on an act’, to talk pretentiously, to boast. So line-shoot vb. ( line-shooting adj. and n.) and n., line-shooter; also shooter of lines. colloquial.Cf. sense 13d above. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > boast [verb (intransitive)] yelpc888 kebc1315 glorify1340 to make avauntc1340 boast1377 brag1377 to shake boastc1380 glorya1382 to make (one's) boastc1385 crackc1470 avaunt1471 glaster1513 voust1513 to make (one's or a) vauntc1515 jet?1521 vaunt?1521 crowa1529 rail1530 devauntc1540 brave1549 vaunt1611 thrasonize1619 vapour1629 ostentate1670 goster1673 flourish1674 rodomontade1681 taper1683 gasconade1717 stump1721 rift1794 mang1819 snigger1823 gab1825 cackle1847 to talk horse1855 skite1857 to blow (also U.S. toot) one's own horn1859 to shoot off one's mouth1864 spreadeagle1866 swank1874 bum1877 to sound off1918 woof1934 to shoot a line1941 to honk off1952 to mouth off1958 blow- the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > [noun] > a boast roosec1175 avauntc1380 advancement?a1400 vauntise1477 vousta1500 puff1567 rodomontade1591 flourish1592 rodomontado1598 vauntc1600 vauntery1603 vapour1631 fanfaronade1652 gasconado1658 blow1684 gab1737 vaunting1793 windy1933 line-shoot1941 the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > [noun] > boaster yelper1340 avaunterc1374 braggerc1390 fare-makerc1440 seggerc1440 shakerc1440 vaunter1484 roosera1500 praterc1500 cracker1509 vouster?a1513 boaster1574 Thrasoa1576 braggarta1577 braver1589 glorioser1589 bragout1592 rodomont1592 braggadocio1594 gloriosoc1599 puckfist1600 burgullian1601 puff1601 forthputtera1610 rodomontado1609 ostentator1611 fanfaron1622 potgun1623 thrasonist1626 cracka1640 vapourer1653 braggadocian1654 rodomontadist1655 charlatan1670 brag1671 rodomontade1683 gasconader1709 rodomontader1730 Gascon1757 spread eagle1809 bag of wind1816 penny trumpeter1828 spraga1838 gasser1855 blow-hard1857 blower1863 crower1864 gabber1869 flannel-mouth1882 punk-fist1890 skiter1898 Tartarin1903 blow1904 skite1906 poofter1916 trombenik1922 shooter of lines1941 fat-mouth1942 wide-mouth1959 Wheneye1982 trash talker1986 braggarist- 1941 N. Coward Blithe Spirit i. ii. 50 The whole thing's a put up job—I must say, though, she shoots a more original line than they generally do. 1942 Penguin New Writing 13 24 Occasionally..it publishes a serious article... But this is regarded as a ‘bind’,..while its author is invariably dismissed as a ‘line shooter’, i.e. a conceited person. 1942 Penguin New Writing 13 24 The other day..our C.O. introduced a discussion on tactical evasion by saying: ‘I do not want this to develop into a “line-shooting” competition.’ 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 30 May 17 For keeping up the spirits, line-shooting is at least as good as beer-drinking. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 30 May 17 The man who shoots a heavy line about the work he is doing is probably very keen on his job. 1943 J. L. Hunt & A. G. Pringle Service Slang 44 Lineshoot, a tall story. 1944 G. Netherwood Desert Squadron i. 2 Some of the chaps also came from other well known fighter units. From the ‘line-shooting’ that ensued, one would think that the squadron which was then in the process of formation could never hope to be as well known as the one they had left—and so on and so forth. 1944 T. H. Wisdom Triumph over Tunisia 121 One of the most thorough and decisive of the air operations in the whole campaign was carried out by the Hurri-bombers. And this is no squadron line-shoot. 1946 G. Gibson Enemy Coast Ahead 144 These things were happening every night, so there was nothing to shoot a line about. 1951 M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael vii. iv. 377 When Melissa shoots a line..don't protest or argue. Take it up and embroider it. 1952 T. Rattigan Deep Blue Sea i. 38 Funny thing about gongs... They don't mean a damn thing in war—except as a line-shoot, but in peace time they're quite useful. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Oct. 564/2 A champion shooter of lines. In a party of outstanding climbers and travellers he could be relied on to cap any story. 1960 Times 19 July 18/4 One must bear in mind that what his Lordship had called..‘shooting a line’ was not necessarily inconsistent with a genuine belief. 1960 V. Gielgud To Bed at Noon i. xi. 73 He believed Tom to have been line-shooting as far as his swimming prowess was concerned. 1973 Listener 15 Mar. 342/1 [He] was an awful line-shooter. He claimed to have been at Oxford, but..he hadn't been at Oxford. 1973 Times 20 Sept. 20/8 He was awarded (his friends thought inadequately) the MBE by the British and by the French the Croix de Guerre. He never shot a line about his escapades but made them into entertaining stories. 14. a. Contour, outline; lineament. ΘΠ the world > space > shape > [noun] > contour(s) lineationa1398 lineament1570 line1590 purfle1601 lineature1630 stroke1638 stell1657 outline1662 profile1664 contour1770 lineamentation1890 galbe1899 1590 R. Greene Mourning Garment 11 Seeming him was his wife, Both in line and in life. a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. i. 9 The Lines of my body are as well drawne as his. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. i. 95 Euerie line and tricke of his sweet fauour. View more context for this quotation 1819 P. B. Shelley Lines Euganean Hills in Rosalind & Helen 70 The dim low line before Of a dark and distant shore. 1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen viii. 138 The line of my features. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iv. 450 The savage lines of his mouth. 1891 Truth 10 Dec. 1240/2 The skirt falling in straight, plain lines to the ground. 1894 H. Caine Manxman v. iii. 286 The round line of the sea was bleared and broken. b. Fashion. The outline or dominant features of composition of a dress or suit. Frequently with qualifying term or preceded by a letter of the alphabet (to indicate the outline shape of the garment). Cf. sense 23a below. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > [noun] > outline of line1918 silhouette1920 1918 in C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothes (1952) iv. 141 What was called the ‘barrel line’ brought out by Callot two seasons ago..certainly is a lovely line. 1930 Times 13 Mar. 11/6 The curved line was seen in all the long coats. 1930 Times 27 Mar. 11/6 There is a distinguished coat in black matasol, which has a slimming line. 1932 Punch's Almanack 7 Nov. 8 (caption) The line of to day. 1955 Britannica Bk. of Year 489/2 Fashion produced a new ‘line’ in women's clothes, the H-line. 1958 Woman's Own 24 Dec. 14/3 Which year brought out the following trends: (a) the New Look; (b) the Trapeze Line; (c) the A-line. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 92 Line, the silhouette of a garment that makes it look fashionable or unfashionable. 1968 Harrods Xmas Catal. 15/2 An Empire line slip in nylon. 1970 Oxf. Times 25 Sept. 11/5 She wore a full length white empire line dress with a guipure lace bodice and circular train trimmed with guipure lace. 1975 Vogue 1 Mar. 84/1 Overall, a clear narrowing of the silhouette, most marked at Saint Laurent, presaging an even sparer line for autumn. 15. plural. a. The outlines, plan, or draught of a building or other structure; spec. in Shipbuilding, the outlines of a vessel as shown in its horizontal, vertical, and oblique sections. (Also figurative) ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > shipbuilding > lines, sections, or elevations middle line?c1400 sweep1627 lines1680 touch1711 waterline1750 station1754 sheer-draught1769 body plan1781 sheer-line1797 sheer-plan1797 touchline1797 water plane1798 centreline1806 buttock line1816 crown1830 scrieve1830 top-breadth line1846 wave-line1846 floor-plan1867 society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > [noun] > a plan or diagram > outline drawing draught1593 ground-lines1624 lines1680 1680 W. Temple Ess. Advancem. Trade Ireland in Wks. (1731) I. 121 The raising such Buildings as I have drawn you here the Lines of. 1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. xiii Nor have I heard of any other Ship built by the Kings-fisher's Lines. 1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 66 The principal Lines of my Design of a Bridge suitable to that Place. 1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. iv. v. 188 Carnac..remained..to lend his countenance and aid to measures, the line of which he had contributed to draw. 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 336 Model of a ship's hull... The novelty claimed in the uniformity of its lines. 1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth III. vi. 162 Her extravagant poop that caught the wind, and her lines like a cocked hat reversed. b. figurative. Plan of construction, of action, or procedure: now chiefly in on (such and such) lines. ΘΠ the mind > will > intention > planning > [noun] > a plan redeeOE devicec1290 casta1300 went1303 ordinancec1385 intentc1386 imaginationa1393 drifta1535 draught1535 forecast1535 platform1547 ground-plat?a1560 table1560 convoy1565 design1565 plat1574 ground-plota1586 plot1587 reach1587 theory1593 game1595 projectment1611 projecting1616 navation1628 approach1633 view1634 plan1635 systema1648 sophism1657 manage1667 brouillon1678 speculationa1684 sketch1697 to take measures1698 method1704 scheme1704 lines1760 outline1760 measure1767 restorative1821 ground plan1834 strategy1834 programme1837 ticket1842 project1849 outline plan1850 layout1867 draft1879 dart1882 lurk1916 schema1939 lick1955 1760 E. Burke Ess. Abridgm. Eng. Hist. 13 In all very uncultivated countries..there are but obscure lines of any form of government. 1807 S. Cooper (title) The First Lines of the Practice of Surgery; being an elementary work for Students [etc.]. 1858 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire VI. lv. 330 The lines of their policy are often to be traced for the most part by conjecture and inference. 1875 C. Merivale Gen. Hist. Rome li. 404 He did not live to lay even the first lines of the great work. 1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar viii. 80 He had reorganised the constitution on the most strictly conservative lines. 1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lxi. 432 Nearly all these offices are contested on political lines. 1889 A. C. Swinburne Stud. Prose & Poetry (1894) 286 No later work of Victor Hugo's, written on the same lines or in the same temper, can reasonably be set beside the Châtiments. 16. a. [After French ligne.] A measure of length, the twelfth part of an inch. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [noun] > units of length or distance > inch > one twelfth of an inch line1665 prime1703 scruple1802 second1842 1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 61 It did bear but 2 inches and 9 lines French for its greatest Aperture. 1759 tr. M. Adanson Voy. Senegal 101 I was informed, that there fell two inches three lines of water. 1849 Sketches Nat. Hist.: Mammalia IV. 62 The Long-tailed Field-Mouse... Length of head and body three inches eight lines. 1863 M. J. Berkeley Handbk. Brit. Mosses i. 3 Varying from less than a line to many inches in length. b. In recent technical use (see quot. 1880). Π 1880 L. S. Floyer Plain Hints Examiners Needlework 133 Button Gauge... The numbers indicate the quantity of ‘lines’ in diameter. This ‘line’ is equal to the French millimetre. 17. a. A limit, boundary; more fully, line of demarcation. to draw the line (see draw v. Phrases 9); also, with similar meaning, to †lay, form a line. to run the lines (U.S.): see run v. 67. ΘΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] goalc1350 bounda1387 list1389 finea1400 frontier1413 enda1425 limit1439 buttal1449 headroom1462 band1470 mete?1473 buttinga1475 bounder1505 pale?a1525 butrelle1546 scantlet1547 limesa1552 divisec1575 meta1587 line1595 marginc1595 closure1597 Rubicon1613 bournea1616 boundary1626 boundure1634 verge1660 terminary1670 meta1838 1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile sig. E7^v And now the night grew neere her middle line. a1609 J. Dennys Secrets of Angling (1613) i. iv. sig. B1^v Of Heauen the middle Line, That makes of equall length both day and night. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Line Line of Demarcation, or Alexandrian Line. 1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 210 And middle Natures, how they long to join, Yet never pass th' insuperable Line! 1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 67 Their different principles compose some of the strongest political lines which discriminate the parties even now subsisting amongst us. 1770 J. Reynolds Disc. Royal Acad. (1876) iii. 33 It is this intellectual dignity..that ennobles the Painter's art; that lays the line between him and the mere mechanic. 1840 H. H. Wilson Mill's Brit. India (ed. 4) I. i. iii. 69 To form a line between them and the Company, it was ordained, that [etc.]. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. i. 30 The line which bounded the royal prerogative. 1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. vii. 366 Hold on and hit away, only don't hit under the line. 1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) xviii. 303 The lines of separation of the great watersheds. b. the line: = Mason–Dixon line n. at Mason–Dixon n. 1. ΘΠ the world > the earth > named regions of earth > America > North America > [noun] > United States > Mason-Dixon line Mason–Dixon line1776 Mason–Dixon1834 the line1845 1845 F. Douglass Narr. Life F. Douglass xi. 101 We owe something to the slaves south of the line as well as to those north of it. 1861 J. R. Lowell E Pluribus Unum in Prose Wks. (1889) V. 51. 1909 ‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny xxi. 358 If you had come from below the line I reckon I would have liked you right smart. 1949 Sat. Evening Post 26 Mar. 38/2 The critic thunders, and below ‘the line’ the shades of Marse Robert and Jeff Davis inevitably are summoned forth to meet the charge. c. Bridge. A line across a scorecard. So above the line, denoting points scored for game, honours, overtricks, or rubber, or for the failure of opponents to fulfil their contract; below the line, denoting points scored for tricks bid and won, and counting towards game. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > bridge > [adjective] > points below the line1905 above the line1933 1905 H. A. Vachell Hill vii. 144 My partner..made the Little Slam, and scored nearly six hundred below the line. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 24 Dec. 14/2 Suppose the contract is two in hearts, and four by cards are made, the contracting side score 32 below the line, and game. If the contract had failed, and say two by cards had been lost, the adversaries would score 200 in their honour column. 1927 M. C. Work Contract Bridge ii. 9 The basic theory of Contract, viz., that Declarer may score below the line (toward game) only as many odd tricks as he has contracted to win. 1933 A. G. Macdonell England, their England vi. 78 Gone down 650 points above the line whereas he ought to have made two no-trumps. 1967 P. Anderton Play Bridge i. 15 They win ten tricks so they score three times the value of Spades below the line, i.e. 90 points plus another 30 points above the line as a bonus for making one more than their contract. 1970 S. Hughes Art of Coarse Bridge i. 12 This kind of spectacular finale happens far more often than one might expect, but it takes an awful lot of scoring above the line before anyone actually has..the right cards to do it with. d. In phrases indicating the boundary between a debit and a credit in one's account, or between ordinary and extraordinary expenditure. (See also quot. 1973.) Also to pay on the line, to pay promptly. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > payment > pay [verb (intransitive)] > pay promptly to pay on the line1934 society > trade and finance > management of money > keeping accounts > account or statement of > [noun] > account book > line line1934 bottom line1973 1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra i. 20 There were only a few of the Lantenengo crowd who could get a favour out of Ed without paying cash on the line for it. 1938 S. V. Benét Thirteen o'Clock 249 I kept on schedule with the work, but I couldn't with the money. Each week, I'd be just a little over the line. 1940 Economist 13 Apr. 683/1 The figures ‘below the line’ in the Exchequer Return show the result of the issue of the 4 per cent. 1948 Economist 31 Jan. 195/1 Aggregate Government expenditure, including..the ‘below line’ expenditure. 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 66 I paid on the line every time. 1966 A. Gilpin Dict. Econ. Terms 1 Since 1947 it has been customary for the British Budget to contain a full statement of the estimated expenditure and revenue for the following year, some items being shown as ‘above-the-line’..and others as ‘below-the-line’. Most current items appear above the line and most capital items below. 1973 New Society 28 June 736/2 The growth of petrol promotions has coincided with a growth of giveaways, gimmicks and competitions in the marketing of a wide range of products... Termed ‘below-the-line’ marketing, it is encroaching on the ‘above-the-line’ (advertising) share of manufacturers' marketing budgets. e. bottom line: see bottom line n. 2b. †18. Degree, rank, station. Obsolete. ΘΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] estatec1230 statec1300 rowa1350 qualityc1425 calling1477 range1494 line1528 stature1533 respect1601 station1603 gradationa1616 ordinancea1616 repute1615 spherea1616 distance1635 impression1639 civils1650 footing1657 regimen1660 order1667 sect1709 caste1791 status1818 position1829 social status1833 standpoint1875 1528 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 121 Skiparis and seruandis of euery lyne. 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. iii. 166 To shew the line and the predicament, Wherein you range vnder this subtil king. View more context for this quotation 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. ii. 85 And in that very line Harry standest thou. View more context for this quotation 1782 T. Paine Let. to Abbe Raynal (1791) 37 One whom years, experience, and long established reputation have placed in a superior line. 1785 G. A. Bellamy Apol. Life (ed. 3) IV. 46 She..had received a more liberal education than is usually bestowed upon English women in the middle line of life. III. Applied to things arranged along a (straight) line. 19. a. A row or series of persons or objects. spec. = queue n. 7a (U.S.). Also elliptical = ‘receiving line’ (U.S.). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > [noun] > a line or row reweOE rowc1225 ranka1325 rengec1330 ordera1382 rulec1384 rangea1450 ray1481 line1557 tier1569 train1610 string1713 rail1776 windrow1948 the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > [noun] > a line or row > queue queue1837 tail1837 line1930 1557 R. Record Whetstone of Witte sig. Hii Men call a line of Brickes, and a line of Asshelers stones, when many bee laied in a rowe, in lengthe. a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 133 What will the Line stretch out to' th' cracke of Doome? View more context for this quotation 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 63. ¶4 The Officers planting themselves in a Line on the left Hand of each Column. 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 28 Aug. (1965) I. 430 The street..is perhaps the most beautifull line of Building in the World. 1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 57/2 The bond was wrote obliquely, from right hand to left, the seals in a line, on the margin. 1836 W. Irving Astoria III. 260 A line of trading posts from the Mississippi and the Missouri across the Rocky mountains. 1840 T. Hood Up Rhine 29 Trees in formal line. 1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gipsy in Poems (new ed.) 209 The line of festal light in Christ-Church hall. 1863 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 158 In the whole line of the procession. 1879 S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Palestine xiv. 301 The valley..enclosed by lower lines of hills than [etc.]. 1903 N.Y. Tribune 4 Oct. She has had several years' experience ‘behind the line’, and will doubtless be of great assistance to Mrs Roosevelt. 1930 M. Sullivan Our Times III. xii. 502 People..were herded by policemen into lines stretching away from the marble entrance. 1969 D. C. Hague Managerial Econ. xi. 222 The second kind of stock problem is the queueing problem... A queue (what Americans call a ‘line’)..will form. 1974 State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 15 Feb. 1– b/2 At least one employe went as far away as Forest Drive for gasoline and nearby stations, selling gasoline, quickly acquired lines. 1975 N.Y. Times 1 Apr. 35/5 It's to stand silently on unemployment lines with other surplus members of America's work force, waiting to sign for your unemployment check. b. A fancy name for: A flock of geese. Π 1802 W. B. Daniel Rural Sports II. 465 [Geese in flight] form two oblique lines like the letter V, or if their number be small, only one line.] 1882 Standard 10 Feb. 5/3 To speak by the book, of a ‘line’ instead of a ‘flock’ of geese. c. A row of machines or work stations where a product is progressively assembled, or a succession of operations performed on it, as it passes from one end to the other during manufacture or processing. Cf. assembly line n., production line n. ΘΠ society > occupation and work > workplace > factory > [noun] > assembly or production line production line1905 assembly line1914 line1926 track1931 transfer line1956 1926 Encycl. Brit. II. 822/1 All of these lines, with their various machines and operations, are converging on the point where the leaves are assembled into springs. 1937 Times 13 Apr. p. xii/2 The raw material is delivered at one end of the machining line with the component passing from machine to machine until it reaches the view table. 1940 War Illustr. 16 Feb. 113 In one of Britain's ‘shadow’ factories bombers on the line will soon be ready to take the air. 1971 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 24 Sept. 531/1 Features of the production facilities at the new factory..include a fully automated machining line and the longest finishing line in the U.K. d. In business or management organization, the chain of command or responsibility; the persons responsible for the administration and organization of a business (as opposed to the staff). Hence line manager, line management. ΘΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > overseer or foreman stewarda1400 surveyorc1440 supervisorc1454 overlookera1513 workmaster1525 supervisora1529 foreman1574 superintendent1575 overman1606 headman1725 overseer1766 gang leader1775 hagmaster1797 maistry1798 gangsman1803 kangany1817 capataz1826 gangman1830 ganger1836 gaffer1841 gang boss1863 ramrod1881 charge-man1885 mandor1885 captain1886 overganger1887 ephor1890 pusher1901 gangster1913 line manager1960 society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > manager > responsible for administration line manager1960 society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > manager > responsible for administration > collectively line management1960 1960 L. C. Nanassy & W. H. Selden Business Dict. 27 Following are the basic types of internal organization of a business: (1) line: The owner gives orders directly to the workers. As the business grows, the owner appoints a few executives, who are responsible to him... (3) line-and-staff: Authority flows from top to bottom, with responsibility falling on staff supervisors and special experts. 1964 J. M. Argyle Psychol. & Social Probl. viii. 111 In several British factories it was found that the division between ‘line’ supervisors and ‘staff’ technicians tended to disappear—technologists must have supervisory responsibility. 1967 C. Margerison in G. Wills & R. Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 25 The accountants considered that they had responsibility for the end-product and sought to control certain actions of line managers. Line managers resented this interference with their authority and started to obstruct the accountants in their ordinary accounting function. 1967 L. Coulthard & B. Smith in G. Wills & R. Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 206 A good deal of the failure of these techniques stems from the inability of personnel men to convince line management of their own vital role combined with the assumption by line management that the creation of a specialist department covering personnel policies, training, management development, etc., automatically relieves them of responsibility. 1972 Accountant 28 Sept. 391/1 If the internal auditor sees himself as a someone who can review and report upon the functions of line management on matters other than security, then there is one fundamental issue that has to be faced. 1974 Times 25 Mar. 17/4 It was a pity that so few line managers were present as it was their present and future competence that was being discussed. 20. Military. a. A trench or rampart; plural (also collective singular), a connected series of field-works. Also, one of the rows of huts or tents in a camp or cantonment (see quots. 1872-6, 1876). line of circumvallation, line of defence, etc.: see the second nouns. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun] > series of fortifications counter-line1598 line1665 trocha1896 society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > quartering > [noun] > encamping > row of tents line1665 1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 613 The Line that incompassed his Camp was 8 Foot high. 1695 M. Prior Eng. Ballad 5 Regain the Lines the shortest way, Villeroy. 1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 139. ⁋7 He took the French Lines without Bloodshed. 1793 R. Burns in G. Thomson Sel. Coll. Orig. Sc. Airs I. i. 22 I left the lines, and tented field. 1839 T. Keightley Hist. Eng. (new ed.) I. 352 Lines were now run from bastille to bastille, and the town was completely shut in. 1846 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 II. i. 21 To attack the Gorkha positions at the western extremity of their line. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 263 Lines are formed for the entrenchment of armies, and are composed of a succession of redans, &c. (joined by curtains). 1872–6 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. In India..a cantonment contains barracks for European troops, and native huts termed lines for the Sepoys. 1876 Murray's Handbk. Surrey, Hants., Isle of Wight (ed. 3) 173 In the North Camp [Aldershot] the buildings are principally of wood, arranged in ‘lines’..which are lettered from A to Q. Each line is an oblong block of about 40 huts. figurative.1835 I. Taylor Spiritual Despotism v. 220 They hastened to entrench themselves within the lines of absolute despotism. b. In the war of 1914–18, the trenches collectively; the front line. So up the line (see quots.). ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > armed encounter > battlefield > [noun] > front or front line edge1535 front1665 firing line1859 Eastern Front1914 Western Front1914 line1916 second front1941 warfront1950 society > armed hostility > armed encounter > battlefield > [adverb] > at or to front out front1865 up the line1916 out there1917 1916 H. W. Fowler Let. 5 Mar. in S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) (1935) No. 43. 136 What may be going on up the line who knows? 1917 W. Owen Let. 4 Feb. (1967) 430 I am now indeed and in truth very far behind the Line; sent down to this old Town [sc. Abbeville] for a Course in Transport Duties. 1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 313 ‘Up the line.’ Term generally used in rest billets when Tommy talks about the fire trench or fighting line. 1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 52 Up the line, in action. ‘Up the line, with the best of luck’—a satirical phrase applied to men who, after being for some time in a safe occupation, were returned to fighting units. 1964 B. Gardner (title) Up the line to death. 21. a. Military and Nautical. A row or rank of soldiers (distinguished from a column); a row of ships in a certain order. Also occasionally collective singular = ships of the line. line of battle: see battle n. 12. ship of the line: a line-of-battle ship. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > navy > a naval force or fleet > [noun] > formations of ships battalia1613 line of battle1695 line1704 column1805 open order1805 society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > line rengec1330 ray1481 ranka1533 hay1684 line1801 1704 London Gaz. No. 4054/1 Their Line consisted of 52 Ships and 24 Gallies. 1706 London Gaz. No. 4222/3 He had then 30 Ships of the Line,..besides two or three Frigats. 1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Abreast When the line is formed abreast, the whole squadron advances uniformly, the ships being equally distant from, and parallel to each other, so that the length of each ship forms a right angle with the extent of the squadron or line abreast. 1801 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 1800 Characters 56/2 Lord Cornwallis put him in command of the second line of the army. 1801 T. Campbell Battle of Baltic ii While the sign of battle flew On the lofty British line. 1805 in A. Duncan Life of Nelson (1806) 231 We have only 11 line, 3 frigates, and a sloop. 1813 R. Southey Life Nelson vi The fleet from Cadiz.. consisting of from seventeen to twenty sail of the line. 1815 Ld. Byron We do not curse thee, Waterloo iii While the broken line enlarging, Fell or fled along the plain. 1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Leila iv. i. 172 Suddenly the lines of the Moors gave way. b. With the: in the British army, the regular and numbered troops as distinguished from the guards and the auxiliary forces; in the U.S. army, the regular fighting force of all arms. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > armed forces > [noun] > regular line1802 society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > branch of army > [noun] > regular troops line1802 1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. 1813 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) XI. 141 To prevent the men from volunteering to serve in the line. 1849 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) II. 184/2 The pay of a private..in the cavalry of the line [is] 1s. 4d..in the infantry of the line, 1s. 1d. 1859 E. Bulwer-Lytton What will he do with It? (1st Edinb. ed.) I. ii. v. 177 Then Charlie Haughton sold out of the Guards..[and] went into the Line. 1865–6 H. Phillips Amer. Paper Currency II. 148 The Connecticut line..assembled to return to their homes and leave the army to its fate. 1881 J. Grant Cameronians I. iii. 37 The new head-dress for the Line. c. all along the line, all (the way) down the line: at every point. Also, somewhere along the line, at some point (in time). ΘΠ the world > space > place > here, there, etc. > [phrase] > everywhere far and near or nighOE in length and (in) breadth (or brede)a1250 high and low1525 here, there, and everywherea1593 in every stead1596 through long and broad ——1617 from Dan to Beersheba1738 all along the line1877 all over the auction1930 the world > time > particular time > [adverb] > at some time somewhilea1240 somewhilec1250 somewhen1297 sometime1600 first and last1719 one of these fine days1762 some fine day1762 somewhere along the line1962 the world > time > frequency > [adverb] > always or in every case alwayeOE aldayOE everOE by night and (by) daylOE ayc1175 algatea1200 alwaysc1225 everylikec1225 stillc1297 evermorea1300 algatesa1325 alikec1330 early and latec1330 at all assaysc1360 universallya1398 likec1400 continuallyc1460 tidely1482 ay-whenc1485 from time to (formerly unto) timea1500 at all seasons1526 at once1563 at every turn1565 throughout1567 still still1592 still1594 still and anona1616 still an enda1616 every stitch-while1620 everlastingly1628 constantly1651 everywhen1655 eternally1670 allus1739 any day (of the week)1759 everly1808 allers1833 every time1854 toujours1902 all (the way) down the line1975 1877 C. H. Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 246 God will be victorious all along the line in the present battle. 1880 T. Hodgkin Italy & her Invaders I. i. i. 117 The campaign of 378 opened auspiciously for the interests of Rome along the whole line. 1924 R. Fry Let. 27 June (1972) II. 553 Both he and Courbet did elaborate portraits of the same patron... Courbet wins all along the line. 1936 A. Huxley Eyeless in Gaza xxi. 297 A refugee from Germany... Aryan, but communist—ardently and all along the line. 1962 J. Wain Sprightly Running v. 189 There is always the wistful hope..that these young will not merely benefit from meeting each other, but will, somewhere along the line, actually be taught something. 1965 Listener 16 Sept. 402/2 It is difficult to estimate its direct effect, because all along the line there are people working hard to try to make sure that those defects do not come back on the patient. 1965 New Yorker 20 Nov. 162/3 Somewhere along the line, the surf and wind went out of his playing. 1969 B. Turner Circle of Squares xviii. 143 I've helped him all along the line, not always knowing why. 1972 Guardian 6 July 2/2 It has been clear that they had had to refer to Moscow for instructions all along the line. 1975 N. Luard Robespierre Serial xi. 87 You've lied to me, all the way down the line. 1975 N. Luard Robespierre Serial xvi. 146 I'm not going to let that little bastard get away with it. He's screwed us all down the line from Riyadh to Geneva. 22. A regular succession of public conveyances plying between certain places; e.g. the Cunard line (of steamers), the White Star line. Originally U.S. ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > [noun] > regular succession of public conveyances line1786 society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > [noun] > shipping business or trade > shipping line line1848 surf line1848 sailing-line1905 shipping line1908 flag line1944 1786 Mass. Centinel (Boston) 11 Jan. 3/1 The new arrangement ordered by Congress, for the more safe and regular conveyance of the Mails, by the line of stages. 1818 Niles' Reg. 14 14/2 A regular line of waggons and packets are established between the city of New-York and Detroit. 1832 in Amer. State Papers (1834) XV. 348 The line of stages connecting Philadelphia and Delaware with the Eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia. 1837 W. Jenkins Ohio Gazetteer 56 The post office is supplied by daily lines of Coaches from Cincinnati to Dayton. 1848 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 424/2 Lines of large steamers are got up by companies as a speculation. 1900 F. T. Bullen Idylls of Sea 198 The better class of seamen will be found making voyage after voyage in the same vessel or at least in the same line. 1901 Scotsman 2 Mar. 10/1 The first vessel of the new direct line to Jamaica from England. 23. A row of written or printed letters. a. gen. One of the rows of letters in any piece of writing or letterpress: often, esp. in plural, put for the contents or sense of what is written or printed. line by line, line for line: from beginning to end, seriatim; also, with hyphens, attributive. (For line for line in Fashion cf. sense 14b). to read between the lines: to discover a meaning or purpose not obvious or explicitly expressed in a piece of writing. ΘΠ society > communication > book > matter of book > [noun] > a line in a book lineOE rewOE staff-rewOE rowc1450 society > communication > writing > written text > layout > [noun] > line lineOE rowc1450 trait1572 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > [adjective] > following original exactly line by line1487 perfect1523 verbal1598 sound1599 verya1616 literala1627 verbatim1651 undepraved1686 literatim1774 letter-perfect1867 line for line1876 the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > interpretation > interpret [verb (transitive)] unloukOE areadOE spele?c1225 inredec1315 expounda1340 construe1399 interpretate1517 explain1538 scan1562 disentraverse1610 unspherea1616 explicate1628 spell1635 disenvelop1741 extract1775 interpret1795 clarify1823 read1847 to read between the lines1866 OE Riddle 42 10 Þær sceal Nyd wesan twega oþer ond se torhta Æsc an an linan, Acas twegen, Hægelas swa some. 1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. viii. 94 Þe Bulle In two lynes hit lay and not a lettre more. 1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. v. 428 In canoun ne in þe decretales I can nouȝte rede a lyne. a1400–50 Alexander 1821 Loo ‘litill thefe’ in ilka lyne his lettir me callis. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 84 Quhen the marschall the cowyne Till bath the lordis lyne be lyne Had tald. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. i. 1 Com'st thou with deepe pre~meditated Lines? With written Pamphlets? View more context for this quotation 1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. III. 100 The good opinion you have of me, which is to be seene in every lyne of your Letter. 1711 London Gaz. No. 4807/4 Let him send a Line or two directed to the Blue Anchor and Crown. 1713 H. Felton Diss. Reading Classics 109 Two Lines would express all they say in two Pages. 1713 R. Steele Englishman No. 53. 344 Clerks amongst us make distant Lines, few words in those Lines. 1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) (In the plural) A letter; as, I read your lines. 1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice II. iii. 35 Not a note, not a line, did I receive in the mean time. View more context for this quotation 1816 C. Wolfe Burial Sir J. Moore 31 We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone. 1856 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 299 The distance between your lines in the letter just come. 1866 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 1st Ser. 118 No writer..was ever more read between the lines. 1876 J. Weiss Wit, Humor, & Shakespeare iii. 78 There was a worthy old deacon, who, repeating Watts's hymn line for line after his clergyman, said, ‘Return, ye rancid sinners!’ 1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xiv. 194 In every line that he wrote Cicero was attitudinising for posterity. 1880 C. H. Spurgeon Serm. XXVI. 327 They do not say as much to their secret selves; but you can read between the lines these words—‘What a weariness it is!’ 1886 Manch. Examiner 19 Jan. 5/4 People who have not the shrewdness to read a little between the lines..are grievously misled. 1896 T. L. De Vinne in Moxon's Mech. Exerc. (new ed.) I. p. xviii A line-for-line and page-for-page reprint of the original text. 1934 T. S. Eliot Elizabethan Ess. 17 A line-by-line examination of almost any Elizabethan play..would be a fruitful exercise. 1951 L. MacNeice tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust 9 I aimed at a line-for-line translation. 1958 Sunday Times 19 Oct. 25/1 ‘Line for line’ copies of French models are the current high fashion rage in New York. 1964 E. A. Nida Toward Sci. Translating ii. 17 Dryden felt that there were three basic types of translation: (1) metaphrase, a word-for-word and line-for-line type of rendering; (2) paraphrase..; and (3) imitation. 1969 Guardian 29 July 7/3 Line-for-line copies of his [couture] collection. 1971 Computers & Humanities 6 7 Comparisons are made on a line-for-line basis. 1971 Gloss. Electrotechnical, Power Terms (B.S.I.) iii. iv. 13 Line by line scanning, scanning in which the sweep is effected in straight, substantially horizontal strips extending over the entire width of the picture. 1973 Country Life 6 Dec. 1970/1 A perfect line-for-line copy of a couture Dior trouser suit. figurative.?1573 L. Lloyd Pilgrimage of Princes f. 210 Death is the laste line of all thyng. b. spec. in Printing. A row of types or quads. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > composed type > [noun] > row line1659 1659 C. Hoole tr. J. A. Comenius Visible World (1672) 191 The Compositor..composeth words in a composing stick, till a Line be made. 1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 11 You must indent your Line four Spaces. 1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 1 It is not graceful to end a Break with a short word onely in a line. 1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. Dict. 394 White-line, a Line of Quadrats. 1841 W. Savage Dict. Art of Printing 310 Head line, the top line of a page in which is the running title and folio, but sometimes only a folio. †c. collective. A written record, message, etc. Obsolete. ΘΠ society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > written record, message linea1400 a1400–50 Alexander 1932 [He] Vn-lappis liȝtly þe lefe & þe line [v.r. lines] redes. a1400–50 Alexander 2060 And vneth limpid him þe lee þe lyne me recordis. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 9628 The Secund day suyng, sais me the lyne, Þe Troiens full tymli tokyn þe feld. d. A few words in writing; often applied to a short letter. ΘΠ society > communication > correspondence > letter > [noun] > short letter or note schedule1397 billet1579 breviate1596 notea1616 line1647 letterling1781 letteret1799 letterlet1812 notelet1823 epistolet1824 notekin1861 1647 H. Markham Let. in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 3 I..desire a line under your own hand to whom I shall deliver the castle. 1751 G. Berkeley Let. 25 July in Wks. (1871) IV. 326 A line from me in acknowledgment of your letter. 1775 J. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 352 I have this morning received a line from Mrs. Warren. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 415 History was too much occupied with courts and camps to spare a line for the hut of the peasant or for the garret of the mechanic. 1865 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 279 Dearest,—Just a line to say that all goes well. 1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella II. iii. iii. 307 Marcella scribbled a line on a half-sheet of paper, and..despatched Benny with it. e. The portion of a metrical composition which is usually written in one line: a verse; plural verses, poetry. Also plural, (so many) lines of verse (sometimes, of prose) set to be written out as an imposition in school. to read the line (Sc.): to give out the words of a metrical psalm or hymn a line at a time (cf. line v.² 6). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > [noun] > poems or poems collectively makinga1393 poetryc1395 rhymea1400 poetryc1475 line?1566 numbers1579 harping1819 society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > line versec900 staffc1450 line?1566 numeral1605 stich1723 stike- society > authority > punishment > other types of punishment > [noun] > school punishment > written exercise or lines imposition1746 poena1842 line1894 ?1566–7 G. Buchanan Opinion Reformation Univ. St. Andros in Vernacular Writings (1892) 8 The regent sal cause thayme to writ twa or thre lynis of Terence. 1594 M. Drayton Ideas Mirrour xxix. sig. E3 And in my lynes if shee my loue may see. 1623 B. Jonson in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. sig. A4 Marlowes mighty line. 1632 J. Milton Epit. on Shakespear in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. (ed. 2) sig. A5 Each part, Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued Booke, Those Delphicke Lines with deepe Impression tooke. 1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 21 And ten low Words oft creep in one dull Line. 1752 D. Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 211 Each line, each word, in Catullus, has its merit. 1779 E. Parkman Diary 96 After which I..read Ps. 149, which was sung without reading the lines by the Deacon. 1792 W. Cowper (title) Lines addressed to Dr. Darwin. 1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 390 Lines forty thousand, cantos twenty~five! 1867 A. Dawson Rambling Recoll. (1868) 33 To dispense with reading the line in psalmody was by many held to be profane. 1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 252 The lines of Homer which you were reciting. 1894 W. H. Wilkins & H. Vivian Green Bay Tree I. 72 To commute the punishment to 500 Latin lines. 1907 Massacre of Innocents ii. 13 Vardon, do me five hundred lines. 1914 ‘I. Hay’ Lighter Side School Life vii. 182 Mr. Duckworth..had occasion to set Master Smith fifty lines for inattention. 1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xv. 325 At my junior school the boys had different doors from the girls and if a boy went through the girls' door he had a 100 lines to write out. 1961 D. Woodward tr. G. Simenon Premier ii. 36 He took lessons without appearing to see his pupils..and his only reaction was, if one of them grew restless, to give him two hundred lines. 1974 Age (Melbourne) 12 Oct. 12/2 Doing lines, being kept in to write out good resolutions, such as ‘I must not put squashed frogs in girls' sandwiches’. f. plural. Short for marriage lines, the certificate of marriage. Applied also dialect to other kinds of certificates (e.g. of church membership). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > official announcements, permission, or records > [noun] > certificate marriage certificate1821 line1829 1829 J. Hunter Hallamshire Gloss. Lines. Marriage-lines is a certificate of marriage often asked for and kept by the bride. 1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xi. 68 She could not produce her ‘marriage lines’. 1861–2 W. M. Thackeray Philip (1869) I. xii. 254 ‘How should a child like you know that the marriage was irregular?’ ‘Because I had no lines’, cries Caroline quickly. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 81 ‘Lines of admission’, or as we should call them letters of recommendation. 1901 Union Mag. Mar. 106/1 The old minister fell into a reverie in the very midst of filling in Sandy M'Turk's lines. g. plural. The words of an actor's part. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > words spoken by actors dialogue1572 side speech1728 words1761 line1882 1882 Daily Tel. 7 Dec. He [an actor] said, ‘Do let me get in some of my “lines”’. h. line upon line: now taken as referring to the reiteration of statements in successive lines of writing or print (for the originally meaning see 5). ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > manner of writing > [noun] > reiteration of statements in successive lines line upon line1837 society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > reiteration of statements in successive lines line upon line1837 1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxviii. 10. 1837 F. L. Mortimer (title) Line upon line; or, a second series of the earliest religious instruction the infant mind is capable of receiving. 1896 Home Mission. (N.Y.) Aug. 218 A line-upon-line presentation of these facts. IV. Serial succession. 24. a. A continuous series of persons (rarely of things) in chronological succession. Chiefly with reference to family descent, a series in which each member is the parent of the one next following. So male line, line female, female line, direct line. For heir of line see heir n. Compounds 1. ΘΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent linec1386 descent?a1400 pedigree1440 series1599 Welsh pedigree1615 bloodline1658 family linea1694 stem-line1892 c1386 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 279 If gentillesse were planted natureelly vn-to a certeyn linage, doun the lyne. 1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 14696 ‘Flatrye’..by dyssent off lyne doun Eldest douhter off Falsnesse. c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 48 In þe lyne vpward, þi fadyr is to þe in þe first degre of kynrede. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) i. l. 34 The rycht lyne of the fyrst Stewart. a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) iv. l. 1786 He sulde be kynge of al þe haile, Þat cummyn war be lyne famale. 1508 Bk. Keruynge (de Worde) sig. B.vi A Marshall muste take hede of the byrthe and nexte of the lyne of the blode royall. 1641 Ld. Digby Speeches High Court Parl. 14 By a Concentring of all the Royall lynes in his Person. a1700 R. Hog Decisions Court of Session, 1681 to 1691 (1757) 101 Alledged for the heir of the line female: That she had right by the contract 1634. 1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 13 There is no House in Europe that can show a longer Line of Heroes. a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 457 Isaac, Jacob, Judah..and..Solomon, were preferred without any regard to the next in line. 1785 W. Cowper Task v. 211 In the line Of his descending progeny. 1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. III. 394 Purchases in the line of the mother or grandmother. 1809–10 S. T. Coleridge Friend (1865) 136 The property..derived from a long line of ancestors. 1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. xiii. 297 He and his sons, founded a long line of Priests. 1895 Law Times Rep. 72 817/1 The case is governed by a line of authorities extending over a century. †b. by line: by lineal descent. Obsolete. ΘΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [adverb] > in direct line by linec1374 evenly?c1400 lineally1426 even1489 evenliklya1500 in a diametera1681 c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde v. 1481 Of þis lord descendede Tydeus By ligne. c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 693 Of his lynage am I, and his of spryng By verray ligne. 1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur v. x My fader is lyneally descended of Alysaunder..by ryght lygne. c1480 (a1400) SS. Simon & Jude 3 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 208 Of symone..& of Iudas..þat brethire ware be lyne of fles to sancte Iames callit þe les. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1841 Lord of þe londe as be lyne olde. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 134 The lawful ȝouth quha rycht be lyne was sproung of the kingis blude. c. line of command. ΘΠ society > authority > command > [noun] > line or chain of command line of command1930 chain of command1957 food chain1989 1930 Naut. Mag. Jan. 41 (title) The line of command. 1930 Naut. Mag. Jan. 43 When the machinery fails, then the old line of command is called upon to take its full responsibility. 1962 Rep. Comm. Broadcasting 1960 161 in Parl. Papers 1961–2 (Cmnd. 1753) X. 259 The planning and operation of a national programme of television can never be simple, even when there is a single objective to be pursued, when effective control resides in a single authority, and when there is a direct line of command. 25. Lineage, stock, race. ? Somewhat archaic. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] kinc892 strindc900 i-cundeOE bloodOE kindredOE birtha1250 strainc1275 gesta1300 offspring?a1300 lineagea1330 descentc1330 linec1330 progenya1382 generationc1384 engendrurec1390 ancestry?a1400 genealogya1400 kind?a1400 stranda1400 coming?a1425 bedc1430 descencec1443 descension1447 ligneea1450 originc1450 family1474 originala1475 extraction1477 nativityc1485 parentelea1492 stirpc1503 stem?c1550 race1563 parentage1565 brood1590 ancientry1596 descendance1599 breeding1600 descendancy1603 delineation1606 extract1631 ancestory1650 agnation1782 havage1799 engendure1867 c1330 Arth. & Merl. 5462 (Kölbing) Aigilin, A wiȝt kniȝt of gentil lin. c1440 Partonope 7253* He is of the lyne of king Priam. c1450 (c1400) Sowdon of Babylon (1881) l. 357 I trowe, he were a develes sone, Of Belsabubbis lyne. 1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) ii. ii. 32 They had put out of rome tarquyn and..alle his lignee. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. vi Sole heyre male lefte of the ligne of Richarde duke of Yorke. 1637 J. Milton Comus 32 Virgin, daughter of Locrine Sprung of old Anchises line. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 131 Th'immortal Line in sure Succession reigns. View more context for this quotation 1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey V. xxiv. 588 Shame not the line whence glorious you descend. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. ix. 456 The party hostile to his line, his office, and his person. 1865 R. W. Dale Jewish Temple xiii. 139 He belongs to no consecrated line. 1874 G. Bancroft Footpr. of Time i. 78 The line of Cyrus being extinct. V. A direction or course of movement. 26. a. Track, course, direction; route: e.g. line of march, line of operations. line of communication: a line by which a field army maintains communication with its base; spec. = communication line n. at communication n. Compounds 3a; (see also quot. 1802); also line(s) of communication(s). telegraph line: see telegraph n. Compounds 1. ΘΚΠ society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > [noun] lodeOE wayOE gatea1300 tracea1300 raik?c1350 coursec1380 coursec1380 racec1390 line1426 fairwayc1440 tradec1480 voye1541 tract1555 track1565 career?1614 society > travel > means of travel > route or way > [noun] wayOE route?c1225 line1426 itinerary?a1475 tract1555 road1598 wad1854 society > armed hostility > military organization > signals > [noun] > line of communication communication line1660 line(s) of communication(s)1802 1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 21779 That lyne ryht shal lede the To the place..Wych thow hast..souht. 1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated i. ii. 15 All earthly bodies are by a right line carried and directed to the Center of the Terrestriall Globe. 1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §224 Sounds that move in oblique and arcuate lines. 1637 H. Hexham True & Briefe Relation Famous Seige of Breda 15 This night also the line of Communication, was begun betweene the French and the English. 1643 Acts & Ordinances Interregnum (1911) 321 The City of Westminster, the Borough of Southwarke, and other parts of the Counties of Middlesex and Surrey within the Forts and Lines of Communication. c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1642 (1955) II. 80 I went from Wotton to Lond, to see the so much celebrated line of Communication. 1690 J. Child Disc. Trade ii. 66 The City of London and Westminster, Burrough of Southwark, and all other places within the usual Lines of Communication. 1739 J. Bancks Short Crit. Rev. Polit. Life O. Cromwell viii. 167 The bay was..united by a line of communication from one fort to another. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. vii. 213 This would have carried us in a direct line to the Island of Quibo. 1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 574 Though..the shaft..err but little from the intended line. 1792 G. Hanger Anticipation Freedom of Brabant 46 I know full well that twenty thousand men, or at most twenty-five thousand, are sufficient to act on any enemy's line of communication. 1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. Lines of communication, are trenches that unite one work to another..: thence the whole intrenchment round any place is sometimes called a line of communication, because it leads to all the works. 1819 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 5 737 Lying in a diagonal direction across the line of march. 1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Line, the route of a stage-coach, railroad, packet, or steamer. 1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea II. 193 The neck of country by which he keeps up his communications with the base is called the ‘line of operations’. 1872 B. Stewart Elem. Physics (1876) ii. 3 You must know..the direction or line in which I am moving. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 346/1 A system..by which along a regular chain of posts, or ‘line of communications’, an army received its supplies of food, [etc.]. 1895 I. Zangwill Master i. vii. 82 They ran on parallel lines that never met. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 16 Nov. 5/2 Inspector-General of Lines of Communication. 1900 A. Conan Doyle Great Boer War 201 One dashing raid carried out by a detachment from Methuen's line of communications. 1925 R. H. Mottram Sixty-Four, Ninety-Four! 228 Some lines-of-communication Head-quarters. 1959 Listener 12 Nov. 820/1 Duchamp's activity, progressively destroying all the old lines of communication. 1992 S. Verona Mil. Occup. & Diplomacy i. ii. 34 With regard to maintaining the Soviet lines of communication through Romania, for example, these documents imply that Moscow could not be basing its choice on routes and logistics. b. Short for line of rail at sense 26b(c), railway line n. at railway n. Compounds 1a, tramline n. Cf. branch III.In railway language variously applied (a) to a single track of rails, as in the up line, the down line; (b) to a railway forming one of the parts of a system, as in main line, branch line, loop line; (c) sometimes to an entire system of railways under one management, as in the Midland line. line clear, a signal indicating that a line is unoccupied and that a train may therefore proceed; line of rail (see quot. 1965; cf. end of steel n. at end n. 6f). ΘΚΠ society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > under one management line1825 society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > track way1700 track1806 rail track1824 railway track1824 line1825 main track1830 railroad track1830 single track1832 railway line1836 electric line1850 society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway > forming part of a system line1825 main stem1832 society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway > forming part of a system > types of branch line1825 sideline1831 stem1832 light rail1836 suburban1839 branch railway1840 main line1841 spurring1842 local line1843 trunk line1843 extension1852 feeder1855 main trunk1858 loop-line1859 loop1863 spur1878 main1886 spur line1924 society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road laid with parallel planks, slabs, or rails > [noun] > laid with rails > rail > set or line of line1825 railing1825 metal1842 society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway railway1681 railroad1824 rail line1825 road1825 car line1833 chemin de fer1835 line1861 pike1940 society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > types of signal system > specific signal red light1790 danger1841 danger-signal1848 line clear1869 highball signal1894 starter1895 red board1903 stop signal1923 identification light1931 1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 643 The numerous projected lines of rail-road for diminishing the friction of carriages. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 251/1 Curves on a main line of railway being..objectionable... When the Liverpool and Manchester line was projected. 1848 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 411/2 The plan of laying down continuous lines or tram~ways of smooth pavement for the wheels to roll over. 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. IV. 1148 Model of a patent railway, with a third line of rails, to prevent running off the line. 1861 G. M. Musgrave By-roads in Picardy 195 The farmers..use the line to advantage by sending flour to inland and coast consumers by every train. 1869 Cornhill Mag. Mar. 282 Signalman at 3 tells signalman at 2, ‘line clear, send train.’ 1888 R. Kipling in Pioneer Mail 29 July 148/3 Naturally a father who has worked for the line expects the line to do something for the son. 1898 F. Montgomery Tony 11 A few stations down the line. 1907 Daily Chron. 16 Oct. 7/4 Martin should have pulled up until he got the line-clear signal. 1936 Gloss. Terms Railway Signalling (B.S.I.) 9 The block indicator shows ‘Line Blocked’ or ‘Normal’, ‘Line Clear’ and ‘Train on Line’. 1963 G. M. Kichenside & A. R. Williams Brit. Railway Signalling v. 46 The signal controlling entry to the block section can only be cleared..when the block indicator for the section ahead is at ‘line clear’. 1965 Economist 8 May 655/2 The figure [of unemployed] exceeds 75,000 and..they are concentrated in the few towns along the so-called line-of-rail, the thin strip of urbanisation in which is concentrated..the country's [sc. Zambia's] economic activity. 1971 E. Afr. Jrnl. Mar. 17/2 A few co-operatives, along the line-of-rail especially, produce poultry products for sale. c. U.S. to ride the line: to make the circuit of the boundary of a cattle-drift in order to drive in stray cattle. ΚΠ 1888 T. Roosevelt in Cent. Mag. Mar. 669/1 Those who do not have to look up stray horses, and who are not forced to ride the line day in and day out. d. Hunting. The straight course in the hunting field, esp. in phrases to ride the line, to take, keep one's own line. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > [noun] > type of run wanlacea1425 ring1717 point1789 line1836 1836 New Sporting Mag. 10 62 Nothing is so unsportsmanlike or so dangerous as to cross a man at a leap; every one should keep his own line, and if a man when he gets close to it fears the fence before him, he should pull up. 1895 Outing Dec. 196/2 A parson he was, after a sportsman's heart... Though an old man when I knew him, he always rode the line religiously. e. Chiefly Canadian and New Zealand. A settlement road, a bush road.Such roads often later developed into roads of standard size and quality, and the word line appears in many road-names in both countries. The term may be of English dialectal origin. ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > bush line1828 1828 Brockville (Upper Canada) Gaz. 26 Dec. 3/4 A teamster by the name of M'Pherson from the Scotch Line. 1830 W. S. Moorsom Lett. from Nova Scotia ix. 344 The greater part of this line is either a rough horse-path, or in the same state as that described under the name of a ‘new cut’. 1841 N.Z. Jrnl. No. 43. 224/2 Colonel Wakefield is also about to direct a line or bridle road (the basis of the future road) to be cut. 1853 J. C. Richmond Let. 11 Nov. in Richmond-Atkinson Papers (1960) II. 133 There is what we call a good bush road to Rata Nui but beyond it there are two miles of bush walking along what is called a ‘line’; a line is made by cutting the supple jacks and small shrubs with a bill-hook. 1863 E. H. Walshe Cedar Creek 103 They wished even for the corduroy expedient a little farther on, when the line became encumbered with stumps left from the under-brushing. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Line,..(2) a road. The new roads are so called. 1890 E. H. Searle Angela i. 2 This track was known to the neighbourhood as ‘Mount's Line’. 1933 ‘P. Slater’ Yellow Briar 172 This grain was hauled down the 6th line and stored till the spring in Isaac Chafee's warehouse. 1943 Amer. Speech 18 87 In some country districts [in New Zealand] (the Manawatu, for example) the roads are named lines—McDonell's Line, Richardson's Line, Union Line—presumably from early boundary or surveyors' lines. 1961 C. Price & C. C. Kennedy Notes Hist. Renfrew County [Ontario] 110 McNaughton's Plan of 1836 shows Queen's Line as an opened road. 1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 99 Line, a road, route or highway. f. A row of traps or of poison bait.Widely used in English-speaking areas outside the U.K. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun] > series of line1854 trap-line1889 1854 M. Reid Young Voyageurs 190 Moreover, he [sc. the wolverine] will follow the tracks of the trapper from one to another, until he has destroyed the whole line. 1871 R. L. Dashwood Chiploquorgan viii. 109 We followed an old ‘sable line’,..a line of traps set for that animal. 1949 Sat. Evening Post 22 Jan. 98/2 It is usually a glum day for the trapper when he pays his periodic visit to his line and sees in the snow the tracks of a wolverine joining the tracks that he made himself on his previous swing around. 1960 B. Crump Good Keen Man 31 Working from the same hut at first, we laid cyanide lines up every ridge within reach of the camp. The dodge was to work in pairs, one laying blobs of flour flavoured with oil-of-aniseed for bait, the other adding crushed cyanide to each heap of flour. We'd do this for three days, then go back over the lines cutting the ears off the dead possums for tokens. 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 39 Whenever a fox got on the line they lost about a quarter of their morning's catch. It would go round all the traps killing and tearing the rabbits until it was disturbed or caught in an unsprung trap. g. A pipe or tube (of great or indefinite length in relation to its thickness). ΘΠ the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > cylinder > [noun] > quality of being hollow cylinder > hollow cylinder or tube > of great or indefinite length line1862 1862 W. J. M. Rankine Man. Civil Engin. iii. ii. 739 From..reservoir to..town the main pipes may form a double line, so that in the event of a failure of one line, a supply..may be conveyed through the other line. 1895 W. T. Brannt Petroleum vii. 237 Beside the lines leading from the oil region to Baku..there are a number of branches which lead from the 21 principal lines to the refineries. 1921 W. F. Durand Hydraulics of Pipe Lines v. 231 The buried line cannot be inspected or repaired or repainted on the outside, and these conditions will..reduce the serviceable life of the line. 1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics x. 411 As the propellants flow through the feed lines to the pump a certain amount of pressure will be lost due to friction. 1966 A. E. C. Vizard in P. Hepple Natural Gas 55 By using large diameter lines at relatively high pressures the potential carrying capacity of a single line can be greater. 1974 Sunday Express 14 Apr. 1/3 Detectives investigating the death of a diver..have found that his support line was cut. The line carried oxygen and communication cables to two divers 350 feet down. h. Golf. (See quot. 1910.) ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [noun] > direction required for shot line1887 1887 W. G. Simpson Art of Golf ii. ix. 166 If their advice as to the line and strength be followed, and the putt comes off, it is supposed..that there was no other way of doing it. 1910 Encycl. Brit. XII. 223/2 Line, the direction in which the hole towards which the player is progressing lies with reference to the present position of his ball. 1971 L. Trevino & O. Fraley I can help your Game (1972) v. 72 (caption) The putt has been stroked but I maintain my immovable body position, concentrating on keeping the blade square to the line. i. up the line: on leave. Nautical slang. ΚΠ 1942 Gen 1 Sept. 13/2 When a sailor goes on leave he goes ‘up the line’. j. the end of the line (transferred and figurative). Cf. the end of the road at end n. 3h. ΘΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > most extreme worstc1275 extremityc1425 extreme fortune1531 exigents1588 fine1596 devil1681 limit1906 the end of the line1948 1948 Amer. Speech 23 29 Calcutta commandos..reached the End of the Line [sc. China] by flying..over the Hump. 1955 J. Potts Death of Stray Cat (1956) vii. 75 Lillian..turned to face Floyd, as a signal that this was the end of the line for him. 1959 E. Burgess Divided we Fall xx. 228 It looks like the end of the line for Roylake. Unless he can think up something—fast! 1967 P. G. Wodehouse Company for Henry v. 79 ‘Don't tell me we're there already.’.. ‘Yes, this is the end of the line.’ 1974 ‘J. Graham’ Bloody Passage x. 133 They have nowhere to go. This is—how do the Americans say it?—the end of the line. 27. Course of action, procedure, life, thought, or conduct. ΘΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > [noun] > (a) course of conduct or action wayeOE pathOE waya1225 tracea1300 line13.. dancea1352 tenor1398 featc1420 faction1447 rink?a1500 footpath1535 trade1536 vein1549 tract1575 course1582 road1600 country dance1613 track1638 steeragea1641 rhumb1666 tack1675 conduct1706 walk1755 wheel-way1829 13.. K. Alis. 7266 For his barouns and for myne This weore the ryghtest lyne. c1330 Arth. & Merl. 6492 (Kölbing) Þe king aros by wrongful lines &..He forlay þe stewardes wiif. 1629 N. Carpenter Achitophel 39 The same hand of Kingly munificence which..pointed him out the lines of his obliged loyaltie. 1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 112 The line I have observed with him has been [etc.]. 1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Family III. 57 Promising to consult with him, in regard to what line of life he should pursue. 1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey I. ii. xv. 231 I should then,..have inherited some family line of conduct, both moral and political. 1850 G. C. Lewis Let. 28 Dec. (1870) 233 The Protectionists, as a party, have taken no line in the matter. 1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preaching (ed. 3) v. 131 You should consider by what lines of thought..you would be able to make the truth clear to them. 1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism (1882) xvi. 121 The line that shall be taken upon all the questions of the day. 1893 A. C. Swinburne Stud. Prose & Poetry (1894) 42 Few men..whose line of life lay so far apart from a naturalist's or a poet's can ever have loved nature or poetry better. 28. a. A department of activity; a kind or branch of business or occupation.The sense seems to be largely due to the influence of quot. 1611, where, however, line (= Greek κανών, lit. ‘measuring rod’, Revised Version ‘province’) was probably meant by the translators in a sense belonging to branch II. The phrase line of things, sometimes used instead of line in the sense above explained, certainly arose from misapprehension of this text, where the words ‘in another mans line’ are parenthetical. ΘΠ society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > line of business or work line1638 way1642 lay1707 walk1715 slang1789 métier1792 Fach1838 lark1934 line of work1957 1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. x. 16 And not to boast in another mans line of things made ready to our hand. View more context for this quotation] 1638 F. Rous Heavenly Acad. x. 176 Keep thou especially in thine owne line, neither trouble thy selfe..for the line of another. 1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ii. 116 It is not out of Curiosity or Busybodinesse, to be medling in other mens Lines. 1677 W. Hubbard Narr. Troubles with Indians New-Eng. ii. 86 To intrude our selves into that which is out of our Line, or beyond our Sphere. 1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses I. 266 He entred on the Physick line, but took no degree in that Faculty. 1777 S. Johnson Let. 20 Sept. (1992) III. 71 Seeing things in this light, I consider every letter as something in the line of duty. 1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 95 If I can be made useful to you in any line whatever here. 1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1777 II. 171 Johnson was..prompt to repress colloquial barbarisms; such as..line, for department or branch, as, the civil line, the banking line. 1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. iv. 67 Introd. Any thing much worse than usual in that line? 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. v. i. 345 I had got into the matrimonial line. 1820 Ld. Byron Blues ii. 94 Stick to those of your play, which is quite your own line. 1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 159 Mr. Augustus Cooper was in the oil and colour line. 1887 Spectator 16 Apr. 535/2 The line of this story is correctness rather than interest. b. in (or out of) one's line: suited (or unsuited) to one's capacity, taste, etc.; not one's line, not one's vocation or calling, not among one's pursuits or interests; to step (or get, etc.) out of line, to behave in an unconventional or unexpected manner. ΘΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > direct one's conduct by a rule [verb (intransitive)] > not conform to standard behaviour to swim against the stream or the tide1592 to step (or get, etc.) out of line1791 the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > suitable or appropriate [phrase] > to a person in my (his, etc.) way1740 in (or out of) one's line1838 the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupied or busy [phrase] > not among one's activities or pursuits not one's line1857 the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > unsuitable or inappropriate [phrase] out of the waya1450 out of my (your, etc.) way1555 out of place1560 in (or out of) one's line1886 out of key1920 1791 J. Lackington Memoirs xxv. 191 I cannot help noticing that in one of his [sc. Wesley's] publications (stepping out of his line) he betray'd extreme weakness and credulity. 1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist II. xxvi. 94 Have you got any thing in my line to-night? 1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago I. Introd. p. xviii ‘He..wanted to call me out.’ ‘Did you go?’.. ‘I told him that wasn't my line.’ 1886 R. Kipling Departm. Ditties (1899) 35 Her jokes aren't in my line. 1888 Harper's Mag. July 183 Store-keeping was not in my line. 1932 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls ii. 37 Reasonably safe for anyone who does not get too far out of line. 1937 M. Sharp Nutmeg Tree xix. 249 ‘Wouldn't you like to be Lady Waring?’.. ‘No, I wouldn't..it's not my line.’ 1938 D. Runyon Furthermore iii. 45 He is out of line in giving Frankie the hot foot. 1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. xiii. 87 The welfare worker act..wasn't her line at all. 1962 P. Gregory Like Tigress at Bay iii. 28 As long as he doesn't get out of line too often, I'll keep him on. 1962 J. Ludwig in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 244 Women weren't Sidney's line. 1973 N. Graham Murder in Dark Room viii. 58 You do it his way or else. I stepped out of line when I checked on Redman. c. line of business n. in the 18th- and 19th-century theatre, the kind of parts for which an actor or actress was specifically engaged. Cf. business n. 18. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > part or character > [noun] > usual type of part for actor line of business1775 1775 F. Abington Let. in D. Garrick Private Corr. (1832) II. 106 Knowing the impossibility of my attempting that line of business while I am necessarily engaged in so many plays. 1807 A. Holbrook Mem. Actress 33 Another shocking custom is, that of giving no distinct line of business; for people, let them possess what talent they may, excel more in certain parts than in others. 1831 P. Egan Show Folks 27 Waiting in turn to engage young men for different ‘lines of business’ to complete their companies. 1845 Ainsworth's Mag. 8 150 I have alluded to country actors..acting characters not in their ‘line of business’. 1849 Theatr. Mirror 17 Sept. 20 We were surprised to see Mrs. W. Daly playing the part of Lady Macbeth, being quite out of her lines of business. 1901 C. Morris Life on Stage vii. 40 These were the principal ‘lines of business’, and in an artistic sense they bound actors both hand and foot. d. one's line of country, one's pursuit, field of interest, area of study, etc. (Frequently in neg. contexts.) Also, line of work. ΘΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > affair, business, concern > [noun] > field of interest mattera1387 campa1538 champian1596 domain1764 champaign1839 ground1847 one's line of country1861 society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > line of business or work line1638 way1642 lay1707 walk1715 slang1789 métier1792 Fach1838 lark1934 line of work1957 1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. viii. 138 This sort of thing isn't my line of country at all. 1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train ii. v. 115 I don't advise you to join it [sc. the R.C. church]. I don't think it's your line of country, exactly. 1943 N. Balchin Small Back Room viii. 94 What? Pinching strange females?.. That's more his line of country than yours. 1951 W. Empson Struct. Complex Words 15 A mistake made by Richards..is a great deal more illuminating than the successes of other writers in this line of country. 1957 G. Faber Jowett v. 94 Josephine's absorption in her new ‘line of work’. 1966 ‘M. Brewer’ Man against Fear i. 15 I'd like to help... But it's not my line of country. Only the police can catch them. 1972 News & Observer (Raleigh, N. Carolina) 30 Dec. 4/3 No one lives in the sticks or is asked his line of work very often. †29. Used by Shakespeare in plural for: ‘Goings on’, caprices or fits of temper. [Compare the Warwickshire dialect phrase on a line = in a rage.] ΘΠ the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > capriciousness > a caprice or whim > caprices humours1589 linea1616 a1616 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida (1623) ii. iii. 129 Yea watch His pettish lines, his ebs, his flowes [Mod. edd. lunes]. a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iv. ii. 18 Your husband is in his olde lines againe. View more context for this quotation 30. a. Commerce. An order received by a traveller or agent for goods; the goods so ordered; also, the stock on hand of a particular class of goods, goods of a particular design. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > particular class of line1834 town-made1835 run1861 brand1864 sideline1886 make1909 name brand1944 white goods1947 brown goods1976 positional goods1976 society > trade and finance > buying > [noun] > order special order1547 order1746 mail order1867 line1892 pre-order1957 1834 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 3 9/3 Even those [travelling salesmen] whose line seems the most hopeless and frivolous. 1882 Daily News 4 Mar. Spinners content themselves with supplying special lines and immediate requirement. 1892 Money Market Rev. 6 Feb. Another error committed by some of the Trusts has consisted in taking inordinately large ‘lines’ of particular Stocks. 1892 Daily News 11 Apr. 6/6 In spite of the new French tariff we still continue to receive fair ‘lines’ for silver goods from Paris. 1930 H. Cousins in V.A. Demant Just Price v. 102 No business can expect that all its ‘lines’ will be successful. 1959 Punch 16 Sept. 177/1 I can do a nice line in powder compacts. 1971 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 1 Oct. 15/3 Rather than let a slow selling line stand on the shop floor it is reduced immediately. b. The amount which one underwriter (or one company) accepts as his share of the total value of the subject matter covered by insurance. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > financial dealings > insurance > [noun] > insurance policy > associated expense, amount, or charge premio1622 premium1661 reversion1768 reversionary bonus1833 insurance1838 loading1867 hazard rate1872 single premium1877 margin1881 line1899 strain1910 deductible1927 no-claims bonus1933 co-pay1959 co-payment1966 1899 F. Hooper & J. Graham Mod. Business Methods 144 The names and the amounts on the back of a policy..would appear thus... Each of the above persons is said to ‘take a line’ in the policy. 1905 [see sense 17c]. 1931 Times 14 Mar. 12/6 Many of those [sc. insurance companies] who have written large lines..are known to have been influenced by a desire [etc.]. 1974 W. L. Catchpole Business Guide to Insurance xxiv. 202 If the chosen underwriter.. agrees to accept a substantial line at an equitable risk, he becomes the leading underwriter on the slip. c. line of credit n. a loan by one country to another, to be utilized by the second for buying goods from the first; credit extended by a bank to a commercial concern to a certain amount; the amount so extended. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > financial dealings > moneylending > [noun] > loan > national or international loan1765 soft loan1954 line of credit1958 Euroloan1961 1958 Listener 18 Sept. 407/1 A line of credit for £8,000,000 from Australia will have helped matters. 1971 Daily Tel. 1 Jan. 1/1 A total of 41 million Canadian dollars..was repaid on the Canadian line of credit. Compounds C1. a. Simple attributive and objective. (a) line battalion n. Π 1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 50/1 2 companies from each of the line battalions assigned to the sub-district. line end n. Π 1748 W. Hardy Miner's Guide 184 Your Assistant having made a mark upon the Ground, where the Line End touched last. 1908 Daily Chron. 23 Oct. 9/4 Now he types instead of stamping the last words so as to obtain an even line end. 1930 T. Sasaki On Lang. R. Bridges' Poetry i. v. 21 The strongest stress..is the one at the line-end. 1961 T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 226/1 Line division mark, a vertical line or double vertical lines used in bibliographical transcription to indicate the place of the ends of lines... Also called line end stroke, dividing stroke. line-guard n. Π 1888 ‘J. Bickerdyke’ Bk. All-round Angler ii. 28 A Nottingham reel fitted with a little invention..intended to prevent the line uncoiling..off the reel. This line-guard has answered beyond my expectations. line-length n. Π 1905 Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. 20 814 The uniform background of the recurrent line-lengths. 1929 H. Crane Let. 30 Aug. (1965) 344 The line-lengths are longer than in any other section. line-maker n. line-making v. Π 1897 Daily News 13 Sept. 7/3 Some six miles further on, the point where [railway] line-making was actually in process. line-numbering n. Π 1953 S. W. Amos & D. C. Birkinshaw Television Engin. I. ii. 33 The system of line numbering must be explained... The lines are numbered according to the positions they occupy in the raster, number 1 being the top line and, in the British system, 405 the bottom line. 1966 Eng. Stud. 47 296 His marginal references to Folio lines and passages (using the line-numbering of the Globe edition). line-pair n. Π 1867 A. Cayley in Coll. Math. Papers (1893) VI. 201 A conic is a curve of the second order and second class; quà curve of the second order it may degenerate into a pair of lines, or line-pair. line-regiment n. Π 1864 G. O. Trevelyan Competition Wallah ix. 299 Eighteen months in such a school would have turned the French line-regiments into Zouaves. line-rhyme n. Π 1860 G. P. Marsh Lect. Eng. Lang. xxv. 554 Line-rhyme is a constituent of all but the most ancient forms of Icelandic verse. line-room n. Π a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) iii. ii. 41 To hang up cloaths, or any thing you please. Your Worship cannot want line-room. (b) line-numbered adj. Π 1905 Academy 14 Oct. 1072/2 We can see him turning over the page, line-numbered. 1959 Notes & Queries Sept. 313/2 The recent line-numbered edition by W. J. B. Owen. line-throwing adj. Π 1887 Daily News 9 Mar. 6/7 A Line-throwing Gun. †b. Botany. Used = linear adj. 4b. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. Families of Plants I. 37 The leaflets line-lanc'd, keel'd, erect. 1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. Families of Plants I. 41 Seeds one, cover'd, line-oblong. 1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. Families of Plants I. 105 Filaments five, line-compress'd. C2. Special combinations. Also lineman n., linesman n., line standard n. line angle n. Dentistry the angle at the junction of two surfaces of a tooth or cavity. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > mouth > substance or parts of teeth > [noun] > junction of surfaces line angle1908 1908 G. V. Black Work on Operative Dentistry I. 295 Line angles. 1930 W. H. O. McGehee Text-bk. Operative Dentistry xi. 338 Flatten the gingival and axial walls, making a definite line angle at their junction. 1963 C. R. Cowell et al. Inlays, Crowns, & Bridges iii. 15 Complete the proximal box, using a chisel to plane its vertical walls and to sharpen the line angles. † line-angular adj. Obsolete (see quot.). Π 1774 M. Mackenzie Treat. Maritim Surv. p. xviii A Line~angular Survey is, when the Coast is measured all along with a Chain, or Wheel, and the Angles taken at each Point and Turn of the Land with a Theodolite, or magnetic Needle. line-at-a-time printer n. = line printer n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > [noun] > computer printer > types of line-at-a-time printer1955 line printer1955 chain printer1962 laser printer1979 dot matrix1982 thermal printer1982 thimble printer1982 1955 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery 2 294 Line-at-a-time printer (92 characters per line), operating at a speed of 150 lines per minute. 1963 I. H. Gould & F. Ellis Digital Computer Technol. xi. 141 The line-at-a-time printers have, in the main, been adapted from the tabulating machines of punched card practice. line-backer n. American Football andCanadian Football (See quot. 1961). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > types of player side tackle1809 nose guard1852 rusher1877 goalkicker1879 quarterback1879 runner1880 quarter1883 full back1884 left guard1884 snap-back1887 snapper-back1887 running back1891 tackle1891 defensive end1897 guard1897 interferer1897 receiver1897 defensive back1898 defensive tackle1900 safety man1901 ball carrier1902 defensive lineman1902 homebrew1903 offensive lineman1905 lineman1907 returner1911 signal caller1915 rover1916 interference1920 punt returner1926 pass rusher1928 tailback1930 safety1931 blocker1935 faker1938 scatback1946 linesman1947 flanker1953 platoon player1953 corner-back1955 pulling guard1955 split end1955 return man1957 slot-back1959 strong safety1959 wide receiver1960 line-backer1961 pocket passer1963 tight end1963 run blocker1967 wideout1967 blitzer1968 1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Linebacker, a football player stationed within one to four yards of the line of scrimmage and expected to make quick tackles close to the line of scrimmage on running plays and to protect against short passes. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 29/1 Darryl Burgess, a 225-pound linebacker from St. Mary's. 1969 Eugene (Oregon) Register-Guard 3 Dec. 10/2 Oregon linebacker Tom Graham..played well enough to make both UPI and AP All-Coast teams as a rookie. 1970 Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 18/5 We can always move Corrigall to linebacker. 1973 Washington Post 13 Jan. C5/4 The most misguided portion of the show comes during Jones' interviews of Jim Brown, the former football player-turned-actor, and Ray May, a linebacker for the Baltimore Colts. line-bait n. bait used in line-fishing. Π 1895 Outing 30 432/1 Minnows, frogs, crayfish or any favorite line bait. line-ball n. Baseball (see quot.); also in Tennis ΚΠ 1874 H. Chadwick Base Ball Man. 55 A ‘line ball’ or ‘liner’ is a ball sent swiftly from the bat to the field almost on a horizontal line. 1891 F. C. Burnand Miss Decima 22 Chorus (outside—watching a game of Lawn Tennis)..Ah! ‘Line’ ball. line blanking n. Television the suppression of signals that would contribute to the picture during fly-back of the scanning spot between the transmission of successive lines; frequently attributive. ΘΚΠ society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > scanning, etc. scanning1927 scanning spot1929 flying spot1933 interlacing1935 line scanning1935 interlace1936 line scan1938 matrixing1951 line blanking1952 1952 J. O'C. Howe & G. Ducloux tr. F. Kerkhof & W. Werner Television iv. 76 The total line blanking of the picture signal is 0·15 L. 1957 S. W. Amos & D. C. Birkinshaw Television Engin. (rev. ed.) I. ii. 31 The synchronising signals are not the only form of intelligence which must be transmitted between lines; an additional signal, known as the line-blanking signal, must also be inserted. 1966 G. H. Hutson Television Receiver Theory I. iii. 31 The line blanking period is divided into..the front porch, the line sync. pulse and the back porch. line block n. a block bearing a design in relief from which an illustration made up of lines without variations in tone may be printed; an illustration printed in this way; also attributive. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > relief engraving > [noun] > other techniques > line block line block1896 1896 A. Beardsley Let. 29 Sept. (1971) 173 The rest of the drawing has come out so hardly and coldly in the line block. 1924 E. Pound Let. 3 Dec. (1971) 191 I think the idea of ten or twelve Blacks of size that cd. go by post, and that cd. be done in line block, might be useful. 1936 Burlington Mag. Mar. p. xiv/1 Line-block illustrations from the author's own drawings. 1956 Nature 18 Feb. 301/1 The illustrations are well chosen, both the line-blocks and the half-tones. 1972 P. Gaskell New Introd. Bibliogr. 272 The detail of all but the very best photographic line blocks tends to be slightly rougher at the edges than that of wood engravings. line-book n. (a) Printing (Obsolete exc. Historical), a book in which compositors working in companionships (chiefly 19th cent.) kept account of the lines of set type credited and debited to them; (b) (also lines-book) R.A.F. slang a record of boasts (see 13g). ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > record and reference books > [noun] > compositors' accounts line-book1876 the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > [noun] > a boast > record of boasts line-book1876 1876 J. Gould Letter-press Printer 33 The system adopted in some of the smaller houses is for each compositor to make up and impose his own pages, the making-up being passed from one compositor to the companion who follows him, accompanied by the line book. 1942 Observer 4 Oct. 7/2 ‘There I was, upside down, in cloud, ten-tenths, at 1,500 ft...’ But you never get to the end of your story if you were so foolish as to begin like that. ‘Lineshoot!’ they would cry. ‘Line!’ And most squadrons have a Line Book in which such statements are written down, to their authors' perpetual shame. 1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 40 Lines book, in which are recorded exaggerated statements made at one time or another by Mess members. 1945 E. Taylor At Mrs Lippincote's xxiii. 194 Quick, the line-book! 1972 P. Gaskell New Introd. Bibliogr. 193 He [sc. the clicker] kept an account of the number of lines that each man set, both in a line-book and by marking the copy. line-bred adj. produced by line-breeding. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > heredity or hereditary descent > [adjective] > descent from common ancestor pure1569 truly1650 thoroughbred1719 thorough-blood1774 monogeneous1857 genetic1860 monogenous1866 homogenetic1870 homogenetical1870 homogenous1870 monophyletic1874 clean-bred1882 homodemic1883 homophylic1883 homosystemic1883 line-bred1891 synepigonic1904 cladistic1960 the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by breed > [adjective] > thoroughbred or highly bred blooded1776 blood-like1796 blood1824 line-bred1891 the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [adjective] > that is bred or has died in particular way traiked1828 metis1848 mestizo1854 half-bred1891 line-bred1891 the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bos taurus or ox > [adjective] > bred in particular way high-grade1847 graded1876 line-bred1891 1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xxxi. 400 The impression that tuberculosis is more prevalent among high line-bred shorthorns than among the ordinary country-bred cattle. 1960 Times 19 Sept. 3/4 20 dams were chosen..these being line-bred. 1971 Amer. Notes & Queries Apr. 126/2 The quarter horse, developed from cross-breeding Spanish stock imported to America via Florida (Chickasaw horses) and what Nelson Nye calls ‘line-bred orientals’ from England, was originally a sport animal. Categories » line-breeding n. U.S. ‘the breeding of animals with reference to securing descent from a particular family, especially in the female line’ (Webster Suppl. 1879). line-camp n. North American a camp, esp. a cabin, for ranch hands in an outlying part of a large ranch. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > camp or encampment > [noun] > type of ordu1673 chantier1823 douar1829 outcamp1844 log-camp1858 lumbering-camp1858 yayla1864 refugee camp1865 cow-camp1873 gypsyry1873 work camp1877 tent town1878 logging-camp1880 lumber-camp1882 town camp1885 base camp1887 line-camp1888 wanigan1890 isolation camp1891 tent village1899 sheep-camp1911 safari camp1912 jungle1914 transit camp1919 Siwash camp1922 health camp1925 tent city1934 fly camp1939 bivvy1961 1888 Cent. Mag. Mar. 667/2 But some of the men are out in the line camps, and the ranchman has occasionally to make the round of these. 1949 10 Story Western May 12/2 He had been telling them all how he was going to winter here at the Buffalo Crossing line camp. 1963 R. D. Symons Many Trails v. 52 Most outfits had what they call ‘line camps’ strung along the limits of their range, from which ‘line riders’ operated. line-cast adj. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > composed type > [adjective] > a line at a time linotyped1908 line-cast1973 1973 S. Jennett Making of Bks. (ed. 5) xv. 286 The italic [of Linotype Baskerville] is a little loose fitting, its width, as in other line-cast type-faces, being governed by the roman. line-caster n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > composing equipment > [noun] > type-setting machines > machine which sets a line at a time Linotype1888 monoline1902 lino1907 Intertype1913 Linograph1913 line-caster1972 1972 Physics Bull. Sept. 533/1 These ‘second generation’ photosetters..are reasonably cheap and are considerably faster than the latest line-casters which are also tape driven. line-casting adj. of a composing machine, casting type a line at a time. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > composing equipment > [adjective] > type of composing machine line-casting1913 1913 Inland Printer July 486 (advt.) There are thousands of publishers all over the United States who have been waiting for a line-casting and composing machine so simple and easy to operate that it would prove practical in the small shop. 1916 L. A. Legros & J. C. Grant Typogr. Printing-surfaces iv. 15 Line-casting machine type-metal undergoes a wastage or depreciation. 1973 S. Jennett Making of Bks. (ed. 5) v. 83 The Intertype Fotosetter was also an adaptation, of the Intertype line-casting machine. line-cod n. cod-fish caught with a line. Π 1877 E. W. H. Holdsworth Sea Fisheries 80 Very few line-cod are caught in the North Sea for the next three months. line-conch n. a large gasteropod of Florida, Fasciolaria distans, marked by black lines ( Cent. Dict.). line-coordinate n. Mathematics one of a set of quantities defining the position of a line. ΚΠ 1866 A. Cayley in Coll. Math. Papers (1892) V. 521 Considered as (what in the theory of line-coordinates it in fact is) a particular case of the double tangent. line density n. (see quot.); also gen., density or concentration of lines. Π 1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism I. 68 In this case we may define the line~density at any point to be the limiting ratio of the electricity on an element of the line to the length of that element when the element is diminished without limit. 1963 Reshaping of Brit. Railways (Brit. Railways Board) 65 Line densities are not the only measure of the use made of the railway. 1971 Fremdsprachen 15 276 It can be used to restore old drawings and to improve line density for microfilming. line drawing n. a drawing done with a pen or pencil; also figurative. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > in specific medium coal work1651 crayon1662 pastel1791 pencilling1803 pen sketch1847 pen-picture1853 sanguine1854 pen and ink1860 black lead study1862 sepia1863 stylograph1866 charcoal1884 fusain1884 line drawing1891 celluloid1920 1891 A. Beardsley Let. 25 Dec. (1971) 32 I am anxious to say something somewhere, on the subject of lines and line drawing. 1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. vii. 205 To undertake wash-drawings, line~drawings, colour-work or lithography. 1959 Listener 9 July 76/3 It [sc. an overture] is finer line-drawing than the Gordon Jacob work. 1966 Listener 6 Jan. 36/3 Over 300 [flowers] are illustrated in close-up colour photographs and 100-odd more in line drawings. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage ii. 51 There is a tendency to produce line drawings which might just as well have been done with a pencil. line-drawn adj. made by line-drawing. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [adjective] > drawn > in specific medium pencilled1594 pen and ink1810 chalked1823 pen-and-pencila1845 pen-and-wash1893 line-drawn1903 1903 Westm. Gaz. 17 Oct. 4/2 An order of the King in Council was published with two line-drawn illustrations. line-drive n. Baseball a ball driven straight and low above the ground. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > batting > types of hit skyscraper1842 single1851 grass trimmer1867 safe hit1867 roller1871 sacrifice1880 triple1880 two-bagger1880 sacrifice hit1881 pop-up1882 pop fly1884 fungo1887 bunt1889 safety1895 bunting1896 drive1896 hit and run1899 pinch hit1905 Texas leaguer1905 squeeze1908 hopper1914 scratch hit1917 squib1929 line-drive1931 nubber1937 lay-in1951 squeeze bunt1952 comebacker1954 moon shot1961 gapper1970 sacrifice fly1970 sacrifice bunt1974 1931 Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Va.) 9 July 5/3 Boyles turned in the star catch of the day by racing..to pull down a line drive with one hand. 1968 Washington Post 4 July c1/3 Mantle was safe as Ron Hansen's throw, after snagging a line drive by Andy Kosco, was a trifle tardy. line drop n. Electrical Engineering the voltage drop between two points on a transmission line (as a result of resistance, leakage, or other causes). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > distribution system > [noun] > transmission line > loss during transmission line drop1894 line loss1894 transmission loss1922 1894 [see line loss n.]. 1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 86/1 D.C. boosters are normally low-voltage d.c. generators employed for adjusting a supply voltage, in line-drop compensation and as an aid in controlling the charging of large accumulator batteries. line-ending n. (a) = line-filling n.; (b) the end of a line of poetry. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > written text > decoration > [noun] > flourish dash1607 flourish1653 knota1680 purlicue1808 quirk1840 squirl1843 curlicue1844 line-filling1895 line-finishing1906 line-ending1928 society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > line > subdivision of line > end of line falling out1586 acrostic1737 line-ending1928 1928 E. G. Millar Eng. Illumin. MSS XIVth & XVth Cent. i. 9 Many of the line-endings..were added in the fifteenth century. 1962 W. Nowottny Lang. Poets Use v. 120 The method he adopts is the eccentric placing of line-endings. line-engine n. an engine having several cylinders arranged in a straight line. Π 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 41/2 A double-acting line engine with cylinders in tandem. line-engraved adj. inscribed with a line engraving. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [adjective] > line-engraved line-engraved1802 1802 Monthly Mag. 14 253/1 The best line-engraved prints preserved their superiority. 1881 Stamp-collector's Ann. 5 The fall of the penny stamp and all its line-engraved family. 1936 Discovery Dec. 386/1 Practically all [18th-century tradesman's cards] are line- or stipple-engraved. 1965 Stamp Collecting (‘Know the Game’ Series) 44/1 Stamps printed from recess-plates are said to be line-engraved. line-engraver n. one who does line engraving. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > line engraving > person line-engraver1873 1873 Illustr. London News 15 Mar. 247/3 This eminent line-engraver. 1879 C. E. Clement & L. Hutton Artists of 19th Cent. I. 332 At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a line-engraver. 1965 O. Doughty & J. R. Wahl in D. G. Rossetti Lett. I. 9 Charles Warren (1767–1823), line-engraver and a noted illustrator. line engraving n. the art of engraving ‘in line’, i.e. by lines incised on the plate, as distinguished from etching and mezzotint; an engraving executed in this manner. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > line engraving line engraving1802 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > line engraving > an engraving stroke engraving1793 line engraving1802 1802 Monthly Mag. 14 253/1 The line engraving is now attaining its deserved preeminence. 1810 Trans. Soc. Arts 28 14 Line Engravings of Historical Subjects. 1849 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) II. 729/2 Effect is obtained in etching in the same manner as in line-engraving—namely, by depth. line-fence n. North American a boundary fence between two farms or ranches. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > fence line-fence1845 1845 J. Comly Reader & Bk. Knowl. 96 Always keep good line-fences. 1854 S. H. Hammond Hills, Lakes & Forest Streams xxv. 250 Later still, the old line fence was pulled away. 1874 B. F. Taylor World on Wheels ii. ii. 198 We..propped up the line fence and shingled the kitchen. 1886 Harper's Mag. Dec. 43/1 He jumped his horse over the line fence. 1893 E. R. Young Stories from Indian Wigwams 34 One morning I..went off to help a couple of Indians about their line fences. 1946 Chicago Daily News 23 Mar. 1/8 He got into an argument with the boy's parents over the building of a line fence between their properties. 1954 C. Bruce Channel Shore 12 From there a person could look east and west along..the northern fields..separated by line fences. line-filling n. a flourish or ornament serving to fill up a line of writing. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > written text > decoration > [noun] > flourish dash1607 flourish1653 knota1680 purlicue1808 quirk1840 squirl1843 curlicue1844 line-filling1895 line-finishing1906 line-ending1928 1895 M. R. James Abbey St. Edmund at Bury 93 The small initials..as well as the line-fillings, are of the most absolutely perfect kind. line finder n. Telephony a selector which searches for the calling subscriber's line when he lifts his receiver so that the line can be connected to a group of selectors available to any caller. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > exchange > exchange equipment private line1852 bank1884 call-disc1884 howler1886 trunk1889 multiple switchboard1891 rack1893 line switch1898 heat coil1900 relay rack1902 multiple1905 listening key1906 telharmonium1906 wiper1906 preselector1912 line finder1922 rank1924 routiner1928 keysender1929 uniselector1930 wiper arm1933 1922 R. Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 834/2 The line finder corresponds to the answering plug in a manual exchange. 1950 J. Atkinson Herbert & Procter's Teleph. (new ed.) II. i. 19/2 If..the volume of traffic and the number of 1st selectors are considerable, then line~finders may become more expensive than subscribers' uniselectors. 1968 E. H. Jolley Introd. Telephony & Telegr. viii. 232/2 The subscribers' lines are multiplied over the bank of contacts of the line-finders so that each subscriber's line appears on each line-finder. line-finishing n. = line-filling n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > written text > decoration > [noun] > flourish dash1607 flourish1653 knota1680 purlicue1808 quirk1840 squirl1843 curlicue1844 line-filling1895 line-finishing1906 line-ending1928 1906 E. Johnston Writing & Illuminating xii. 205 Line-finishings are used to preserve the evenness of the text when lines of writing fall short. line-firing n. Military firing by a body of men in line. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > type of firing point and blank1590 false fire1602 potting1613 point-blank1614 running fire1629 pounding1633 bulleting1635 platooning1706 sharp-shot1725 street firing1727 ricochet1740 fire curtain1744 plunging fire1747 reverse fire1758 sniping1773 enfilade1796 rapid fire1800 line-firing1802 concentric1804 sharpshooting1806 rake1810 sniping fire1821 cross-firing1837 file-firing1837 curved fire1854 night firing1856 file-fire1857 volley-firing1859 cross-fire1860 joy-firing1864 snap-shooting1872 stringing1873 pot-shooting1874 indirect fire1879 sweeping1907 rapid1913 curtain of fire1916 ripple1939 ripple-firing1940 ripple fire1961 1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. Line-firings are executed separately and independently by each battalion. 1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 405 For close quarters, line-firing, or quickness of loading, the musket will hold its place for centuries to come. line-fisherman n. a man who fishes with a line. Π 1899 Daily News 12 Apr. 6/2 The line-fishermen off our coasts. line-fishing n. and adj. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [noun] > fishing with line lining1833 line-fishing1848 longlining1858 hand-lining1868 Murrumbidgee whaling1873 night-lining1894 1848 C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 242 They depend for this supply on line-fishing. 1897 Daily News 10 Feb. 6/2 The screw line-fishing boat George Baird. line frequency n. Television the number of scanning lines produced per second. ΘΚΠ society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > signals, types, or parts of picture frequency1926 picture signal1927 black level1935 line frequency1936 pedestal1937 line scan1938 picture black1938 white level1938 porch1941 test signal1945 spot wobble1950 luminance1953 1936 O. S. Puckle tr. M. von Ardenne Television Reception i. 11 The total number of lines in the complete picture is 240, scanned sequentially and horizontally at 25 picture traversals per second... The line frequency is thus 6,000 impulses per second. 1973 Newnes Colour Television Servicing Man. I. i. 26/1 Sawtooth voltage at line frequency is developed across the inductive network. line gale n. U.S. = line-storm n. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [noun] > stormy weather > a storm > equinoctial line gale1836 line-storm1850 1836 Knickerbocker 7 17 I must take the oars myself, for that blamed line gale has kept me in bilboes..a dog's age. line gauge n. Printing a ruler showing the size of a type or types. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > miscellaneous printers' equipment > [noun] > gauges male gauge1683 gauge1841 line gauge1948 type-gauge- 1948 M. E. Skillin & R. M. Gay Words into Type 544 Line gauge, a printer's measuring rule, marked off in nonpareils and picas, sometimes showing other type measurements also. 1967 R. R. Karch & E. J. Buber Graphic Arts Procedures: Offset Processes 544 Line gauge, a printer's ruler usually having 6 and 12 point graduations. Sometimes with other point scales, as: agate, 9-point, 10-point, etc. line graph n. = graph n.¹ 2 (as distinguished from a bar graph, in which vertical rectangles represent the values of the dependent variable). ΘΠ society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > [noun] > diagram > graph > type of wave-line1888 periodogram1898 periodograph1899 Lorenz curve1909 bar chart1914 growth curve1916 bar diagram1923 bar graph1925 line graph1956 1956 Spaceflight 1 27/2 Received at the ground station, this signal is decoded automatically and interpreted as a series of line graphs. 1972 Scholarly Publishing 3 274 Bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, and other illustrative devices. line haul n. U.S. slang (see quots.). ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > transport of goods in a vehicle > [noun] > by motor lorry > on long journeys or between cities line haul1942 trunk1968 trunking1968 1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §770 Line haul, a scheduled truck route. 1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 99 Line haul, a scheduled truck run or movement of freight between cities. line-hunter n. a hound which follows its quarry by the line of the scent alone. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > that hunts by scent brachc1400 brachetc1400 draught-hound1598 draught-dog1656 line-hunter1851 drag-hound1884 bratchet- 1851 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour lxvii, in New Monthly Mag. Mar. 319 Many of them [sc. hounds] had their heads up... Some few of the line hunters were persevering with the scent over the greasy ground. 1856 G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Coventry xii They are capital ‘line~hunters’, so says John. 1890 Sat. Rev. 1 Feb. 135/1 In the vast forests of Europe a line-hunter on the scent of an ungalled hart would be lost to all eternity. line-hunting adj. Π 1890 Sat. Rev. 1 Feb. 135/1 The old slow line-hunting staghound. line-integral n. Mathematics the integral, taken along a line, of any differential that has a continuously varying value along that line. ΚΠ 1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism I. 71 Line-Integral of Electric Force, or Electromotive Force along an Arc of a Curve. line-integration n. the operation of finding a line-integral. Π 1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magn. (1881) II. 232 The magnetic potential, as found by a line-integration of the magnetic force. line-knife n. a knife used on a whaler for cutting the harpoon rope. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > whaling equipment > [noun] > knife for cutting harpoon rope line-knife1851 1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xli. 202 One captain, seizing the line-knife from his broken prow, had dashed at the whale. line loss n. Electrical Engineering loss of electrical energy along a transmission line (as a result of resistance, leakage, or other causes). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > distribution system > [noun] > transmission line > loss during transmission line drop1894 line loss1894 transmission loss1922 1894 A. T. Snell Electr. Motive Power iv. 126 The line loss remains constant when the percentage of the line drop is kept the same for variations of supply pressure. 1953 C. F. Hockett in S. Saporta & J. R. Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 64/1 To supply one hundred-watt light bulb, a generator must transmit one hundred watts of power, plus a bit more to make up for line-loss. 1970 D. Waterfield Continental Waterboy iii. 29 And you have line loss, particularly with very long transmission lines. line-maker n. ‘a manufacturer of rope, sash-lines, clothes-lines, etc.’ (Simmonds Dict. Trade 1858). ΘΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of rope or cord > [noun] ropera1387 string-maker14.. ropemakera1425 ropierc1440 cord-maker1579 line-maker1667 cord-winder1707 1667 S. Pepys Diary 19 July (1974) VIII. 344 The pretty woman, the Line-maker's wife that lived in Fanchurch-street. line management n. see sense 19d above. line manager n. see sense 19d above. line officer n. a military or naval officer of the line. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer or soldier of rank > [noun] > combatant officer line officer1850 combatant officer1868 1850 R. Glisan Jrnl. Army Life (1874) i. 2 This rank..avails its possessor..in everything except commanding troops when a line officer is present. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 1 Feb. 2/1 Wives of line-officers, engineers, servants. 1925 R. Graves Welchman's Hose 29 They hadn't one Line-officer left, after Arras. line pin n. one of the iron pins used to fasten a bricklayer's line (see quot. 1842). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for marking out work > [noun] > plumb-line or chalk-line > part of lead1340 line pin1688 plumb bob1836 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 395/2 Two Line Pins, with a Line lapped or raped about part of both. 1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 10 A Pair of Line Pins of Iron, with a length of Line on them. 1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 387 The Line Pins, consist of two iron pins, with a line of about sixty feet, fastened by one of its extremities to each. 1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. ii. iii. 514 The line pins..for fastening and stretching the line at proper intervals of the wall, that each course may be kept straight in the face and level on the bed. line pipe n. pipe specially manufactured for use in pipelines. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > oil and natural gas recovery equipment > [noun] > pipe-line > pipe for use in line pipe1923 1923 Amer. Petroleum Inst. Bull. 31 Dec. 117/2 The work of this committee has been..to the end that a specification might be had that would: (1) Minimize losses arising out of the use of casing line pipe, tubing and drill pipe, in oil field operations. 1930 L. D. Burritt in J. H. Walker & S. Crocker Piping Handbk. xiv. 719 Line-pipe threads are of the same form and taper as American Standard threads, but the pipe is threaded with a longer length of thread than is standard pipe. 1967 Times Rev. Industry Feb. 45/3 The rising demand for line pipe made sense of a connexion between South Durham and Stewarts and Lloyds, which has been marketing X60 seamless line pipe up to 18 inches in diameter for many years. line printer n. a printer that is capable of printing a whole line of characters in each cycle of operation and is usually operated under the control of a computer. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > [noun] > computer printer > types of line-at-a-time printer1955 line printer1955 chain printer1962 laser printer1979 dot matrix1982 thermal printer1982 thimble printer1982 1955 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery 2 294 Output: Line printer of a BULL tabulating machine. 1962 Mod. Lang. Rev. 57 171 The Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory possesses a line-printer which is directly operated by EDSAC 2. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing iv. 73 A normal speed for a computer line printer is 1,000 lines per minute. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xi. 164 A mechanical line printer has one printing device for each printing position in the line (for each ‘column’). The number of printing positions is often between 100 and 160. † line-reel n. Obsolete a reel upon which a gardener's line is wound. Π 1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique ii. l. 326 When you haue cast your grounde, you shall begin to stretch your line with good and firme line-reeles, to take the bredth and length of your borders round about. line-ride v. U.S. (intransitive) to perform the action of line-riding. ΚΠ 1883 Rep. Productions Agric. 10th Census 1880 (U.S. Census Office) 971 The cattle-raisers were obliged to fence or to ‘line-ride’ to keep their cattle from trespassing. line-rider n. North American one engaged in line-riding. ΚΠ 1883 Rep. Productions Agric. 10th Census 1880 (U.S. Census Office) 973 The cowboys engaged in this work are called ‘line-riders’. 1898 H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 134 The line riders came in at night, reeking and dusty. 1920 J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas I. 298 The fence rider, also called the ‘line rider’, is employed to ride fences and repair them. 1924 C. E. Mulford Rustlers' Valley vii It was evident that they carefully had planned the murders of the two line riders. 1942 E. E. Dale Cow Country 119 This by no means did away with the work of the line rider, though it was made somewhat easier. 1963 [see line-camp n.]. line-riding n. U.S. riding the line (see sense 26c). ΚΠ 1883 Rep. Productions Agric. 10th Census 1880 (U.S. Census Office) 971 The cattle of northwest Texas are in a large measure controlled or held on their ranges by a system of ‘line-riding’. 1888 T. Roosevelt in Cent. Mag. Mar. 668/2 Line-riding is very cold work, and dangerous, too, when the men have to be out in a blinding snowstorm. line-rocket n. a small rocket attached to a line or wire along which it is made to run. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > light > firework > [noun] > types of fire sword1482 firedrake1608 fiend1634 fire club1634 fire lance1634 fire-target1634 saucisson1634 fire-trunk1639 runner1647 fire pole1708 fire fountain1729 fire-flyer1740 line-rocket1740 devil1742 fire tree1749 Grecian fire1774 jet1774 fire pan1799 metamorphose1818 Saxon1839 lightning paper1866 asteroid1875 brilliant1875 pearl1884 1740 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (rev. ed.) App. p. xliv Charges for the Line Rockets. line scan n. (a) the motion of a scanning beam or spot along a line; (b) the electrical signal which causes this; (c) an apparatus or technique which scans an object or scene line by line. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical skills and techniques > [noun] > optical scanning > line scan line scan1938 society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > signals, types, or parts of picture frequency1926 picture signal1927 black level1935 line frequency1936 pedestal1937 line scan1938 picture black1938 white level1938 porch1941 test signal1945 spot wobble1950 luminance1953 society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > scanning, etc. scanning1927 scanning spot1929 flying spot1933 interlacing1935 line scanning1935 interlace1936 line scan1938 matrixing1951 line blanking1952 society > communication > broadcasting > television > transmitting or receiving apparatus > [noun] > scanning devices mirror drum1927 scanning disc1927 scanner1929 Nipkow disc1934 line scan1938 scanning coil1938 the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments for observing > [noun] > scanning devices > other scanning devices line scan1938 1938 J. H. Reyner Testing Television Sets iv. 46 If the time base is operating the appropriate noise will be heard—a rapid ticking on the frame scan and a high squeal on the line scan. 1957 D. G. Fink Television Engin. Handbk. x. 12 The harmonic components of the line-scan spectrum may thus be thought of as carrier waves, each with a 60-cps modulation envelope. 1962 Daily Tel. 28 Aug. 13/5 Line scan is a system for reconnaissance and mapping at low levels. 1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. 257 The line scans being automatically repeated 50 μm apart. 1971 Daily Tel. 22 Jan. (Colour Suppl.) 22/1 False colour photography..does not record gradations of temperatures exactly, and these can be very important. The instrument which does this is the infra-red linescan, which scans the scene line by line like a television scanner, building up a composite picture from the heat records. line scanning n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > scanning, etc. scanning1927 scanning spot1929 flying spot1933 interlacing1935 line scanning1935 interlace1936 line scan1938 matrixing1951 line blanking1952 1935 Television Today 1 300/2 The line scanning is usually spoken of as the scanning motion. 1971 H. E. Ennes Television Broadcasting iii. 125 Picture information is contained in the fundamental and harmonics of the 60-Hz field frequency and the 15,750-Hz line-scanning frequency. line-sequential adj. Television applied to a system of colour television in which each line of the picture is in one of the three primary colours, the colour changing for each successive line. ΘΚΠ society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [adjective] > colour systems sequential1947 line-sequential1949 1949 Electronics Dec. 68/3 The change of color is introduced between successive lines in the scanning field, that is, the system is in the line-sequential class. 1965 G. du Cloux tr. W. A. Holm Colour Television Explained (ed. 2) iii. 55 The R.C.A. appeared to have arrived at the ultimate solution with a line-sequential, or possibly even a dot-sequential system. line shaft n. Π 1881 Spons' Dict. Engin. Suppl. III. 1093 For the bearings of line shafts cast iron is..the best. 1936 W. Staniar Mech. Power Transmission Handbk. v. 145 Jack~shafts. Location.—Either between head and line shafts, or between line- and countershafts. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XI. 253/2 In the days when all machines in a shop were driven by one large..prime mover, it was necessary to have long lineshafts running the length of the shop and supplying power..to shorter countershafts, jackshafts, or headshafts. line shafting n. a shaft, or shafting, of relatively great length from which a number of separate machines are driven by countershafts or endless belts. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > shaft > [noun] > others axle-tree1659 axle-shaft1837 propeller shaft1839 crank-shaft1854 sub-shaft1859 driveshaft1860 half-time shaft1861 cardan joint1868 line shafting1872 thrusting-shaft1906 1872 J. Richards Treat. Wood-working Machines 95 Pulleys for line-shafting running at high speed should be light and true. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) XII. 240/2 The delivery of power to the machines in a shop has generally been converted from line shafting to individual electric motors for each machine. line-side n. attributive adjacent to a railway line. ΚΠ 1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Lineside, adjacent to a railway line. 1967 Listener 26 Jan. 123/1 This can be prodigiously expensive if it involves disturbance of lineside property. 1975 Daily Tel. 18 July 2/8 By next year it is expected that there will be fewer faults in the 547 lineside signals and 465 points controlled by the new box. line-soldier n. a soldier of the line, a linesman. ΚΠ 1864 E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene 510 More than two-thirds of each line-soldier's service is passed abroad. line space n. the space provided for a line of typescript; so line-space lever, line-space mechanism, etc., the device that turns the platen of a typewriter to a new line of writing. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > space available for or occupied by print spacec1480 space1657 line space1951 1951 Oxf. Junior Encycl. IV. 472/2 When it reaches the end, a line space lever is pushed to move the paper up to a new line and return the carriage to the right. 1962 Which? Dec. 357/1 Some of the models..had only two positions for their line space selector, the others all had three. line-spacing n. the space between successive lines of typescript; attributive, of the device that moves the platen to a new line. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > typing > typewriter > [adjective] > line-spacing device line-spacing1957 society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > space left intentionally > between lines of type white1594 white line1676 line-spacing1957 1957 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 645/1 The machine was soon renamed the Remington. Among its original features which were still standard..in the 1950s are the paper cylinder with its line-spacing and carriage-return mechanism. c1961 Imperial Type Faces (Imperial Typewriter Co.) The number of words which can be typed on a quarto page..var[ies] according to the pitch of the letter and line-spacings. line spectrum n. a spectrum containing lines distributed apparently at random (rather than in groups as in a band spectrum); hence, an emission (of light, sound, or other radiation) composed of a number of discrete frequencies or energies. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > characterized by lines line spectrum1873 1873 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 46 406 When the gas is near atmospheric pressure, the line-spectrum of nitrogen is brilliant. 1885 H. E. Roscoe Spectrum Anal. (ed. 4) iii. 130 Nearly all bodies..have been found to exhibit both a band and a line spectrum, the band spectrum always belonging to the lower temperature. 1923 R. Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics IV. 780/1 Luminous spectra can be divided into two classes, namely continuous spectra..and discontinuous spectra... Discontinuous spectra may be subdivided into line and band spectra. 1955 G. A. Miller & P. E. Nicely in S. Saporta & J. R. Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 165/2 Acoustically, this means that the voiceless consonants are aperiodic or noisy in character, whereas a periodic or line-spectrum component is superimposed on the noise for voiced consonants. 1962 H. D. Bush Atomic & Nucl. Physics iv. 96 There are two main features of a β-particle spectrum, a continuous spectrum with energies ranging from zero to a maximum value..and a line spectrum consisting of a number of discrete energies superimposed on the continuous spectrum. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 254 A sound which is composed of individual frequencies (fundamental and harmonics or partials, or a combination of pure tones) has a line spectrum. Bands of noise have a band spectrum. line-squall n. a squall, consisting of a violent straight blast of cold air with snow or rain, and occurring along the axis of a V-shaped depression. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [noun] > a disturbance of the elements > sudden and violent pirrie1440 fuddera1522 fret1582 squall1719 flaw1791 williwaw1832 willy1832 line-squall1887 1887 R. Abercromby Weather 241 This class of atmospheric disturbance, which, for the sake of classification, we will call ‘Line-squalls’. line-storm n. U.S. an equinoctial storm. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [noun] > stormy weather > a storm > equinoctial line gale1836 line-storm1850 1850 N. Kingsley Diary (1914) 115 A fine day with a strong West wind; rather think the line storm is over. 1867 J. G. Whittier Palatine 63 Along their foam-white curves of shore They heard the line-storm rave and roar. 1939 R. Frost Coll. Poems 38 The line-storm clouds fly tattered and swift. line-sync n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [adjective] > signals, types, or parts of line-synchronizing1935 line-sync1940 luminance1953 1940 W. T. Cocking Television Receiving Equipm. xix. 281 When a very large amplitude of line sync pulse is applied to the line generator it is tripped at half-line intervals during the frame sync pulses. 1969 C. R. G. Reed Princ. Colour Television Syst. vi. 71 The line sync pulse duration is 4·7 μs. line-synchronizing adj. Television applied to a pulse transmitted in a television signal at the end of each line which initiates fly-back of the scanning spot in the receiver, so keeping the scanning process in synchronism with that in the transmitter; also abbreviated to line-sync n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [adjective] > signals, types, or parts of line-synchronizing1935 line-sync1940 luminance1953 1935 Television Today 1 300 The time duration of the line synchronising pulse is usually about 10 per cent. of that of each line. 1953 S. W. Amos & D. C. Birkinshaw Television Engin. I. i. 16 A synchronizing signal is sent out every time the scanning beam at the transmitter reaches the end of a line; this signal is termed the line-sychronizing signal (abbreviated to line-sync signal) and has the function of initiating line flyback at the receiver. line-thunderstorm n. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > thunder > thunderstorm thundera1400 tempest?1533 tornado1589 tornade1634 thunder-storma1656 line-thunderstorm1887 1887 R. Abercromby Weather 248 We will now give an example of line~thunderstorms which are not associated with the trough either of a V or a cyclone. line-tub n. a tub in which a whaling line is kept. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > whaling equipment > [noun] > tub for keeping line in line-tub1839 1839 J. N. Reynolds in Knickerbocker May 382 Line-tubs, water-kegs, and wafe-poles, were thrown hurriedly into the boats. 1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick cxxxiv. 617 Reaching out after the revolving line-tubs, oars and other floating furniture. line-way n. †(a) a tow-path; (b) ‘a straight direct path’ (Halliwell 1847). ΘΠ society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > track, trail, or path > [noun] > beside a canal or river for towing line-way1464 towing-path1726 tow-path1788 track-road1828 track-path1839 trackway1873 barge-walk1880 1464 Rolls of Parl. V. 569/2 A waye on either syde of the seid water called a lyne weye, to convey the said Trowes, Botes, Cobles and Shutes, on the seid water. line-width n. Physics the width of a spectral line as measured by the difference in wavelength, wave number, or frequency between its two sides. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > spectral line > width of line-width1946 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > band or line forming part of > width of line-width1946 1946 Nature 28 Sept. 450/1 Measures of effective line-width, made..upon the brilliant reversal of the Hα (λ 6563) contour. 1962 Sci. Surv. 3 67 The current reports of the line-width of the radiation produced by the helium-neon optical maser show the line-width is approximately one cycle per second. 1971 New Scientist 3 June 565/2 Molecular linewidths are of the order of 10^–3 cm^–1 at room temperature. 1972 Physics Bull. Feb. 83/2 A dye laser tuned to give a sodium linewidth of a hundredth of an ångstrom. line-wire n. Telegraphy the wire which connects the stations of a telegraph-line. ΚΠ 1870 F. L. Pope Electr. Telegr. (1872) iii. 24 A Telegraphic Circuit consists of one or more batteries, the line wire, the instruments and the earth. line-work n. (a) drawing or designing executed with the pen or pencil (as opposed to wash, etc.); (b) (see quot. 1968); (c) work as a lineman. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > drawing in specific manner purfling1601 outlining1795 lining1823 sketching1824 free-hand1841 model-drawing1843 cartooning1846 line-work1895 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > relief engraving > [noun] > other techniques gypsography1840 chemigraphy1853 cameo-embossing1878 chemigraph1892 line-work1895 blind printing1904 gauffrage1904 1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. vii. 205 Cross-hatching, solid black, line-work. 1904 Brit. Printer Apr. 86/2 Line work negatives are printed on to zinc. 1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights ii. 32 I'm just through with a summer's line~work in the West. 1962 Times 10 Jan. 13/4 The pen drawing..is admirable..projecting in its free and open linework all the completeness of an oil composition. 1968 Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 10 Line work, copy or reproduction consisting of solid elements only, as distinct from half-tone. Draft additions 1993 As the final element in words denoting telephone services which provide entertainment, counselling, information, etc. of the kind indicated by the first element, as chat line n. at chat n.¹ Additions, help-line n. at help n. Additions, talkline, etc. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > telephone services answering service1904 information1910 speaking clock1934 talking clock1936 TIM1936 telebus1942 wake-up service1946 subscriber trunk dialling1952 freephone1959 telephone hotline1961 WATS1962 call waiting1963 night line1970 phone-in1970 telephone helpline1970 help-line1980 line1983 Cellnet1984 chat line1984 Vodafone1984 telepoint1987 callback1992 1983 Chicago Sun-Times 5 July 15 The Kids' Line will be added by Talkline, an Elk Grove Village-based service that has offered telephone counseling to adults for the past 10 years. 1986 Advertising Age 9 Jan. 7 Incredible Dial-A-Message Directory..lists more than 2,500 telephone numbers... There are a few lines that would curl Ma Bell's blue hair. An example is the High Society Sexline. 1990 Independent 29 Jan. 8/8 The Wellington Parentline, a telephone advice service, has received 32 calls reporting violence from children towards parents. Draft additions 1997 (Usually as the line). In various sports and games, a mark limiting an area of play on a court or pitch; spec. a mark that must be crossed in order to score; in a race, a mark on the track (actual or notional) that must be crossed in order to win; in Rugby, etc. = line of scrimmage n. at scrimmage n. Phrases 3; contextually = bye-line at bye n.¹ 1c, goal line n., touchline n. 3a. Also figurative in phr. (taken from American football, but influenced by sense 20b) to hold the line, to maintain or support a position, viewpoint, etc. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] > starting or finishing mark > finishing mark marklOE glovec1380 goal1531 winning-post1759 ending-post1760 goalpost1834 tape1867 the line1892 finishing-post1895 finish line1899 1892 Football Cal. 1892–3 63 Not more than 25 yards behind the goal line, and parallel thereto, shall be lines, which shall be called the Dead-Ball Lines. 1902 W. Camp How to play Football Introd. 10 If he elects to continue his running attempts, and eventually carries the ball across the line, he secures a touchdown at the spot where the ball is finally held, after being carried over. 1935 Encycl. Sports, Games & Pastimes Pl. 30 (caption) A throw-in from the line. 1965 Austral. Encycl. VII. 535/2 Prizes are awarded both for the handicap and for the first yacht across the line. 1976 J. Archer Not Penny More xiv. 162 They're neck and neck—one hundred yards to go—it's anybody's race and on the line it's a photo finish. 1978 Rugby World Apr. 40/3 They played commendably open and entertaining Rugby, scoring a total of 30 tries and failing on only one occasion to cross their opponents' line. 1987 Greyhound Star Sept. 7/5 The other semi went to Rogley Avalong who led from trap to line in 34.49. Draft additions 1997 U.S. Betting. The odds quoted by a bookmaker, esp. on a non-racing event (cf. morning line n. at morning n., adv., and int. Compounds 5); also, the point-spread predicted in a football game, from which such odds are calculated. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > odds odds1748 price1829 betting1901 line1964 1964 Maclean's 7 Mar. 14/2 A line of ‘Ottawa eight’ for an Ottawa–Edmonton football game means that Ottawa must win by eight points or more or its backers lose. 1976 N.Y. Times 15 Dec. a18 He is an amateur oddsmaker and has access to ‘the Las Vegas line’, the gambling underworld's football point spread. 1979 Maclean's 22 Jan. 35 The line, published in many daily newspapers, establishes for bookmakers and bettors across the continent the team favored to win each game and by how many points. 1992 Esquire Feb. 63/1 It was his line out of Las Vegas upon which all the bets across the country on college and pro games were based. Draft additions 1997 a. In certain team games, a strategic formation of players in a row, as for a throw-in; spec. in Rugby = three-quarter line n. at three-quarter n., adj., and adv. Compounds; in Rugby Union = line-out n.¹ ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > characteristics of team ball games > [noun] > actions or manoeuvres ball1483 through-pass1673 intercept1821 fielding1823 outfielding1851 wrist stroke1851 goalkeeping1856 shot1868 scrimmage1872 passing1882 save1883 touchback1884 angle shot1885 shooting1885 pass1887 line1891 tackling1893 feeding1897 centre1898 chip shot1899 glovework1906 back-lift1912 push pass1919 aerial1921 screen1921 ball-hawking1925 fast break1929 tackle1930 chip1939 screenshot1940 snapshot1961 hang time1969 one-two1969 blooter1976 passback1976 sidefoot1979 1891 Football News 12 Sept. 1/4 The Newark Committee were very desirous to see the line of forwards opposed to some really good backs. 1896 B. F. Robinson Rugby Football xii. 209 Away it flies, fair and true, about half-way down the long line. 1929 Daily Express 15 Apr. 16/2 The line never moved with a swing that looked like bringing a goal. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. 39/5 Doug Acomb and Frank Hamill scored two goals each as their line turned in one of its best performances of the season. 1976 Leicester Mercury 14 Oct. 46/1 When the ball did come down the line it inevitably went to John Reeve. 1991 Don Heinrich's Pro Preview 91 28/2 Right tackle Howard..Ballard has come a long way since quarterback Jim Kelly fingered him two years ago as the line's weak link. b. A dose of a powdered narcotic, esp. cocaine, laid out in a thin line for inhalation. slang. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > line of narcotics for inhalation line1971 rail1983 1971 Black Scholar Sept. 36/1 He..rolled a ten dollar bill up into a quill and gave the coke and quill to Christine, who snorted half of the line on the card. 1980 Observer 30 Mar. 1/6 Everybody I know takes heroin... Every party I go to has smack available, lines and lines of it. 1988 J. McInerney Story of my Life iv. 59 Didi's just bought her stash for the night and she wants to come over. God, I don't know. A couple of lines would be nice, but I've got class in the morning. 1988 J. McInerney Story of my Life iv. 61 She rolls her own bill, [and] does a couple of monster lines—what Didi calls lines other people call grams. 1990 K. Wozencraft Rush iv. 49 I snuffed up the lines and passed the tooter back to him. 1992 Guardian 28 Mar. (Weekend Suppl.) 9 Some Krug, a couple of Es, a few lines and, nowadays, it shows. I suppose it's called getting old. I'm 26. Draft additions 1997 spec. = airline n. 2. ΘΚΠ society > travel > air or space travel > transport by air > [noun] > public service airline airline1890 air service1911 airway1920 line1920 1920 Aerial Year Bk. 261/2 Many commercial lines have been established for carrying passangers. 1935 C. G. Burge Compl. Bk. Aviation 217/1 Where there is competition with other lines on the London–Paris route, this comfort is found to attract custom. 1960 C. H. Gibbs-Smith Aeroplane xiii. 99 The world's first daily commercial scheduled air service opened on August 25th [1919]... The line was operated..by..Aircraft Transport and Travel Ltd. 1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate v. 134 ‘There's a Dutch line from Amman...’ ‘Well, Joanna, there's no record of the name Vaughan on any of the airlines.’ 1977 Rolling Stone 30 June 81/1 After a mere forty-minute lay-over we were to connect with that line's nine-hour-plus direct flight to Honolulu. Draft additions 1997 Biology. = lineage n. Additions 3. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > heredity or hereditary descent > [noun] > line of descent > species each evolving from predecessor lineage1940 line1951 1951 G. S. Carter Animal Evol. i. 30 This conception is very different from that generally held a few years ago. A population was then thought of as consisting of many lines or lineages, each evolving more or less independently and replacing each other as the result of natural selection. 1973 J. Bronowski Ascent of Man i. 38 Australopithecus robustus is manlike and his line does not lead elsewhere; it has simply become extinct. 1979 D. Attenborough Life on Earth (1981) ii. 35 To trace the invertebrate lines back to their origins, we must find another site where rocks were not only deposited continuously throughout this critical period, but have survived in a relatively undistorted condition. 1992 Nat. Hist. Feb. 70/3 Falk also notes common features in the brain venous sinuses of gracile australopithecines and hominids,..and she constructs the lineage accordingly. A. gracilis led to the hominid line in which brain size increased so dramatically. Draft additions 1997 spec. A breed or variety of plant or animal universally characterized by a feature or trait whose strength is the criterion for continued selection by breeders. Cf. line-bred adj., line-breeding n. at Compounds 2 below. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > variety or species > [noun] > types of stroller1723 natural order1785 subvariety1785 line1805 alliance1835 aggregate1859 stirps1866 segregate1871 cultigen1918 agamospecies1929 the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > livestock > stock or breed > with strong trait ensuring continued selection line1805 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. xiii. 1103 It would appear that..the most certain method..is to breed in the same line, perhaps in the same family; as, by a careful procedure in this way, the expert breeder may not only have the greatest security for attaining that improvement which he is anxious to produce, but run the least risk of deterioration. 1909 R. H. Lock Recent Progress Study Variation, Heredity & Evol. (ed. 2) xi. 318 In a single pure line genetic variability is sensibly absent. The members of such a pure line exhibit, however, very considerable acquired variability, so that in this way each line shows a normal variability of its own. 1974 A. Huxley Plant & Planet xiii. 123 Continuously self-pollinated plants of one species in limited habitats may produce such pure-breeding ‘lines’ as to create virtually new species. 1985 E. H. Hart German Shepherd Dog iv. 66 It is..not that these lines have disappeared; it is just that they have not been so seriously bred upon as they once had been. Draft additions 1997 a. The scent that the hounds have of the quarry; esp. in to hit off the line, to pick up the scent after a check. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > work done by hounds > action of hounds [verb (intransitive)] > strike scent scenta1398 find1565 hit it off1704 to hit off a fault1749 to hit off the line1977 1898 St. James's Gaz. 15 Nov. 6/1 Hounds drove along after their fox in rare style,..the line was worked out to Houghton. 1900 Ld. Coventry in A. E. T. Watson Young Sportsman 352 An old hound drops his nose; he shows a line; his companions follow his lead. 1930 I. Bell in C. Frederick et al. Fox-Hunting v. 59 They will try hard all day on a poor scent, yet at the first improvement..will quicken on the line. 1930 C. Aldin in C. Frederick et al. Fox-Hunting xxvi. 257 The huntsman hits off the line again with hardly a check. 1977 Abingdon Herald 17 Mar. 6/6 They were lifted back towards Besselsleigh, hit off the line again, and killed on the plough near the woods. 1991 Sports Illustr. 14 Jan. 5/3 The lead hound gives tongue, and the pack takes off, following the line of scent. b. In Golf, the direction of the hole from the position of a player's ball. In Cricket, the direction of flight of the ball from the bowler's hand; frequently in to play (hit, etc.) across the line. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > bowl [verb (intransitive)] > motion of ball to make haste?a1475 twist?1801 cut1816 shoot1816 curl1833 hang1838 work1838 break1847 spin1851 turn1851 bump1856 bite1867 pop1871 swerve1894 to kick up1895 nip1899 swing1900 google1907 move1938 seam1960 to play (hit, etc.) across the line1961 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > properties of length1772 pace?1801 bias1822 pitch1833 line1961 1961 Times 18 Aug. 3/3 At 18 Pullar was bowled by Davidson, playing across the line. 1969 Times 25 Aug. 9/2 Harris, eventually, was leg-before, hitting enthusiastically across the line. Draft additions 1997 line switch n. Telephony Originally: any switch for connecting a subscriber's line. Now: a preselector. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > exchange > exchange equipment private line1852 bank1884 call-disc1884 howler1886 trunk1889 multiple switchboard1891 rack1893 line switch1898 heat coil1900 relay rack1902 multiple1905 listening key1906 telharmonium1906 wiper1906 preselector1912 line finder1922 rank1924 routiner1928 keysender1929 uniselector1930 wiper arm1933 1898 J. Bell & S. Wilson Pract. Telephony xii. 157 Suppose No. 5 wishes to speak to No. 3, he turns the handle of the line-switch until the pointer is opposite 3, presses the ringing button, takes the receiver off the hook, and, after finishing conversation, replaces the receiver, which causes the pointer to return automatically to zero. 1909 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 1908 27 509 For the benefit of those not familiar with automatic switchboards, the writer will state that each line terminates in what is generally called a line switch. 1924 H. H. Harrison Introd. Strowger Syst. Autom. Telephony i. 26 The preselector or line switch..hunts to find one of ten or more idle group selectors. 1938 C. W. Wilman Automatic Teleph. (ed. 2) iii. 20 Each subscriber's line is now connected to the wipers of a single-motion, non-numerical selector, known as a lineswitch. 1982 G. Langley Telephony's Dict. 115/1 Lineswitch, a switch in a dial office which connects a subscriber's line with the first available idle trunk in the next switching stage. Draft additions September 2016 Medicine. A length of sterile tubing inserted into an artery or (more commonly) a vein in order to provide temporary access, esp. for the purpose of administering fluids, withdrawing blood samples, etc. ΚΠ 1951 Ann. Surg. 134 716/2 The pressure in the arterial line was 1200 mm. Hg due to use of a small cannula. 1967 Dis. of Chest 51 451/1 A hole in the intravenous line..will allow air to be actively drawn into the system without leakage of fluid. This occurs when the line is raised above the hydraulic gradient. 2007 New Yorker 10 Dec. 88/3 She put a third, slightly thicker line, for dialysis, through his right upper chest and into the subclavian vein. Draft additions June 2003 figurative. (to draw, run, etc.) a line in the sand: (to establish) a limit or boundary; (to specify) a level of tolerance or a point beyond which one will not go. Π 1850 Boston Post 23 July 2/5 He would prefer striking out the clause prohibiting the establishment or exclusion and extending the Missouri line without an express recognition of slavery south of it. It would be running a line in the sand. 1953 Daily Republican (Mitchell, S. Dakota) 28 July 4/1 The Communists..were obviously trying to see how far they could go before the free world drew a line in the sand and said,‘This is it.’ 1978 Washington Post 29 Aug. a7/5 Notwithstanding the supposed public revulsion toward more federal spending, waste and bureaucracy-building, Congress seems to have gone out of its way to draw a wide line in the sand in front of Carter. 1995 Village Voice (N.Y.) 7 Mar. 20/2 From an organized-labor point of view, this is the line in the sand, the bottom of the ninth, the sudden death overtime. 1996 Scotsman 23 July 15/1 Whenever John Major draws a line in the sand, you can be sure some Eurosceptic bully will come along and kick it in his face. 2001 ON 5 Feb. 67/2 Like many other administrators, Hagen has become more willing to draw a line in the sand sooner and threaten troublemakers with expulsion sooner. Draft additions March 2015 the latest (also last) in a long line of and variants: the most recent of many such examples; the latest manifestation of an established phenomenon or familiar pattern. Π 1857 W. Isham in Mag. of Trav. 1 xxxix. 357 A temple..[which is] the last in a long line of architectural wonders, commencing with the pyramids. 1890 Shelbyville (Indiana) Daily Democrat 25 Nov. 2/1 Nebraska..is the latest in a long line of states that have..emphatically rejected the nostrum. 1952 Econ. Jrnl. 62 398 An agrarian movement which is only the latest of a long line of similar movements. 1994 J. Campbell Pride's Last Race i. 4 This was only the last in a long line of irritations and problems. 2011 Scotsman (Nexis) 30 Aug. 43 This is only the latest in a long line of public criticisms of its investment practices. Draft additions September 2018 colloquial (chiefly North American regional, Australian, and New Zealand). up the line: denoting a place or region further along a railway line or road, esp. a place situated to the north or in a more remote or rural area. Also used adverbially: in or towards such a place. Now also English regional (Devon and Cornwall): outside of Devon or Cornwall. ΚΠ 1873 Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Jrnl. 1 Nov. The city has been full of ‘carpet baggers’ from up the line all week. 1944 M. Trist in Coast to Coast 1943 225 Else and that fellow from up the line. There's been sin. 1951 J. Kerouac On the Road: Orig. Scroll (2007) 126 A fairly new car stopped... ‘Where you going?’ ‘Denver.’ ‘Well I can take you a hundred miles up the line.’ 1992 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 4 Sept. a3 The Richardsons had..scores of relatives ‘up the line’ and a family cottage near Perth. 2003 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 8 May 11 The South West's wealthy are apparently going up the line to Bristol and Bath to spend their money. 2012 @samkev22 11 Nov. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) He came down from up the line just so he could go to remembrance service on plymouth hoe. Draft additions December 2019 line of report n. Business (originally) a channel of communication between two or more individuals, departments, etc.; (later usually) a system or relationship in which an employee reports to or is accountable to a particular manager; cf. report v. 3c, reporting line n. at reporting n. Compounds 2. ΚΠ 1902 Street Railway Rev. 20 June 340/1 The accompanying diagram..shows the scheme of organization recently put in effect there... The solid lines indicates the direct line of report and the dotted lines indirect lines of report which may be necessary when emergencies arise. 1984 M. A. Allison & E. Allison Managing up, managing Down xvii. 202 They are to accept assignments and direction only from you (or those senior to you in your line of report). 2015 Strategic Finance June 43/1 This involves clearly defining accountability for each role filled as well as delineating the lines of report. Draft additions March 2020 line break n. a point at which text is split into two lines; the end of a line.Particularly used in the context either of lines of poetry or of hyphenation of a word at the end of a line of continuous text. Π 1918 Jrnl. Educ. (Univ. of Boston School of Educ.) 7 Nov. 460/1 With all the strained adjectives, sprained similes, absurd line-breaks, absolute prose, and absolute bosh of many devotees of the ‘New Poetry’. 1990 B. Harkness & S. W. Reid in J. Conrad's Secret Agent 307 (note) [The first edition and manuscript] have in common a total of six..hyphenated forms, but two are at a line break in the MS, and only one of these appears to represent a genuine word-division hyphen. 2014 N.Y. Times 15 Sept. (Late ed.) b4/2 Some have hired programmers to hand-code poetry e-books so that line breaks and stanzas are maintained. Draft additions June 2017 line call n. Sport (esp. Tennis) a decision made by a line judge, umpire, etc., as to whether a ball is out of play. ΚΠ 1947 N.Y. Times 25 June 42/4 He became visibly disturbed by a line call. 1994 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 29 Aug. 38 The Canadian rallied in the second set and, aided by a dubious line call, skipped away to a 5-0 lead. 2013 Vanity Fair July 84/1 Four Courts, including Centre Court and No. 1 Court, are equipped with Hawk-Eye cameras to help decide line calls. 2013 S. S. Bates Topspin 120 She threw a little tantrum whenever she thought we made a bad line call. Draft additions September 2013 line-caught adj. (of a fish) that has been caught by angling rather than in a net or trawl. ΚΠ 1866 Jrnl. Agric. Jan. 376 Line-caught fish hauled up from great depths reach the surface of the water either dead or dying. 1992 M. Blonsky Amer. Mythologies (1993) iii. 92 Petrossian's more adept clientele know that his salmon is always line-caught to avoid the damage that can occur in seine-caught fish. 2007 Independent on Sunday 10 June (New Review) 57/1 Sea trout, river trout and salmon are all beautiful at this time of year—but you should always look for wild and line-caught. Draft additions September 2018 line cook n. originally and chiefly North American a chef responsible for a particular area (or line) of production in the kitchen of a restaurant; a chef de partie. ΚΠ 1965 Daily Jrnl.-Gaz. (Mattoon, Illinois) 8 Apr. 11/2 (advt.) Day shift help needed... 2 Line cooks. 1989 Ploughshares 15 70 He'd taken a job as a line cook at a truckstop in Red Bluff. 2000 A. Bourdain Kitchen Confid. (2001) 295 When you're a hungry, underpaid line cook, those filet mignons you're searing off by the dozen look mighty good. 2015 Philippines Daily Inquirer (Nexis) 7 May She was many things, but she never was a line cook in a restaurant. Draft additions December 2013 line defect n. (a) a defect in a telegraph, telephone, or electricity line; (b) Crystallography a defect in a crystal lattice in the form of a linear dislocation of the atoms, such as an edge dislocation or a screw dislocation. ΚΠ 1874 F. J. Goldsmid Telegraph & Trav. v.257 Major Champain reached Baghdad on the 5th March, having carefully scrutinised the line defects apparent on the road. 1918 Electr. World 16 Mar. 586/3 Notice of line defect.—In action for death of child from contact with a wire of a fence electrified by defendant's live wire, which had fallen upon it. 1938 U.S. Patent 2,113,140 4/2 The relays constitute part of a control means for adjusting the supervisory trip control for line defects. 1953 L. S. Darken & R. W. Gurry Physical Chem. Metals iii. 73 Line defects (dislocations). These provide the most widely accepted mechanism, or mechanisms, for plastic deformation. 1987 Physics Bull. Mar. 109/1 The types of crystal defect revealed in electron micrographs include line defects (dislocations), planar defects (stacking faults, twins) and small inclusions. 1987 InfoWorld (Nexis) 1 June 60 This study measured line defects over a large sample of long-distance connections. 2011 A. C. Reardon Metall. for Non-metallurgist (ed. 2) ii. 22/2 The main type of line defect is an edge dislocation, where a partial plane of extra atoms is present either above or below the dislocation line. Draft additions June 2017 line judge n. Sport (in games played on a field or court) an official who assists the referee or umpire from the sideline or touchline, especially in deciding whether the ball is out of play; cf. line umpire n. at Additions. ΚΠ 1925 North-China Herald 19 Dec. 530/1 There were neither line judges not referee. 1971 Sunday Times 31 Jan. 12/1 Tennis players lecture the line judge. 2014 S. Starkey Revenge of Bully vii. 74 The line judge walked over and picked up the ball I had spiked. Draft additions June 2017 line umpire n. Sport (esp. Tennis) (in games played on a field or court) an official who assists the referee or umpire from the sideline or touchline, especially in deciding whether the ball is out of play; cf. line judge n. at Additions. ΚΠ 1883 Morning Post 12 July 3/6 Messrs. Bird and Frere were the line umpires. 1920 Scotsman 31 Dec. 9/3 Brookes striking one return deliberately out in order to restore an assumed mistake by a line umpire. 2014 S. Levmore in S. Levmore & M. C. Nussbaum Amer. Guy xi. 224 Tennis players occasionally make calls against self-interest even where a line umpire is present. Draft additions September 2022 line coach n. American Football an assistant coach in charge of the linemen; (now) spec. a coach of either the defensive or offensive line, as in defensive line coach, offensive line coach (cf. defensive line n. (b) at defensive adj. and n. Compounds, offensive line n.). ΚΠ 1896 San Francisco Chron. 24 Feb. 5/7 This year he was line coach of the Yale team. 1949 Life 7 Nov. 11/2 The line coaches worked overtime trying to turn an assortment of backs, guards and tackles into ends in time for the next game. 1996 AFCA's Defensive Football Drills (Amer. Football Coaches Assoc.) i. 18 The defensive line coach designates who will rush and which technique he will use. 2011 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) (Nexis) 13 Apr. All offensive line coaches teach their players to hit and hit hard, and the line coaches under Bill Lynch were no exception. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online December 2022). † linen.³ Forms: In quots. lyne; see also lique n. Etymology: < Old French lin, ligne, ling(e. Obsolete. Some kind of ship. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > other types of vessel > [noun] farcost1284 lumbar13.. trowc1330 linec1400 rampinc1500 skey1507 lique1523 sakre1546 salve1588 magara1592 bonaventure1592 centaur1622 Greenlander1692 jackass1826 c1394 J. Malverne Contn. Higden (Rolls) IX. 91 Franci et Hispani in uno balynger et una lyna sulcantes maria circa ora maritima Angliæ.] c1400 T. Walsingham Hist. Angl. (Rolls) II. 135 Duæ grandes galeyæ, et aliud genus ratis quod vocatur ‘lyne’, et una bargia, et septem balingariæ. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cccxxviii. 514 He made redy for him a shyp, called the Lyne, the whiche wolde go on the see with all maner of wyndes without perell. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online March 2021). linen.⁴ Categories » ‘a hat-maker's pad’, given in some dictionaries (as an application of line n.¹) seems to be a spurious word, due to a misreading of lure n.² This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online June 2018). linev.¹ Brit. /lʌɪn/, U.S. /laɪn/ Forms: Middle English–1600s lyne, Middle English lynyn, 1600s loyn, Middle English– line. Etymology: < line n.¹; with primary reference to the frequent use of linen as a lining material for articles of clothing. 1. a. transitive. To apply a second layer of material (usually different from that of the article ‘lined’) to the inner side of (a garment; in later use, any covering or containing object); to cover on the inside. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > tailor or make clothes [verb (transitive)] > line double14.. stuffc1400 linec1405 the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line linec1405 underlay1502 underline1545 interlard1632 case1812 c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 442 In sangwyn and in Pers he clad was al Lyned with Taffata and with Sendal. 1432 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 91 A russet gounne lynyt with whythe blanket. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. ccxxxix The sleues and brest were cutte, lyned with cloth of golde. 1591 T. Lodge Catharos (1875) 30 Thou buiest a warme gowne against Winter and linest it well. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 742 Then must the inside be lined with boords, to the intent that the beast..make no euasion. 1664 A. Wood Life & Times (1892) II. 24 For loyning and lengthning my new yarn stockings, 3d. 1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. vi. v. 423 You may use..Tin~plates lined with soft Linings to receive the fractured Member. 1679 A. Wood Life & Times (1892) II. 449 Dr. Michael Roberts..died with a girdle loyned with broad gold about him (100li. they say). 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 28 Aug. (1965) I. 431 The Church of the Anunciata is finely lin'd with Marble. 1795 E. Burke Lett. Peace Regic. France iv, in Wks. (1818) IX. 123 An ambassador, whose robes are lined with a scarlet dyed in the blood of Judges. 1820 S. Smith Mem. (1855) II. 197 Lady Granville is nervous on account of her room being lined with Spitalfields silk. 1830 R. Southey in Fraser's Mag. Apr. 256 With amianth he lined the nest, And incombustible asbest. 1845 G. Budd On Dis. Liver 147 Abscesses,..lined by a distinct, but very thin membrane. 1872 J. Yeats Techn. Hist. Commerce 339 A mode of lining culinary..articles with enamel. b. transferred and figurative. ΚΠ c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lv. 29 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 56 Mischeif cloth'd in deceit, with treason lin'd. 1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 16 Nature hath..lined them [sc. serpents] with a more thicke and substantiall flesh. 1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions ii. vii. 175 How can you escape to be involved in a treason, lined with perjury? 1693 J. Dryden tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires vi. 122 Unless some Antidote..lines with Balsom all the Noble parts. 1745 E. Young Complaint: Night the Eighth 26 With modest Laughter lining loud Applause. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters ii. 149 In a few minutes..it is lined with bright, small air bubbles. 1780 W. Cowper Table Talk 59 The diadem with mighty projects lined. 1785 W. Cowper Task i. 310 The willow such, And poplar that with silver lines his leaf. †2. To strengthen by placing something along the side of; to reinforce, fortify. Also figurative. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) ii. iv. 7 To lyne and new repayre our Townes of Warre. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. iii. 110 He..did lyne the Rebell with hidden helpe, And vantage. View more context for this quotation a1626 F. Bacon Considerations War with Spain in Misc. Wks. (1629) 43 Two Generals,..lined and assisted with Subordinate Commanders of great Experience. a1659 F. Osborne Characters in Wks. (1673) 630 Your Resolution is too well lined by Philosophy against the storms of Danger, to admit a Parley with any force but that of Reason. 1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 275 The upper part of the Town, where the Walls were not lined with banks, he thought fit to batter. 1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I To Line a Work, is to strengthen a Rampart with a firm Wall, or to encompass a Parapet or Moat with good Turf, &c. 1761 C. Churchill Rosciad 18 Receiv'd, with joyful murmurs of applause, Their darling chief, and lin'd his fav'rite cause. 3. To fill (one's purse, pockets, stomach, etc.) with something that may be spoken of as a lining; to cram, stuff. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > stuff or cram cramc1000 pitchc1300 thrustc1380 purra1398 stopc1400 farcec1405 stuffc1440 line?1521 enfarce1531 threstc1540 pack1567 prag1567 prop1568 referse1580 thwack1582 ram1590 pang1637 farcinate1638 stivea1639 thrack1655 to craw outa1658 trig1660 steeve1669 stow1710 jam1719 squab1819 farcy1830 cram-jam1880 jam-pack1936 ?1521 A. Barclay Bk. Codrus & Mynalcas sig. A^v He had a pautner, with purses manyfolde And surely lyned, with syluer and with golde. 1549 R. Crowley Voyce Laste Trumpet sig. Bviii Thou wylt viset no sicke man That cannot lyue thy pursse with gould. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. iii. 27 Who lined himselfe with hope, Eating the ayre, and promise of supplie. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 154 The Iustice, In faire round belly, with good Capon lin'd . View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) ii. iii. 65 What If I do line one of their hands, 'tis Gold Which buyes admittance. View more context for this quotation 1633 P. Massinger New Way to pay Old Debts iv. i. sig. H3^v Alw. I will not faile my Lord. Greed. Nor I to line My Christmas coffer. 1669 J. Dryden Wild Gallant i. i. 5 When I have lined my sides with a good dinner. 1673 J. Dryden Assignation Prol. sig. A6 You come to Plays with your own Follies lin'd. 1731 ‘C. Crambo’ Mr. Bowman's Serm. 29 Tho' such Change would line our Breeches. 1795 J. O'Keeffe Friar of Orders Gray (song) ii With old sack wine I'm lin'd within. 1820 W. Combe Second Tour Dr. Syntax xxvii. 42 For now I have my purse well lin'd Nor doth a fear assail my mind. 1824 W. Carr Horæ Momenta Cravenæ Gloss. 90 Lined, drunk. ‘He's weel lined’. 1866 J. G. Whittier Maids of Attitash 30 No bridegroom's hand be mine to hold That is not lined with yellow gold. 4. To cover the outside of; to overlay, drape, pad, literal and figurative; to face (a turf-slope). Obsolete exc. Nautical, to add a layer of wood to. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] beteec893 wryOE heelOE hilla1240 forhilla1300 covera1400 curea1400 covertc1420 paviliona1509 overdeck1509 heild?a1513 deck?1521 overhale1568 line1572 skin1618 operculate1623 endue1644 theek1667 to do over1700 sheugh1755 occlude1879 1572 G. Gascoigne Councell to Withipoll in Hearbes (1575) 152 Theyr smoothed tongues are lyned all with guyle. 1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §158 A Soft Body dampeth the Sound, much more than a Hard..And therefore in Clericalls, the Keyes are lined. 1663 A. Wood Life & Times (1891) I. 481 The rayles..were loyned in mourning. 1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 5 A fuzzy kinde of substance like little sponges, with which she [Nature] hath lined the soles of her [the fly's] feet. 1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 67 Slopes..require more Circumspection in the Method of lining them with Turf. 1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 31 Bowsprits made of two trees, are coaked together in the middle, and bolted as masts, and lined to the size. 1796 C. Marshall Gardening (1813) xviii. 293 If the bed gets over cool, line it, or cover round with straw. 5. In certain technical senses (chiefly to line up). a. Bookbinding. To glue on the back of (a book) a paper covering continuous with the lining of the back of the cover. ΚΠ 1880 J. W. Zaehnsdorf Art of Bookbinding xix. 85 This class of work is not lined up. The leather is stuck directly upon the book. 1885 W. J. E. Crane Bookbinding xv. 118 Before lining the back, the headband should be set. b. Cabinet-making. To put a moulding round (the top of a piece of furniture). ΚΠ 1889 Work 22 June I. 234/1 A small toilet table was being lined up. 6. To serve or be used as a lining for. (Cf. senses 1, 3, 4.) ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > serve as a lining for line1726 1726 J. Swift Bec's Birth-day 8 Nov. 34 Domestic business never mind Till coffee has her stomach lin'd. 1733 J. Swift On Poetry 10 Your Poem sunk, And sent in Quires to line a Trunk. 1794 W. Cowper Needless Alarm 15 Wide yawns a gulf beside a ragged thorn; Bricks line the sides, but shivered long ago. 1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam lxxv. 105 These mortal lullabies of pain May bind a book, may line a box. View more context for this quotation 1885 Law Times Rep. 52 738/1 Small quantities of gold and silver..became embedded in the bricks lining the furnaces. 1892 Speaker 3 Sept. 289/2 Wild rose..falling..down to the daisied grass that lines the ditches. 1895 I. Zangwill Master ii. iv. 167 Caricatures of..sensuous faces lined the walls. Draft additions 1997 spec. in Cookery, to cover the inside of (a dish, tin, or other vessel) with pastry, paper, etc., esp. before baking. ΘΚΠ the world > space > distance > nearness > be near to [verb (transitive)] > be in contact with > border on toucha1387 coastc1400 border1535 to bound on?1577 mere1577 board1596 bank1598 skirt1602 tract1612 bounder1636 buttal1642 border1647 hadland1649 line1846 the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > general preparation processes > perform general preparation processes [verb (transitive)] > line dish line1846 1846 A. Soyer Gastron. Regenerator 696 A round-bottomed basin..which line with two thirds of the paste. 1861 I. M. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 854 Having lined a hoop with buttered paper, fill it with the [cake] mixture. 1908 F. A. George Vegetarian Cookery v. 56 Butter a pie-dish and line it with half the lentil paste. 1948 Good Housek. Cookery Bk. 552 For sponge sandwiches line the bottom of the tins with a round of greaseproof paper. 1978 C. Conran Brit. Cooking 195/2 Summer pudding... Take a 1-litre..pudding basin and line it with slices of bread. 1992 Food Entertaining Summer 88/3 Line a baking tray with baking parchment (not greaseproof paper) and smooth on the meringue mixture. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online March 2022). linev.² Brit. /lʌɪn/, U.S. /laɪn/ Forms: Also Middle English–1500s lyne. Etymology: < line n.² Compare Latin līneāre, French ligner (Old French lignier), Spanish linear, Italian lineare. 1. transitive. To tie with a line, string, or cord (rare); †to string (a bow) (obsolete). ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > production and development of arms > produce or develop arms [verb (transitive)] > string a bow linea1398 stringc1400 society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with rope, cord, or line linea1398 ropea1400 cord1610 string1613 kinch1808 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. xcvii. 988 Þe flex is..ygadered al hool. And is þanne lyned. c1480 (a1400) St. John Evangelist 478 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 123 Þe ȝunge man þan his bov bent syne, and vith his hand þare-vith can lyne. 1872 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 131 Cunning mules..are lined, that is, the forefoot is tied to the hindfoot on the same side. 2. To measure or test with a line, to cut to a line; also absol. Occasionally figurative to reach as with a measuring-line. Obsolete except in technical use. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > measure (off) a length or distance [verb (transitive)] > with a line linea1400 a1400 Burgh Laws cv, in Sc. Stat. I Þat þai sall leilly lyne in lenth as braidnes baith foir part and back part of þe land. 1466 Contract 25 June in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) III. 93 The bordes shalbe lynyd and leyd on hye on the gistes. 1541 Aberd. Reg. XVII. in J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (1825) The Baillies ordanit the lynaris to pass to the ground of the said tenement, and lyne and marche the same, &c. c1575 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 44 I sall lyne landis lellelie betwix parteis. 1650 H. Vaughan Silex Scintillans 56 A sweet self-privacy in a right soul Out-runs the Earth, and lines the utmost pole. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 12 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) As they line or sound for the depth of a River. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 116 Then if the trunk is to be squared it is ‘lined’. The string is fastened at one end, and, mounting the tree, the foreman moves the line about until he finds what branches should be cut away to trim the trunk to the best advantage. 3. a. (U.S.) To angle with a hook and line. rare. ΚΠ 1833 [implied in: J. V. C. Smith Fishes Massachusetts 262 It [Weak-Fish] is taken both by lining and seining. (at lining n.² 5)]. b. transitive and intransitive. To guide or control a boat or canoe from the bank or shore of a stretch of inland water by means of a rope or ropes. North American. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > propelling other than by sail or oars > propel boat other than by sail or oars [verb (transitive)] > guide or control by ropes line1907 1907 J. G. Millais Newfoundland 305 Several times they packed everything for a mile or two, but negotiated most of the worst rapids by ‘lining’ down them. 1912 H. Footner New Rivers of North 125 No one has ever descended it alive, but there is a tradition that a party of Iroquois Indians in the ‘company's’ employ once lined a boat up. 1923 L. R. Freeman Colorado River 356 The low stage.. gave them room to work below instead of lining from a ledge, eighty feet above the water. 1944 T. Onraet Down North ii. 29 The skiff was too heavy for carrying, and to line it down as we had done in the rapids above was impossible. 1969 E. W. Morse Fur Trade Canoe Routes i. i. 5 Provided that the shoreline was reasonably free of snags, the canoe was lined (tracked). 4. To trace with, or as with, a line or lines; to delineate, sketch. Chiefly in combination with adverbs to line in: to put in with a hard pencil the permanent lines of (a freehand drawing); also, to insert (objects) in the outline of a picture. to line off: to mark off by lines. to line out: to trace the outlines of (something to be constructed); to prescribe in general outline; to forecast, adumbrate. ΘΚΠ society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > make plan or diagram of [verb (transitive)] to set down in plat1508 to plat forth1556 delineate1579 plot1588 plat1589 trace1599 to line outa1616 lineament1638 to lay down1669 design1697 plan1734 draught1828 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > draw [verb (transitive)] writeeOE drawa1398 descrivec1400 describe1538 to draw forth1539 to set out1545 design1570 to draw out1576 detrain1587 lineate16.. linea1616 redraw1728 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > draw [verb (transitive)] > in specific manner trick1545 purfle1601 profile1715 outline?1790 black1840 to line in1886 a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. ii. 90 All the pictures fairest Linde, are but blacke to Rosalinde. View more context for this quotation 1618 G. Mynshul Ess. Prison 1 My purpose is, with dim water-colours to line me out a heart. 1649 R. Baxter Saints Everlasting Rest (new ed.) iv. xiii. §1 I have..lined you out the best way that I know for your successful performance. 1677 A. Yarranton England's Improvem. 138 Here is a way plainly lined out to cheat the Rats and Mice. 1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 264 Mr. D...has boldly lined off streets and a market place through the very heart of the moor. 1819 W. Scott Legend of Montrose ii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. IV. 36 He again strongly conjured him to construct a sconce upon the round hill called Drumsnab, and offered his own friendly services in lining out the same. 1880 G. Meredith Tragic Comedians II. iii. 43 She had seen them [sc. mountain heights] day after day thinly lined on the dead sky. 1886 W. Milligan Bk. of Revelation (1887) vi. 231 The picture may not yet be realised in fulness, but every blessing lined in upon its canvas is in principle the believer's now. 1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 304 Thick or compressed lips, open or sunken eyes, straight or hooked noses, may enable one to roughly line out a disposition. 5. To mark with a line or lines; to impress lines upon; to cover with lines. Also with off, out. to line out: spec. to delete, obliterate. to line through: to draw a line through (an entry), to cross out. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > efface, obliterate [verb (transitive)] > erase by marking strikec1386 to rub offa1425 cancelc1440 streakc1440 cross1483 outstrike1487 line1530 to strike out1530 dash1549 to strike off1597 cancellate1664 damask1673 score1687 to run through1817 overscore1834 blue-pencil1883 stroke1885 caviar1890 to stencil out1891 to strike through1898 ex1935 x1942 society > communication > indication > marking > mark [verb (transitive)] > with lines score1495 line1530 strike1539 lineate1558 interline1572 rule1599 quote1601 the world > life > the body > skin > textures or states of skin > [verb (transitive)] > wrinkle frounce1390 shrinka1398 rivel1543 irrugate1566 wrinkle1566 plough1590 wrinklec1590 furrow1597 purse1598 ruge1615 trench1624 lirkc1686 seam1695 line1819 wrink1821 engrain1862 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 611/2 Have you lyned your paper yet? 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 612/1 I lyne, as a carpenter dothe his tymber with a coloured lyne before he square it. 1703 Moxon's Mech. Exercises (new ed.) 100 The Stuff being thus lined is fastned with wedges over the Pit. 1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 130 It [the land] must be lined out into oblong squares. 1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 25 Selfish cares with barren plough, Not age, had lined his narrow brow. 1826 E. Irving Babylon II. v. 64 The chart was lined off..for tracing upon it the rise, and progress. 1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xiii. 120 This entry was afterwards lined through. 1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities i. iv. 11 He had a healthy colour in his cheeks, and his face, though lined, bore few traces of anxiety. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. To line a ship, is to strike off with a batten, or otherwise, the directional lines for painting her. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Line out stuff, to mark timber for dressing to shape. 1874 S. J. P. Thearle Naval Archit. (new ed.) I. 99 The edges and butts of the plates are lined off. 1892 Daily News 26 Jan. 3/1 Every piece of wood [should] be correctly lined before being cut or planed. 1900 A. Black in Expositor Sept. 223 The pale wronged face, lined with melancholy resignation. 1963 S. Weintraub Private Shaw & Public Shaw iii. 94 G.B.S...both edited and altered the language of the..contract,..boldly lining out large passages and inserting new ones. 6. To read out (a metrical psalm, a hymn) line by line for the congregation to sing. Also to line out. ΘΚΠ society > faith > worship > church music > [verb (transitive)] > sing or chant > lead singing set?c1450 to take up1577 line1853 hist1857 society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > sing [verb (transitive)] > precent set?c1450 to take up1577 precent1639 tune1667 line1853 hist1857 1853 N. D. Gould Hist. Church Mus. Amer. 47 This custom..of reading, or lining, or, as it was frequently called, ‘deaconing’ the hymn or psalm in the churches. 1885 Cent. Mag. 29 549/2 The preacher was lining out a hymn. He lined out two lines, everybody sung it. 7. U.S. To follow the line of flight of (bees). ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (transitive)] > watch or observe > follow with eyes > specific bees line1827 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. v. 78 I had lined a beautiful swarm that very day into the hollow of a dead beech. 1833 H. Martineau Briery Creek ii. 32 Girls..lining the wild bees to their haunt in the hollow tree. 1879 J. Burroughs Locusts & Wild Honey 25 I emerged..just in time to see the runaways disappearing over the top of the hill... Lining them as well as I could, I soon reached the hill-top. 8. a. transitive. To bring (ships, soldiers, etc.) into a line or into line with others; to bring (one's boat) into line with that of (another). Hence U.S. to assign (a person) to (certain work). Also, to aim in a direct line upon an object. to line up (originally U.S.): to align, arrange, deploy, produce, or make ready (someone or something); also in various slang uses (see quots.). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > quality or fact of being in a line (with) > bring into (a) line [verb (transitive)] align1693 allineate1785 line1796 to bring into (a) line1851 parallelize1853 the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > form (a) row(s) or line(s [verb (intransitive)] rank1582 range1697 to fall in (also into) line1747 line1790 to line up1796 to toe a (also the) line (or mark, scratch, crack, trig)1813 daisy-chain1968 society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [verb (transitive)] > appoint to an office or position setc1000 to make placea1387 give1535 placea1568 locate1602 shop1808 berth1865 line1886 the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > use or make use of [verb (transitive)] > use for specific purpose > specifically a person to line up1906 the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > prepare [verb (transitive)] yarec888 yarkc1000 graithc1175 readya1225 biredienc1275 to make yarec1290 forgraitha1300 adightc1330 buskc1330 purveyc1330 agraith1340 disposec1375 before-graithea1382 to forge and filec1381 to make readya1382 devisec1385 bounc1390 buss?a1400 address?a1425 parel?a1425 to get upc1425 providec1425 prepare1449 bakec1450 aready1470 arm?a1505 prevenea1522 get?1530 to get ready1530 to get ready1530 to set in readiness1575 apply1577 compose1612 predy1627 make1637 to dispose of1655 do1660 fallowa1764 to line up1934 prep1936 tee1938 1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 251 The pivots being lined, and the wheeling distances being true. a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 665/1 Peep sight, a form of hind sight for rifles. It has an opening through which the muzzle sight is lined upon the object. 1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 75 Too much time must not..be lost in lining the gabion accurately. 1886 Philadelphia Times 21 Mar. No actor of American birth and training can be lined to this class of work. 1891 Daily News 28 Dec. 3/1 The cast iron frames are lined up in place before the concrete is poured in. 1899 Daily News 29 July 8/7 Blackstaffe..crossed over in front of Howell and lined him. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 20 Aug. 8/2 (citing a New York newspaper) I..shall not really feel like myself till I get my coat off and line-up a few trust presidents in front of me for general inspection and drill. 1904 ‘G. B. Lancaster’ Sons o' Men 41 They were fence-making down at the homestead, and there was no man in the district could line up standards in the same day with Muggins. 1906 Forum (N.Y.) Oct. 253 The university president must refuse to be lined up by any clique or party. 1910 Chambers's Jrnl. May 282/2 After the conflagration, the smaller débris is collected into heaps and reburned, until the ground is sufficiently cleared to admit of being lined up for planting. 1913 G. J. Kneeland Commercialized Prostitution N.Y. 65 She was ‘lined up’ about a year ago by a gang that ‘hangs out’ in a cigar store on East 14th Street. Since then she has been a regular prostitute. 1926 J. Black You can't Win xiii. 181 We located a big poker game in a soft spot and decided to line up the players. 1931 W. G. McAdoo Crowded Years x. 142 I did not see how Clark could possibly line up two thirds of the..votes. 1932 E. Wallace When Gangs came to London viii. 58 You can tell the police all about this... But don't tell more'n the truth, or ever try to line me up by my voice. 1934 P. G. Wodehouse Right ho, Jeeves ix. 94 I tell you I have everything nicely lined up. 1939 L. Coffee & W. J. Cowen Family Portrait ii. i. 74 But I'd lined up a big job here—(adds importantly) with the Romans. 1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 43 Line up to, to approach, accost a person. 1953 E. Taylor Sleeping Beauty x. 175 Don't line up another one [sc. drink] for me. 1958 New Statesman 6 Sept. 263/1 Mr. Lim soon called for ‘a united Socialist front’, which would line up his Labour Front party with the right wing against the extreme left. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 270 Sine tones are useful for studying frequency response and for lining up equipment. 1970 Language 46 318 All of the sentences have been ‘lined up’ with respect to the end of phonation. 1973 G. Greene Honorary Consul i. i. 26 It pays to be a consul... Permission to import a new car... I suppose he's got a general lined up in the capital to buy it. b. intransitive (a) To present to the eye a line of a specified kind. (b) To form a (good) line with others; to fall into line; also with out, up; figurative to come up to a certain line. (c) To run in line with; to border upon. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > quality or fact of being in a line (with) > be or become in a line (with something) [verb (intransitive)] even1663 align1781 line1790 track1826 the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > form (a) row(s) or line(s [verb (intransitive)] rank1582 range1697 to fall in (also into) line1747 line1790 to line up1796 to toe a (also the) line (or mark, scratch, crack, trig)1813 daisy-chain1968 (a) 1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 16 Masts that have cheeks differ in this; they line tapering athwartships... The aftsides of top-masts line straight. (b)1790 By-stander 159 This the printers describe by saying a letter does not line well.1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 47 The men as they come up endeavour to line well on the part already formed.1887 M. Shearman Athletics & Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 316 The forward must always be ready to line up and face one man, and one only.1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 12 June 5/2 Nearly two hundred ‘old students’ lined up to receive the Royalties.1894 Daily News 8 Oct. 2/7 The two old birds and the four cygnets then lined out in battle array.1897 Outing 30 334/1 These boats..enjoyed a world-wide renown for their speed, anterior to their lining up against boats of another type.(c)1881 Harper's Mag. Feb. 433/2 Three hundred acres of good fresh land, lining..with the Booker estate. c. Baseball. To hit a line-drive; to hit (a ball) hard and low. Frequently const. out. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > play baseball [verb (transitive)] > actions of batter pop1867 foul1870 poke1880 pole1882 bunch1883 line1887 to foul off1888 rip1896 sacrifice1905 pickle1906 to wait out1909 pull1912 single1916 pinch-hit1929 nub1948 tag1961 tomahawk1978 1887 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 26 May 2/6 He smashed the first ball that came over the plate, and lined out a beautiful hit past second base. 1948 Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Okla.) 28 Apr. He..lined out to centerfield and walked twice in five trips to the plate. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 31/3 Bob Robertson lined a double down the rightfield Line. 1972 N.Y. Times 4 June v. 2/5 Willie struck out, lined to Carty in left field, popped to second base and walked. 9. a. To arrange a line (originally of troops) along (a hedge, road, etc.). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > arrange in (a) row(s) or line(s [verb (transitive)] > arrange a line along line1684 1684 Scanderbeg Redivivus v. 115 And Lined the Wood on each side of the Narrow Way with several Companies of Musqueteers. 1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vi. 102 They having lined the Hedges behind them with their Reserve. 1740 S. Speed in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 393 Their coasts were lined with soldiers on that account. 1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall (1869) II. xliii. 611 The ramparts were lined with trembling spectators. 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas IV. x. iii. 49 The walks well gravelled and lined with orange trees. 1812 Ann. Reg., Gen. Hist. 139 The numerous batteries with which it [the shore] is there lined. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 155 At such times the street is lined with listeners. 1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi II. vi. ii. 299 He came into a broad and spacious square lined with palaces. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 580 The thick hedges which on each side overhung the narrow lanes, were lined with musketeers. 1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany vii. 88 A fine quay lined with shipping. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 8 The Greeks..lined the southern shores of Italy with that fringe of colonies, which [etc.]. 1895 I. Zangwill Master i. x. 112 A cutting in the hill lined with overhanging snow-drifts. b. To have or take one's place or (of inanimate objects) to have a place in line along (a road, etc.).In both significations the verb is now apprehended with a mixture of the sense of line v.¹ ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > arrange in (a) row(s) or line(s [verb (transitive)] > arrange a line along > have place in a line along line1598 1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres iii. 48 At that instant haue the shot, that line the battell, their time to serue. a1671 T. Fairfax Short Mem. (1699) 30 They..had set about five hundred Musketeers to line the hedges about the Town. 1707 London Gaz. No. 4345/3 The Streets were lin'd by the Militia. 1746 J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 126 The violet..condescends to line our edges. 1783 J. Hoole tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso IV. xxxv. 496 Not feeble years, nor childhood stay'd, but all Alike impatient throng'd to line the wall. 1801 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 1800 Chron. 55/2 Council-house-street..was lined by the body guard. 1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 413 Broad landing quays covered with cranes lined the river bank. 1869 C. Boutell tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour viii. 132 The English archers..lined the pass. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 126/2 For some twenty years he annually dispatched ten or twelve vessels to the ports lining the Mediterranean. c. line out (intransitive and transitive), to transplant (seedling trees) from beds into nursery lines, where they are grown on before being moved to their permanent situation. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [verb (transitive)] > transplant trees transpose?1518 line out1931 1931 Forestry 5 17 Care in handling between lifting from seed-beds and lining out is of the utmost importance. 1938 C. P. Ackers Pract. Brit. Forestry v. 180 Seedlings may be left for 1, 2, or 3 years in the seed-beds: they are then lined out and become transplants. 1957 N.Z. Timber Jrnl. Oct. 73/1 Line out, to transplant seedlings from seedbeds to rows in a nursery. This normally takes place after the first or second year in the seedbed; further lining out may take place again in the same or another nursery. 1970 H. L. Edlin Collins Guide to Tree Planting & Cultivation vi. 90 Trees are always transplanted in the nursery along straight lines, and the work is therefore often called lining-out. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online June 2022). linev.³ Brit. /lʌɪn/, U.S. /laɪn/ Forms: Also Middle English, 1500s lyne, 1500s loin. Etymology: < French ligner. transitive. Of a dog, wolf, etc.: To copulate with, to cover. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animal body > general parts > sexual organs and reproduction > [verb (transitive)] > copulate with entera1425 alignc1425 line1495 cover1535 serve1577 befilth1593 topa1616 back1658 strenea1728 mate1932 service1947 the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [verb (transitive)] > actions of Canidae whelpc1175 line1495 1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xviii. xxv. sig. bbv^v/1 The Yndens teche bytches and leue them in wodes by nyghte for Tygres shold lyne [a1398 BL Add. lenen or leuen] them & gendre w^t them. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 57 And scho was lynit with ony of that birth, Sic hundis thai said for hunting ar na worth. 1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie ii. 5 From that time forwards they beganne to haue bitches lined by that dogge, and so to haue a race of them. 1587 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1878) iii. vii. ii. 49 The Indians, who tie their sault bitches often in woods, that they might be loined by tigers. 1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther i. 11 These last deduce him from th' Helvetian kind Who near the Leman lake his Consort lin'd. 1727 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Oeconomique (Dublin ed.) at Dog Mongrels, that come from a Hound-bitch, that has been lin'd by a Dog of another Kind. 1889 St. G. Mivart Truth 379 Analogous effects are often produced when a thorough-bred bitch has been once lined by a mongrel. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹a700n.²OEn.³c1400n.⁴v.¹c1405v.²a1398v.³1495
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