a formation of people or things one beside another
"the line of soldiers advanced with their bayonets fixed"
"they were arrayed in line of battle"
"the cast stood in line for the curtain call"
a formation of people or things one behind another
"the line stretched clear around the corner"
"you must wait in a long line at the checkout counter"
a length (straight or curved) without breadth or thickness; the trace of a moving point
"The artist carefully traced the line to capture the exact curve of the dancer's movement across the stage."
text consisting of a row of words written across a page or computer screen
"the letter consisted of three short lines"
"there are six lines in every stanza"
a single frequency (or very narrow band) of radiation in a spectrum
"The astronomer adjusted the telescope to isolate the faint hydrogen line in the distant galaxy's emission spectrum."
a fortified position (especially one marking the most forward position of troops)
"they attacked the enemy's line"
a course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating a truth or falsehood; the methodical process of logical reasoning
"I can't follow your line of reasoning"
a conductor for transmitting electrical or optical signals or electric power
"The technician traced the faulty line to find where the signal was being lost before it reached the server room."
a spatial location defined by a real or imaginary unidimensional extent
"The surveyor marked the property line to clearly separate the two neighboring fields."
the road consisting of railroad track and roadbed
"The maintenance crew spent all morning repairing a broken rail on the line before it could safely carry another train."
a telephone connection
"I can't take your call right now because I'm already on another line."
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
"he's not in my line of business"
in games or sports; a mark indicating positions or bounds of the playing area
"The referee blew the whistle because the striker stepped over the line to make an offside play."
(often plural) a means of communication or access
"it must go through official channels"
"lines of communication were set up between the two firms"
a particular kind of product or merchandise
"a nice line of shoes"
a commercial organization serving as a common carrier
"The shipping line lost its contract when it failed to deliver cargo on time."
space for one line of print (one column wide and 1/14 inch deep) used to measure advertising
"The ad agency charged us extra because our commercial required more type lines than originally budgeted."
the maximum credit that a customer is allowed
"After checking her statement, I realized my current spending had exceeded my line at the bank."
a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
"she was humming an air from Beethoven"
persuasive but insincere talk that is usually intended to deceive or impress
"`let me show you my etchings' is a rather worn line"
"he has a smooth line but I didn't fall for it"
"that salesman must have practiced his fast line of talk"
a conceptual separation or distinction
"there is a narrow line between sanity and insanity"
mechanical system in a factory whereby an article is conveyed through sites at which successive operations are performed on it
"The conveyor line stopped abruptly, leaving half-finished circuit boards stuck between the soldering station and the testing bay."
A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
"Researchers analyzed the LINE-1 sequences to determine how much genetic material had been copied and pasted throughout human evolution."
An infinitely extending one-dimensional figure that has no curvature; one that has length but not breadth or thickness.
Flax; linen, particularly the longer fiber of flax.
Acronym of long interspersed nuclear element, a type of retrotransposon in genomics.
In plain English: A line is a straight mark that goes from one point to another without any curves.
"The cashier drew a line across the receipt to indicate where the total should be written."
Usage: Use "line" to refer to a continuous mark, a row of people or things, or a branch of a family tree. Do not use it for the genomic acronym L1 unless you are writing specifically about genetics.
To place (objects) into a line (usually used with "up"); to form into a line; to align.
"The old bull went around lining each of the cows in his herd before the spring breeding season began."
To cover the inner surface of (something), originally especially with linen.
To copulate with, to impregnate.
In plain English: To line something means to put it in a straight row or make its edges even and smooth.
"She lined the drawer with soft tissue paper to protect her jewelry."
Usage: The verb "line" means to arrange items in a row or cover a surface with a material, and it has no connection to sexual activity or reproduction. Use it when describing physical alignment or lining containers, not for biological functions.
An English and Scottish surname.
"The new manager at the bakery is Mr. Line, whose family has owned the shop for three generations."
The word "line" comes from Old English, originally meaning a rope, cable, or row of things. Its ultimate root traces back to Proto-Indo-European words for flax, which also gave us the modern word "linen."