draw the line

1. To fix a limit
2. To find finally and positively unacceptable

draw the long bow see under bow²

draw the teeth of

To make harmless

draw to a head

To mature

draw up

1. To form in regular order
2. To compose, put into shape
3. To stop

in drawing

Correctly drawn

out of drawing

Inaccurately drawn, or drawn in violation of the principles of drawing

out of the top drawer

Of top grade, esp socially

line¹ /līn/

1. A thread, string, cord or rope, esp one for fishing, sounding, hanging clothes, or guidance
2. Something which has length without breadth or thickness (mathematics)
3. A long narrow mark
4. A streak, stroke, or narrow stripe
5. Draughtsmanship
6. A row
7. A row of printed or written characters, ships, soldiers, etc
8. A verse, such as is usu written in one row
9. A series or succession, eg of descendants
10. A service of ships, buses, etc or a company running them
11. A course, route or system
12. A railway or tramway track or route
13. A stretch or route of telegraph, telephone, or power wires or cables
14. A connection by telephone
15. An order given to an agent for goods
16. Such goods received
17. Trade in, or the stock on hand of, any particular product
18. A lineament
19. A rank, column of figures, etc
20. A short letter or note
21. A wrinkle, esp on the face
22. A trench or other military position
23. A limit
24. Method
25. Policy
26. A rule or canon
27. (with the; often with cap) the equator
28. Lineage, ancestry
29. Direction
30. Occupation
31. Course
32. Province or sphere of life, interest, or taste
33. The regular army
34. Line of battle (see below)
35. The chain of command and delegation in an organization
36. (in a factory, etc) the part of the workforce directly concerned with making a product
37. An old measurement, the twelfth part of an inch
38. Relevant information (informal)
39. Glib talk, not always honest (slang)
40. In a TV, the path traversed by the electron beam or scanning spot in moving once from side to side (horizontal scanning) or from top to bottom (vertical scanning) of the picture
41. A queue (N American)
42. A small amount of a powdered drug (esp cocaine) laid out in a narrow channel ready for sniffing (slang)
43. (usu the line) the odds, esp on football games, set by bookmakers (N American)
44. (in pl) a certificate of marriage or church membership
45. (in pl) the words of an actor's part
46. (in pl) one's lot in life (rare)
47. (in pl) outlines
48. (in pl) military fieldworks
49. (in pl) rows of huts (military)
50. (in pl) a school punishment of writing out a phrase or sentence a wearisome number of times
51. (in pl) fits of bad temper (Shakespeare)

1. To mark out with lines
2. To cover with lines
3. To put in line
4. To form a line along
5. To give out (a hymn, etc) for public singing line by line
6. To delineate or sketch (sometimes verbally)
7. To measure with a line (archaic)

To take a place in line

linage or lineage /līnˈij/ noun

1. The number of lines in a piece of printed matter
2. Measurement or payment by the line, eg in newspapers
3. Aligning (archaic)

lineage /linˈi-ij/, obsolete forms linage, lignage or lynage /līnˈij/ noun

Ancestry

lineal /linˈi-əl/ adjective

1. Of or belonging to a line or lines, or to one dimension
2. Composed of lines
3. In the direction of a line
4. In, of, or transmitted by, direct line of descent, or legitimate descent

lineality /-alˈi-ti/ noun

linˈeally adverb

lineament /linˈi-ə-mənt/ noun

1. A feature
2. A distinguishing mark in the form of anything, esp of the face

linear /linˈi-ər/ adjective

1. Of or belonging to a line
2. In or of one dimension
3. Consisting of, or having the form of, lines
4. Long and very narrow, with parallel sides
5. Capable of being represented on a graph by a straight line
6. Of a narrative, etc, proceeding in a single sequence, without digression, flashback, etc
7. Of a system in which doubling the cause doubles the effect

linearity /lin-i-arˈi-ti/ noun

linearīzāˈtion or linearīsāˈtion noun

linˈearize or linˈearise transitive verb

To make linear

linˈearly adverb

linˈeate or linˈeated adjective

Marked with lines

lineāˈtion noun

1. Marking with lines
2. Arrangement of or in lines

lined /līnd/ adjective

1. Marked with lines
2. Having a line

lineolate /linˈi-ə-lāt/ adjective

Marked with fine lines

līnˈer noun

1. A person who makes, marks, draws, paints, or writes lines
2. A paintbrush for making lines
3. A line-fisherman
4. A line-fishing boat
5. Any large passenger-carrying vessel or aircraft of a particular company
6. Cosmetic material used to outline the eyes or lips

līnˈing noun

1. Alignment
2. The making of a line
3. Use of a line
4. Marking with lines

līnˈy or līnˈey adjective

line abreast or line ahead noun

Naval formation(s) in which all the vessels are side by side or one behind the other

linear A noun

A script, essentially the same as linear B, used with an earlier undeciphered language of Crete

linear accelerator noun

An apparatus in which electrons are accelerated while travelling down a metal tube or tubes, eg by means of electromagnetic waves

linear aerospike engine noun

A rocket engine with a specially designed nozzle (aerospike nozzle) that allows the exhaust gases to expand and so to be used most efficiently

linear B noun

An ancient script (c.1400BC) found in Crete, deciphered as a form of Greek seven centuries earlier than any previously known

linear equation noun

An equation with more than two terms, of which none is raised above the power one

linear motor noun

An electric motor which produces direct thrust in a linear, rather than rotational, direction

linear perspective noun

That part of perspective which regards only the positions, magnitudes and forms of the objects delineated

linear programming noun

Programming which enables a computer to give an optimum result when fed with a number of unrelated variables, used in determining the most efficient arrangement of eg an industrial process

lineˈbacker noun (American football)

A defensive player whose position is just behind the line of scrimmage

line block noun

A printing block consisting of black and white only, without gradations of tone

line breeding noun

The mating of closely related animals in order to preserve the characteristics of a common ancestor

line dancing noun

Dancing in which participants form rows without partners and follow a set pattern of steps to country-and-western music

line drawing noun

A drawing in pen or pencil using lines only, without gradations of tone

lineˈ-engravˈer noun

lineˈ-engravˈing noun

1. The process of engraving in lines, steel or copperplate engraving
2. An engraving done in this way

line feed noun (computing)

A control character used to move to the next line on a printer or screen

lineˈ-fenceˈ noun (US)

A farm-boundary fence

lineˈ-fish noun

One caught with a line rather than a net

lineˈ-fishˈer or line-fishˈerman noun

lineˈ-fishˈing noun

line-item veto noun (US)

The power, esp of a US President, to reject an individual provision (line item) in a piece of proposed legislation without rejecting the bill as a whole

line judge noun (sport)

An official whose job is to watch a line to see on which side of it the ball, etc falls

lineˈman noun

1. A person who attends to the lines of a railway, telegraph, telephone, or power wires, etc
2. A player in the line of scrimmage (American football)

line management noun

A system of management in which each line manager is responsible for exercising authority and responsibility within a formalized hierarchy

line of battle noun

Arrangement in line to meet the enemy

lineˈ-of-battˈle-ship noun

A ship fit for the line of battle, a battleship

line of beauty noun

A curve like a drawn-out S, as described by the English painter William Hogarth

line of country noun

One's field of study or interest

line of credit noun

The maximum amount of credit that a customer is permitted

line of fire noun

The range or scope of a weapon, etc

line of force noun

A line drawn in a magnetic or electric field so that its direction at every point gives the direction of magnetic or electric force at that point

line of sight noun

1. The straight line between the eye and the object on which it is focused, or between two objects along which they are visible from each other (also line of vision)
2. The straight line along which the eye looks, in any direction
3. The straight line between a transmitter and the receiving antenna (telecommunications)

lineˈ-out noun

(in Rugby Union) a method of restarting play when the ball has gone into touch, the forwards of each team forming a line facing the touch-line and trying to catch or deflect the ball when it is thrown in

line printer noun

A machine for rapid printing of computer output, a line at a time

line scanning noun (image technol)

A method of scanning in which the scanning spot sequentially traverses the image in a series of straight lines

lineˈ-shooter noun (slang)

Someone who shoots a line (see shoot¹)

linesman /līnzˈ/ noun

1. A lineman
2. A soldier in a regiment of the line
3. In football, an official who marks the spot at which the ball goes into touch, rules when a player is offside, etc (officially assistant referee)
4. In tennis, an official whose job is to watch a line to see on which side of it the ball falls, a line judge

line squall noun

One of a chain of squalls occurring along a travelling line, with rise and sudden change of wind, rise of pressure and fall of temperature

lineˈ-storm noun (US)

An equinoctial storm

lineˈ-up noun

1. Arrangement in line
2. Putting or coming into line
3. A queue
4. An identification parade
5. The bill of artistes appearing in a show
6. A list of team members

above the line

(of advertising) through the media and by poster

all along the line

At every point (lit or figurative)

below the line

(of advertising) by such means as free gifts, direct mailings to households, etc

bring into line

To cause to conform

down the line

1. Of a shot in tennis, football, etc, travelling parallel to and close to the side of the court, pitch, etc
2. In the future (informal)

draw the line see under draw

end of the line (figurative)

A point beyond which it is useless or impossible to proceed

fall into line

To conform

Fraunhofer('s) lines

Dark lines crossing the spectrum, from the Bavarian optician Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787–1826)

get a line on (informal)

To get information about

give line (angling)

To allow apparent freedom in order to secure at last (also figurative)

hold the line see under hold¹

in line

1. In a straight line
2. In agreement or harmony (with with)
3. In the running (with for)
4. In contention (with for)
5. In a line of succession (with to)
6. Under control

lay it on the line (informal)

To speak out firmly and frankly

lay or put on the line

To risk or stake (a reputation, etc)

line up

1. To bring into alignment
2. To form a line
3. To make a stand (in support of, or against)
4. To gather together in readiness
5. To secure or arrange (for a person)

on the line (art)

Hanging on the level of the eyes

on or along the lines of

In a (specified) manner or direction

out of line

1. Not aligned
2. Impudent
3. Exhibiting unacceptable behaviour

read between the lines

To infer what is not explicitly stated

shoot a line see under shoot¹

toe the line see under toe