Line \line\, n. [OE. line, AS. l[=i]ne cable, hawser, prob. from L. linea a linen thread, string, line, fr. linum flax, thread, linen, cable; but the English word was influenced by F. ligne line, from the same L. word linea. See linen. ]

1. A linen thread or string; a slender, strong cord; also, a cord of any thickness; a rope; a hawser; as, a fishing line; a line for snaring birds; a clothesline; a towline

   Who so layeth lines for to latch fowls. --Piers Plowman

2. A more or less threadlike mark of pen, pencil, or graver; any long mark; as, a chalk line
3. The longer and finer fiber of flax
4. The course followed by anything in motion; hence, a road or route; as, the arrow descended in a curved line; the place is remote from lines of travel
5. Direction; as, the line of sight or vision
6. A row of letters, words, etc., written or printed; esp., a row of words extending across a page or column
7. A short letter; a note; as, a line from a friend
8. (Poet.) A verse, or the words which form a certain number of feet, according to the measure

   In the preceding line Ulysses speaks of Nausicaa --Broome

9. Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity

   He is uncommonly powerful in his own line, but it is not the line of a first-rate man. --Coleridge

10. (Math.) That which has length, but not breadth or thickness
11. The exterior limit of a figure, plat, or territory; boundary; contour; outline

    Eden stretched her line From Auran eastward to the royal towers Of great Seleucia. --Milton

12. A threadlike crease marking the face or the hand; hence, characteristic mark

    Though on his brow were graven lines austere --Byron

    He tipples palmistry, and dines On all her fortune-telling lines. --Cleveland

13. Lineament; feature; figure.

    The lines of my boy's face. --Shak

14. A straight row; a continued series or rank; as, a line of houses, or of soldiers; a line of barriers

    Unite thy forces and attack their lines. --Dryden

15. A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a given person; a family or race; as, the ascending or descending line; the line of descent; the male line; a line of kings

    Of his lineage am I, and his offspring By very line, as of the stock real. --Chaucer

16. A connected series of public conveyances, and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.; as, a line of stages; an express line
17. (Geog.) (a) A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented on a map (b) The equator; -- usually called the line, or equinoctial line; as, to cross the line
18. A long tape, or a narrow ribbon of steel, etc., marked with subdivisions, as feet and inches, for measuring; a tapeline
19. (Script.) (a) A measuring line or cord

    He marketh it out with a line. --Is. xliv 13

    (b) That which was measured by a line, as a field or any piece of land set apart; hence, allotted place of abode

    The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. --Ps xvi. 6

    (c) Instruction; doctrine

    Their line is gone out through all the earth --Ps. xix. 4

20. (Mach.) The proper relative position or adjustment of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working; as, the engine is in line or out of line
21. The track and roadbed of a railway; railroad
22. (Mil.) (a) A row of men who are abreast of one another, whether side by side or some distance apart; -- opposed to column (b) The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery, etc
23. (Fort.) (a) A trench or rampart (b) pl. Dispositions made to cover extended positions, and presenting a front in but one direction to an enemy
24. (Shipbuilding) Form of a vessel as shown by the outlines of vertical, horizontal, and oblique sections
25. (Mus.) One of the straight horizontal and parallel prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are placed
26. (Stock Exchange) A number of shares taken by a jobber
27. (Trade) A series of various qualities and values of the same general class of articles; as, a full line of hosiery
28. The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, or the whole of a system of telegraph wires under one management and name
29. pl. The reins with which a horse is guided by his driver [U. S.]
30. A measure of length; one twelfth of an inch
31. A formation of people or things beside one another; "the line of soldiers advanced with their bayonets fixed"; "they were arrayed in line of battle"
32. A mark that is long relative to its width; "He drew a line on the chart"; "The substance produced characteristic lines on the spectroscope"
33. A formation of people or things one after another; "the line stretched clear around the corner"
34. A length (straight or curved) without breadth or thickness; the trace of a moving point
35. A single frequency (or very narrow band) of radiation in a spectrum
36. A fortified position (especially one marking the most forward position of troops); "they attacked the enemy's line"
37. Methodical reasoning; "I can't follow your line of reasoning" [syn: argumentation, logical argument, line of reasoning]
38. An electrical conductor connecting telephones or television or power stations [syn: cable, electrical cable, transmission line]
39. A connected series of events or actions or developments; "the government took a firm course" or "historians can only point out those lines for which evidence is available" [syn: course]
40. A spatial location defined by a real or imaginary unidimensional extent
41. A telephone connection [syn: telephone line, phone line]
42. Acting in conformity; "in line with" or "he got out of line" or "toe the line"
43. Something long and thin and flexible
44. In games or sports; a mark indicating positions or bounds of the playing area
45. (Often plural) a means of communication or access; "it must go through official channels"; "lines of communication were set up between the two firms" [syn: channel, communication channel]
46. A commercial organization serving as a common carrier
47. Space for one line of print (one column wide and 1/14 inch deep) used to measure advertising [syn: agate line]
48. The maximum credit that a customer is allowed [syn: credit line, line of credit, bank line, personal credit line, personal line of credit]
49. A succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; "she was humming an air from Beethoven" [syn: tune, melody, air, strain, melodic line, melodic phrase]
50. A conceptual separation or demarcation: "there is a narrow line between sanity and insanity" [syn: dividing line, demarcation, contrast]
51. A factory system in which an article is conveyed through sites at which successive operations are performed on it [syn: production line, assembly line]

Line \line\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. lined (l[=i]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. lining.]

1. Make a mark or lines on a surface; "draw a line"; "draw the outlines of a figure in the sand"; "trace an animal shape" [syn: trace, draw, outline, describe, delineate]
2. To cover with lines; as, to line a copy book
3. Mark with lines

   He had a healthy color in his cheeks, and his face, though lined, bore few traces of anxiety. --Dickens

4. To represent by lines; to delineate; to portray. [R.]

   Pictures fairest lined. --Shak

5. To read or repeat line by line; as, to line out a hymn

   This custom of reading or lining, or, as it was frequently called, "deaconing" the hymn or psalm in the churches, was brought about partly from necessity. --N. D. Gould

6. To form into a line; to align; as, to line troops; form a line along; of trees along a river, etc.
7. Reinforce with fabric; of books
8. To cover the inner surface of; as, to line a cloak with silk or fur; to line a box with paper or tin

   The inside lined with rich carnation silk. --W Browne

9. To put something in the inside of; to fill; to supply, as a purse with money; fill plentifully; "line one's pockets"

   The charge amounteth very high for any one man's purse, except lined beyond ordinary, to reach unto --Carew

   Till coffee has her stomach lined. --Swift

10. To place persons or things along the side of for security or defense; to strengthen by adding anything; to fortify; as, to line works with soldiers

    Line and new repair our towns of war With men of courage and with means defendant. --Shak

11. To impregnate; -- applied to brute animals. --Creech