line noun

1 long thin mark on the surface of sth

ADJ. long | short | thick | fine, thin | direct, straight | curved, wavy, wiggly, zigzag | diagonal, horizontal, parallel, perpendicular, vertical | continuous, solid | broken, dotted Sign on the dotted line. | finishing, starting | contour

VERB + LINE draw

LINE + VERB run | divide sth

PREP. in a ~ walk in a straight line

PHRASES a line of latitude/longitude

2 mark like a line on the skin

ADJ. deep Deep lines ran from her nose to her mouth.

VERB + LINE have He has lines on his forehead.

LINE + VERB run

3 row of people, things, words on a page, etc.

ADJ. long | short | new | continuous

VERB + LINE form

PREP. in (a/the) ~ children standing in a line | on a/the ~ Start each paragraph on a new line.

4 telephone/electricity wire/connection

ADJ. direct | bad Speak up?it's rather a bad line. | busy | power | phone, telephone | outside, party, private What do I dial for an outside line?

VERB + LINE hold Hold the line (= Don't put the receiver down), please.

LINE + VERB be engaged | be/go dead

PREP. down the ~ He kept shouting down the line at me. | on the ~ It's your mother on the line (= on the telephone). | on ~ (also online) (= connected to a computer system)

5 section of railway track

ADJ. railway, train | main | branch, commuter, feeder The branch line is threatened with closure.

VERB + LINE take Take the Bakerloo line and change at Piccadilly.

PREP. on a/the ~ We live on the Northern Line.

PHRASES the end of the line 6 lines words spoken by an actor in a play

VERB + LINE learn | forget | fluff

7 direction/course of thought/action

ADJ. broad The broad lines of company policy are already laid down. | firm, hard, strong, tough | official, party, political

VERB + LINE adopt, follow, pursue, take | bring sb/sth into The other members of the board must be brought into line.

PREP. in ~ with (= in agreement with), out of ~ with (= not in agreement with) out of line with party policies | ~ on the official line on food safety

PHRASES a line of argument/enquiry/questioning

8 place where an army is fighting

ADJ. battle, firing, front

PHRASES behind enemy lines, in/on the front line

You can also check other dicts: line (English, 中文解释 ), wordnet sense, Collins Definition

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