line
part of speech
noun (line, lines); verb (line, lines, lined, lining)
meaning for a pupil
1) A line is a row of people or things one behind another. tree →
2) A line is a long thin mark: «Draw a straight line». tree →
3) A line is a row of words in writing, or the words an actor says. tree →
4) A line is a long string, rope or wire: a washing line, a fishing line. tree →
5) A phone line or a train line is a connection or a route. tree →
6) To line up is to stand in a row. tree →
7) To draw the line somewhere means to decide where to stop, and not go any further. tree →
sense in the lessons
people standing one behind another, counted from the front; in maths a straight line, a number line, a line of symmetry; phrases: «line up», «in a line», «number line», «straight line», «draw the line»
examples
- 20 children stand in a line. Anna is the 6th in the line. tree →
- There are 9 people in the line in front of Ben. tree →
- Mia is 4th from the front and 7th from the back. tree →
- Draw a straight line with your ruler. tree →
- Count on the number line from 5 to 9. tree →
- Line up at the door, please. tree →
- Read the first line of the poem. tree →
- Mum hung the washing on the line. tree →
- One ought to draw the line somewhere. tree →
note
In a line of N, the Kth from the front has K − 1 in front and N − K behind. Kth from the front and Mth from the back: N = K + M − 1. Trap: do not count the person twice. In the UK «queue» is more usual for people waiting; in the USA «line».
In the corpora
- There are also ways workers stand up for themselves: unions, strikes, picket lines and tribunals.
- A picket line is striking workers standing outside their workplace with signs, peacefully asking others not to go in.
- Behind a funny line about someone there may be a sad story, like old pets that died.
- The line is crossed when it becomes unkind, untrue, about someone's body, or about things that are private.
- Photos online are often smoothed with filters; real skin has lines and spots, and nobody looks like a filter.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «line» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.