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# line

«line» in Mova's school dictionary: **a row of people or things one behind another** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#m1)

2) A line is a long thin mark: «Draw a straight line». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#m2)

3) A line is a row of words in writing, or the words an actor says. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#m3)

4) A line is a long string, rope or wire: a washing line, a fishing line. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#m4)

5) A phone line or a train line is a connection or a route. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#m5)

6) To line up is to stand in a row. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#m6)

7) To draw the line somewhere means to decide where to stop, and not go any further. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#m7)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#x1)
- There are 9 people in the line in front of Ben. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#x2)
- Mia is 4th from the front and 7th from the back. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#x3)
- Draw a straight line with your ruler. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#x4)
- Count on the number line from 5 to 9. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#x5)
- Line up at the door, please. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#x6)
- Read the first line of the poem. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#x7)
- Mum hung the washing on the line. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#x8)
- One ought to draw the line somewhere. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/#x9)

### 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.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/4/)
- [A picket line is striking workers standing outside their workplace with signs, peacefully asking others not to go in.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/14/)
- [Behind a funny line about someone there may be a sad story, like old pets that died.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/23/)
- [The line is crossed when it becomes unkind, untrue, about someone's body, or about things that are private.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa/8/)
- [Photos online are often smoothed with filters; real skin has lines and spots, and nobody looks like a filter.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa/19/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «line» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/line/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.