(~s, lining, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a long thin mark which is drawn or painted on a surface.
Draw a ~ down that page’s center.
...a dotted ~...
The ball had clearly crossed the ~.
N-COUNT
2.
The ~s on someone’s skin, especially on their face, are long thin marks that appear there as they grow older.
He has a large, generous face with deep ~s.
= wrinkle
N-COUNT: usu pl
3.
A ~ of people or things is a number of them arranged one behind the other or side by side.
The sparse ~ of spectators noticed nothing unusual.
= row
N-COUNT: oft N of n
4.
A ~ of people or vehicles is a number of them that are waiting one behind another, for example in order to buy something or to go in a particular direction.
Children clutching empty bowls form a ~...
= queue
N-COUNT
5.
A ~ of a piece of writing is one of the rows of words, numbers, or other symbols in it.
The next ~ should read: Five days, 23.5 hours...
Tina wouldn’t have read more than three ~s.
N-COUNT
6.
A ~ of a poem, song, or play is a group of words that are spoken or sung together. If an actor learns his or her ~s for a play or film, they learn what they have to say.
...a ~ from Shakespeare’s Othello: ‘one that loved not wisely but too well’...
Learning ~s is very easy. Acting is very difficult.
N-COUNT
7.
You can refer to a long piece of wire, string, or cable as a ~ when it is used for a particular purpose.
She put her washing on the ~.
...a piece of fishing-~...
The winds downed power ~s.
N-VAR: usu with supp
8.
A ~ is a connection which makes it possible for two people to speak to each other on the telephone.
The telephone ~s went dead...
It’s not a very good ~. Shall we call you back Susan?...
She’s on the ~ from her home in Boston.
N-COUNT: oft on the N
9.
You can use ~ to refer to a telephone number which you can ring in order to get information or advice.
...the 24-hours information ~.
N-COUNT: oft in names after n
10.
A ~ is a route, especially a dangerous or secret one, along which people move or send messages or supplies.
Negotiators say they’re keeping communication ~s open.
...the guerrillas’ main supply ~s.
N-COUNT: usu pl, usu with supp
11.
The ~ in which something or someone moves is the particular route that they take, especially when they keep moving straight ahead.
Walk in a straight ~...
The wings were at right angles to the ~ of flight.
N-COUNT
12.
A ~ is a particular route, involving the same stations, roads, or stops along which a train or bus service regularly operates.
They’ve got to ride all the way to the end of the ~...
I would be able to stay on the Piccadilly Line and get off the tube at South Kensington.
N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft in names after n
13.
A railway ~ consists of the pieces of metal and wood which form the track that the trains travel along.
= track
N-COUNT
14.
A shipping, air, or bus ~ is a company which provides services for transporting people or goods by sea, air, or bus. (BUSINESS)
The Foreign Office offered to pay the shipping ~ all the costs of diverting the ship to Bermuda.
= company
N-COUNT: usu supp N
15.
A state or county ~ is a boundary between two states or counties. (AM)
...the California state ~.
= border
N-COUNT: usu sing, with supp
16.
You can use ~s to refer to the set of physical defences or the soldiers that have been established along the boundary of an area occupied by an army.
Their unit was shelling the German ~s only seven miles away.
N-COUNT
17.
The particular ~ that a person has towards a problem is the attitude that they have towards it. For example, if someone takes a hard ~ on something, they have a firm strict policy which they refuse to change.
Forty members of the governing Conservative party rebelled, voting against the government ~...
N-COUNT: usu sing, with supp
18.
You can use ~ to refer to the way in which someone’s thoughts or activities develop, particularly if it is logical.
What are some of the practical benefits likely to be of this ~ of research?
N-COUNT: usu N of n/-ing
19.
If you say that something happens along particular ~s, or on particular ~s, you are giving a general summary or approximate account of what happens, which may not be correct in every detail.
He’d said something along those ~s already...
Our forecast for 1990 was on the right ~s...
N-PLURAL: usu along/on N with supp
20.
If something is organized on particular ~s, or along particular ~s, it is organized according to that method or principle.
...so-called autonomous republics based on ethnic ~s.
...reorganising old factories to work along Japanese ~s.
N-PLURAL: on/along N with supp
21.
Your ~ of business or work is the kind of work that you do. (BUSINESS)
So what was your father’s ~ of business?...
In my ~ of work I often get home too late for dinner.
N-COUNT: usu N of n
22.
A ~ is a particular type of product that a company makes or sells.
His best selling ~ is the cheapest lager at ?1.99.
N-COUNT
23.
In a factory, a ~ is an arrangement of workers or machines where a product passes from one worker to another until it is finished.
...a production ~ capable of producing three different products.
N-COUNT
24.
You can use ~ when you are referring to a number of people who are ranked according to status.
Nicholas Paul Patrick was seventh in the ~ of succession to the throne...
...the man who stands next in ~ for the presidency.
N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N of n, ord in N
25.
A particular ~ of people or things is a series of them that has existed over a period of time, when they have all been similar in some way, or done similar things.
We were part of a long ~ of artists...
It’s the latest in a long ~ of tragedies.
N-COUNT: usu sing, usu N of n
26.
If people or things ~ a road, room, or other place, they are present in large numbers along its edges or sides.
Thousands of local people ~d the streets and clapped as the procession went by.
...a square ~d with pubs and clubs.
VERB: V n, V-ed
-~d
...a long tree-~d drive.
COMB in ADJ
27.
If you ~ a wall, container, or other object, you put a layer of something such as leaves or paper on the inside surface of it in order to make it stronger, warmer, or cleaner.
Scoop the blanket weed out and use it to ~ hanging baskets...
Female bears tend to ~ their dens with leaves or grass.
VERB: V n, V n with n
-~d
...a dark, suede-~d case.
COMB in ADJ
28.
If something ~s a container or area, especially an area inside a person, animal, or plant, it forms a layer on the inside surface.
...the muscles that ~ the intestines.
VERB: V n
29.
see also ~d , lining , bottom ~ , branch ~ , dividing ~ , front ~ , party ~ , picket ~ , yellow ~
30.
If you draw the ~ at a particular activity, you refuse to do it, because you disapprove of it or because it is more extreme than what you normally do.
Letters have come from prisoners, declaring that they would draw the ~ at hitting an old lady.
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR at n/-ing
31.
If you draw a ~ between two things, you make a distinction between them.
It is, however, not possible to draw a distinct ~ between the two categories.
= distinguish
PHRASE: V inflects
32.
If you do something or if it happens to you in the ~ of duty, you do it or it happens as part of your regular work or as a result of it.
More than 3,000 police officers were wounded in the ~ of duty last year.
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR
33.
If you refer to a method as the first ~ of, for example, defence or treatment, you mean that it is the first or most important method to be used in dealing with a problem.
Passport checks will remain the first ~ of defence against terrorists...
PHRASE: PHR n
34.
If you are in ~ for something, it is likely to happen to you or you are likely to obtain it. If something is in ~ to happen, it is likely to happen.
He must be in ~ for a place in the Guinness Book of Records...
Public sector pay is also in ~ to be hit hard.
= due
PHRASE: PHR for n, PHR to-inf
35.
If one object is in ~ with others, or moves into ~ with others, they are arranged in a ~. You can also say that a number of objects are in ~ or move into ~.
The device itself was right under the vehicle, almost in ~ with the gear lever...
Venus, the Sun and Earth all moved into ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v, oft PHR with n
36.
If one thing is in ~ with another, or is brought into ~ with it, the first thing is, or becomes, similar to the second, especially in a way that has been planned or expected.
The structure of our schools is now broadly in ~ with the major countries of the world...
This brings the law into ~ with most medical opinion.
PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR, oft PHR with n
37.
When people stand in ~ or wait in ~, they stand one behind the other in a ~, waiting their turn for something. (AM; in BRIT, use queue )
I had been standing in ~ for three hours.
PHRASE: V inflects
38.
If you keep someone in ~ or bring them into ~, you make them obey you, or you make them behave in the way you want them to.
All this was just designed to frighten me and keep me in ~.
...if the Prime Minister fails to bring rebellious Tories into ~.
PHRASE: PHR after v
39.
If a machine or piece of equipment comes on ~, it starts operating. If it is off ~, it is not operating.
The new machine will go on ~ in June 2006...
Every second her equipment was off ~ cost the company money.
PHRASE: usu PHR after v
40.
If you do something on ~, you do it using a computer or a computer network.
They can order their requirements on ~.
...on-~ transaction processing.
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR, PHR n
41.
If something such as your job, career, or reputation is on the ~, you may lose or harm it as a result of what you are doing or of the situation you are in. (INFORMAL)
He wouldn’t put his career on the ~ to help a friend.
PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR
42.
If one thing is out of ~ with another, the first thing is different from the second in a way that was not agreed, planned, or expected.
...if one set of figures is sharply out of ~ with a trend.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR, oft PHR with n
43.
If someone steps out of ~, they disobey someone or behave in an unacceptable way.
Any one of my players who steps out of ~ will be in trouble with me as well...
You’re way out of ~, lady.
PHRASE: v PHR, v-link PHR
44.
If you read between the ~s, you understand what someone really means, or what is really happening in a situation, even though it is not said openly.
Reading between the ~s, it seems neither Cole nor Ledley King will be going to Japan.
PHRASE: V inflects
45.
to sign on the dotted ~: see dotted
to ~ your pockets: see pocket
the ~ of least resistance: see resistance
to toe the ~: see toe