Noun

(en noun) {{examples-right, The word inventory may be pronounced with four syllables (/??n.v?n.t?.?i/) or only three (/?n?v?n.t?i/).

The word island'' is six letters long; the ''s'' has never been pronounced but was added under the influence of ''isle .


The word me signed in American Sign Language. }}

The smallest unit of language which has a particular meaning and can be expressed by itself; the smallest discrete, meaningful unit of language.

* 1986 , David Barrat, Media Sociology (ISBN 041505110X), page 112:

The word , whether written or spoken, does not look like or sound like its meaning — it does not resemble its signified. We only connect the two because we have learnt the code — language. Without such knowledge, 'Maggie' would just be a meaningless pattern of shapes or sounds.

* 2009 , Jack Fitzgerald, Viva La Evolucin (ISBN 055719833X), page 233:

Brian and Abby signed the word' ''clothing'', in which the thumbs brush down the chest as though something is hanging there. They both spoke the '''word''' ''clothing''. Brian then signed the '''word for ''change ,

*

# The smallest discrete unit of spoken language which has a particular meaning, composed of one or more phonemes and one or more morphemes.

#* 1894 , Alex. R. Mackwen, The Samaritan Passover'', in ''Littell's Living Age , series 6, volume 1:

Then all was silent save the voice of the high priest, whose words grew louder and louder,

#*

# The smallest discrete unit of written language which has a particular meaning, composed of one or more letters or symbols and one or more morphemes.

#* , act 2, scene 2:

Polonius: What do you read, my lord?

Hamlet: Words', '''words''', ' words .

#* 2003 , Jan Furman, Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: A Casebook (ISBN 0195146352), page 194:

The name was a confused gift of love from her father, who could not read the word but picked it out of the Bible for its visual shape,

#* 2009 , Stanislas Dehaene, Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read (ISBN 1101152400):

Well-meaning academics even introduced spelling absurdities such as the “s” in the word “island,” a misguided Renaissance attempt to restore the etymology of the [unrelated] Latin word insula .

# A discrete, meaningful unit of language which is approved by some authority.

#* 1896 , (Israel Zangwill), Without Prejudice , page 21:

“Ain’t! How often am I to tell you ain’t ain’t a word ?”

#* 1999 , Linda Greenlaw, The Hungry Ocean , Hyperion, page 11:

Fisherwoman isn’t even a word . It’s not in the dictionary.

# A sequence of letters or characters, or sounds, which (does not necessarily belong to a language or have a meaning, but which) is considered as a discrete entity.

#* 1974 , Thinking Goes to School: Piaget's Theory in Practice (ISBN 0199839077), page 183:

In still another variation, the nonsense word is presented and the teacher asks, "What sound was in the beginning of the word?" "In the middle?" and so on. The child should always respond with the phoneme; he should not use letter labels.

#* 2003 , How To Do Everything with Your Tablet PC (ISBN 0072227710), page 278:

I wrote a nonsense word , "umbalooie," in the Input Panel's Writing Pad. Input Panel converted it to "cembalos" and displayed it in the Text Preview pane.

#* 2006 , Scribal Habits and Theological Influences in the Apocalypse (ISBN 3161491122), page 141:

Here the scribe has dropped the ?? from ?????????, thereby creating the nonsense word ???????.

#* 2013 , The Cognitive Neuropsychology of Language (ISBN 1317859979), page 91:

If M. V. has sustained impairment to a phonological output process common to reading and repetition, we might anticipate that her mispronunciations will partially reflect the underlying phonemic form of the nonsense word .

Something which is like such a unit of language:

# (telegraphy) A unit of text equivalent to five characters and one space.

# (computing) A fixed-size group of bits handled as a unit by a machine (on many machines, 16 bits or two bytes).

# (computer science) A finite string which is not a command or operator.

# (group theory) A group element, expressed as a product of group elements.

The fact or act of speaking, as opposed to taking action.

* 1811 , (Jane Austen), (Sense and Sensibility) :

she believed them still so very much attached to each other, that they could not be too sedulously divided in word and deed on every occasion.

* 2004 , Richard Williams, The Guardian , 8 Sep 2004:

As they fell apart against Austria, England badly needed someone capable of leading by word and example.

* 1611 , Bible , Authorized Version, (w) XXVI.75:

And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

* (1809-1892)

She said; but at the happy word "he lives", / My father stooped, re-fathered, o'er my wound.

* (Charles Dickens) (1812-1870)

There is only one other point on which I offer a word of remark.

* 1945 April 1, Sebastian Haffner, in The Observer :

"The Kaiser laid down his arms at a quarter to twelve. In me, however, they have an opponent who ceases fighting only at five minutes past twelve," said Hitler some time ago. He has never spoken a truer word .

* 2011 , (David Bellos), Is That a Fish in Your Ear? , Penguin 2012, page 126:

Despite appearances to the contrary [...] dragomans stuck rigidly to their brief, which was not to translate the Sultan's words, but his word .

A watchword or rallying cry, a verbal signal (even when consisting of multiple words).

* 1592 , William Shakespeare, :

Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George, inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!

* 1647 (published), John Fletcher and William Rowley, (The Maid in the Mill) (published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio), scene 3:

I have the word : sentinel, do thou stand;

mum's the word

(lb) A proverb or motto.

* 1499 , (John Skelton), The Bowge of Court :

Among all other was wrytten in her trone / In golde letters, this worde , whiche I dyde rede: / Garder le fortune que est mauelz]] et [[bon, bone .

* 1599 , Ben Jonson, (Every Man out of His Humour) :

Let the word be 'Not without mustard'. Your crest is very rare, sir.

* 1646 , , The Balm of Gilead :

The old word is, 'What the eye views not, the heart rues not.'

*

Word had gone round during the day that old Major, the prize Middle White boar, had had a strange dream on the previous night and wished to communicate it to the other animals.

An order; a request or instruction; an expression of will.

Don't fire till I give the word

Their mother's word was law.

A promise; an oath or guarantee.

A brief discussion or conversation.

(in the plural) Angry debate or conversation; argument.

* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , :

And that worde' was made flesshe, and dwelt amonge vs, and we sawe the glory off yt, as the glory off the only begotten sonne off the father, which ' worde was full of grace, and verite.

Noun

(en noun)

A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’ ); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.

:

*{{quote-book, year=1816, author=(w)

, title= The Daemon of the World , passage=The atmosphere in flaming sparkles flew; / And where the burning wheels / Eddied above the mountain’s loftiest peak / Was traced a line of lightning.}}

*

*:So this was my future home, I thought!Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

*{{quote-book, year=2009, author=Jory Sherman, title=Sidewinder

, passage=For their present position, he drew an inverted V. Then he drew a line and on either side he inscribed landmarks, ridges, passes. At the other end he drew a number of inverted Vs to represent the Arapaho village.}}

#(label) An infinitely extending one-dimensional figure that has no curvature; one that has length but not breadth or thickness.

# A line segment; a continuous finite segment of such a figure.

#(label) An edge of a graph.

#(label) A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented on a map.

# The equator.

#*{{quote-book, year=1851, author=(Herman Melville), title=

, chapter=54, passage=She [a ship called Town-Ho] was somewhere to the northward of the Line .}}

#(label) One of the straight horizontal and parallel prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are placed.

#(label) The horizontal path of a ball towards the batsman (see also length).

#(label) The goal line.

#*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Clive Lindsay, work=BBC Sport

, title= Kilmarnock 1-2 St Johnstone , passage=St Johnstone's Liam Craig had to clear off the line before Steven Anderson sent a looping header into his own net for the equaliser on 36 minutes.}}

A rope, cord, string, or thread, of any thickness.

*{{quote-book, year=1884, author=(Mark Twain), title=(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), chapter=9

, passage=Then we hunted up a place close by to hide the canoe in, amongst the thick willows. We took some fish off of the lines and set them again, and begun to get ready for dinner.}}

*{{quote-book, year=2007, author=Robert Newcomb, title=A March Into Darkness, page=29

, passage=

*{{quote-book, year=2008, author=Joshua Plunkett, Jeanne K. Hanson, title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Trees and Shrubs, page=164

, passage=Use fabric or nursery grade webbing around stakes and trunk, loosely tying the line to the tree about 6 inches below the point where the tree bounces back in your hand when you grab the trunk.}}

#(label) A hose.

Direction, path.

:the line''' of sight;  the '''line of vision

The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, a telephone or internet cable between two points: a telephone or network connection.

:

:

:

A letter, a written form of communication.

:

A connected series of public conveyances, as a roadbed or railway track; and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.

:

(label) A trench or rampart, or the non-physical demarcation of the extent of the territory occupied by specified forces.

*{{quote-book, year=1917, author=(John Masefield)

, title= The Old Front Line , passage=This description of the old front line, as it was when the Battle of the Somme began, may some day be of use.

The exterior limit of a figure or territory: a boundary, contour, or outline; a demarcation.

*{{quote-book, year=1674, author=(John Milton), title=

, volume=IV, passage=Eden'' stretch'd her Line / From ''Auran'' Eastward to the Royal Towrs / Of great ''Seleucia ,}}

A long tape or ribbon marked with units for measuring; a tape measure.

(label) A measuring line or cord.

*

*:The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line ; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

That which was measured by a line, such 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.

A threadlike crease or wrinkle marking the face, hand, or body; hence, a characteristic mark.

*{{quote-book, year=1651, author=(John Cleveland), chapter=Fuscara

, title=Minor poets of the Caroline period, editor=(George Saintsbury), year_published=1921) , passage=He tipples palmistry, and dines On all her fortune-telling lines .}}

*{{quote-book, year=1812-1818, author=(Lord Byron), title=(w, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage)

, passage=Though on his brow were graven lines austere.}}

*{{quote-song, year=1975, composer=(Bob Dylan), title=(Tangled Up in Blue), album=Blood on the Tracks

, passage=I muttered somethin' underneath my breath / She studied the lines on my face / I must admit I felt a little uneasy / When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe / Tangled up in blue.}}

Lineament; feature; figure (of one's body).

*

A more-or-less straight sequence of people, objects, etc., either arranged as a queue or column and often waiting to be processed or dealt with, or arranged abreast of one another in a row (and contrasted with a column), as in a military formation.

:

:

*{{quote-book, year=1817, author=(w), title=

, passage=A band of brothers gathering round me, made, / Although unarmed, a steadfast front

(label) The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery etc.

(senseid) A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a given person; a family or race; compare lineage .

*{{quote-book, author=(Geoffrey Chaucer), title=

, passage=Of his lineage am I, and his offspring / By very line ,}}

*{{quote-book, year=c.1604, author=(William Shakespeare), title=

, passage=They hail'd him father to a line of kings.}}

*

*:Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun.

*{{quote-book, year=1651, author=(Thomas Hobbes), title=

, passage=[T]he rest of the history of the Old Testament derives the succession of the line' of David to the Captivity, of which ' line was to spring the restorer of the kingdom of God

A small amount of text. Specifically:

#A written or printed row of letters, words, numbers or other text, especially a row of words extending across a page or column, or a blank in place of such text.

#:

#A verse (in poetry).

#*{{quote-book, year=1609, author=(William Shakespeare), title=

, passage=Nay if you read this line , remember not, / The hand that writ it.}}

#A sentence of dialogue, especially or the like.

#:

#:

#*

#A lie or exaggeration, especially one told to gain another's approval or prevent losing it.

#:

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

*

The official, stated position (or set of positions) of an individual or group, particularly a political or religious faction.

:

The products or services sold by a business, or by extension, the business itself.

:

:

:

(label) A number of shares taken by a jobber.

A measure of length:

#(label) A tsarist-era Russian unit of measure, approximately equal to one tenth of an English inch, used especially when measuring the calibre of firearms.

#*{{quote-book, year=1906, title=Reports of military observers to the armies in Manchuria, page=261

, passage=The arm of the Russian infantry is the three-line rifle, model 1891 (caliber 0.299 inch)

#*{{quote-book, year=2013, title=The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia, page=561, ISBN=1135684464

, passage=A “line” was a unit of measurement used in tsarist Russia and equal to about a tenth of an inch. The 3-line' rifle, therefore, had a bore of three ' lines , or approximately .30 caliber.}}

#One twelfth of an inch.

#*{{quote-book, year=1883, author=Alfred Swaine Taylor, Thomas Stevenson, title=The principles and practice of medical jurisprudence

, passage=The cutis measures in thickness from a quarter of a line' to a '''line''' and a half (a ' line is one-twelfth of an inch).}}

#One fortieth of an inch.

#*{{quote-book, year=1922, title=Hearings Before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, chapter=Statement of James Turner, Representing Universal Button Fastening Co., Detriot, Mich., page=5337

, passage=In case any of the committee do not understand what is meant by a rate per line', I may say that buttons, being very small, are not measured by the foot or inch, but by the line, a line being one-fortieth of an inch. For example, that is a 27-' line button

(label) Alternative name for a maxwell, a unit of magnetic flux.

*{{quote-book, year=1898, author=Alfred Eugene Wiener, title=Practical calculation of dynamo-electric machines, page=47

, passage=At the same time, however, for calculation in the metric system, one metre is taken as the unit for the length of the conductor, one metre per second as the unit velocity, and one line per square centimetre as the unit of field density.}}

*{{quote-book, year=1903, author=William Richard Kelsey, title=Continuous current dynamos and motors and their control, page=39

, passage=The density will now be only one quarter of a line per square centimetre, and therefore a unit pole placed at a distance of 2 centimetres from a similar pole, will only be acted on with a force of one quarter of a dyne,

*{{quote-book, year=1904, author=Silvanus Phillips Thompson, title=Dynamo-electric machinery: a manual for students of electrotechniques: Volume 1, Part 1, page=74

, passage=The Paris Congress of 1900 adopted the name gauss as that of the unit of intensity of field, one gauss'' signifying one line per square centimetre. The same Congress also named one ''line'' as one ''maxwell'', but everybody still uses the term ''line .}}

*{{quote-book, year=1909, author=Henry Metcalf Hobart, title=Electricity: a text book designed in particular for engineering, page=58

, passage=A magnetic flux is said to have a density of one line per square centimeter when it exerts on a unit north pole a force of one dyne.}}

The batter’s box.

The position in which the fencers hold their swords.

*{{quote-book, year=1861, author=George Chapman, title=Foil Practice, with a Review of the Art of Fencing, page=12

, passage=Thus, for example, in the line' of Quarte, the direct thrust is parried by dropping the point under the adversary's blade and circling upwards, throwing off the attack in the opposite '''line''' (that of Tierce), and upon the direct thrust in the '''line''' of Tierce, by a similar action throwing off the attack in the opposite ' line (that of Quarte).}}

(label) Proper relative position or adjustment (of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working).

:

A small portion or serving (of a powdery illegal drug).

*{{quote-book, year=1998, author=Luke Davis, title=Candy

, passage="Let's have a line'." He pulled a razor blade from his pocket and scooped out a couple of mounds. He laid out seven thick '''lines''' on a mirror. He rolled up a fifty-dollar note and snorted a ' line .}}

*{{quote-book, year=2004, author=Burl Barer, title=Broken Doll, page=64

, passage="Yes, we did. We both did a line', but maybe close to a half gram of crystal meth. I did a '''line''' and he did a way much bigger ' line ."}}

*{{quote-book, year=2007, author=D. C. Fuller, title=Meth Monster: Crankin' Thru Life a Look Into the Abyss, page=474

, passage=Snorting it was a much slower blast off and a longer less intense buzz, that was much easier to function on. A few minutes after you snort a line you can feel the niacin rush coming up your back and washing over your head,

(label) Instruction; doctrine.

*

*:Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun.

(lb) Population of cells derived from a single cell and containing the same genetic makeup.

A catheter introduced in a vein or peripheral artery.

Noun

(-)

(label) Flax; linen, particularly the longer fiber of flax.

* {{quote-book

, year=1590 , author= , title=, Book V, Canto VII, VI , chapter= , passage=And clothed all in Garments made of line .}}