- line#
- line n Line, row, rank, file, echelon, tier are comparable when meaning a series of things arranged in continuous or uniform order.Line means little more than this, except when it is attached to a specific application that increases its implications; thus, a line of type may equal a line of poetry, but there is a wealth of implication in the second that is absent from the first{
a line of trees
}{soldiers fall in line
}{the crowd formed a line in front of the ticket office
}{there were three lines of enlisted men awaiting examination by physicians
}{a line of trading posts from the Mississippi . . . across the Rocky Mountains— Irving
}Row may suggest one line or one of several parallel lines; it is applicable to lines composed of persons or of things whether they range horizontally or vertically or abreast or away from one{a row of trees lines the south side of the street
}{rows of seats in a theater
}{the shrubs are arranged in rows
}Rank and file are found chiefly in military use, rank denoting a row of men side by side, file a row of men one behind another{march in single file
}{the front rank was ordered to take one pace forward
}The conjoined use of these terms in rank and file is an idiomatic extension meaning the masses of men as distinguished from their leaders or rulers.Echelon usually implies a regular arrangement or formation in which each unit (as one of a series of parallel ranks of troops or one of a fleet of vessels headed in the same direction) is a little to the left or to the right of the unit immediately behind.Tier applies to one of a set of rows arranged one above another; it occasionally refers to persons but usually deals with parts of a structure or framework which are repeated{the seats rise in tiers in the great Opera House
}{three tiers of arches rose on each side of the cathedral's nave
}{their mountain-like San Philip [a Spanish warship] . . . with her yawning tiers of guns— Tennyson
}Analogous words: *succession, progression, series, sequence, chainline{vb Line, line up, align, range, array mean to arrange in a line or in lines.}}
}Line, or more often line up, implies setting in single file or in parallel rows{line up prisoners for identification
}{line up troops for inspection
}{four or five men were lined up at the bar— Basso
}Align stresses the bringing of points or parts that should be in a straight line into correct adjustment or into correspondence{align the lenses of a telescope
}{align the front and rear wheels of an automobile
}{align type in printing
}{the tents were aligned in two rows— Mailer
}Range stresses orderly or correct disposition, sometimes merely in straight or parallel lines, but more often with the added implication of separation into groups or classes according to some plan or design{oaken benches ranged in seemly rows— Wordsworth
}Array implies actual formation in order, especially battle order, and therefore suggests full equipment and readiness for action{there is a great FieldMarshal, my friend, who arrays our battalions; let us to Providence trust, and abide and work in our stations— Clough
}{scarcely had time to array his men at the town- ward wall before arrows, stones, and heavy javelins . . . began to fall upon them— A. C. Whitehead
}These words also are comparable in extended use. Line up stresses organization for unity or singleness of effort{line up the opponents of a measure to achieve its defeat
}{line up public opinion in favor of a proposal
}{lined up on the side of those who oppose even attempting to set up peaceful coexistence with Russia is the FBI— Newsweek
}Align is commonly used reflexively in this connection and implies falling into line or into a lineup{at the beginning of World War I France, England, and Belgium aligned themselves with Serbia
}{so long as the symptoms failed to align themselves with any known disorder, they were supposed to be amenable to neighborly advice-Mary Austin
}Range implies putting or falling precisely into a group (as a class, party, rank, or category); it may suggest alignment but more often connotes partisanship or alliance or, when used of things, susceptibility of classification{'tis better to be lowly born, and range with humble livers in content— Shak.
}{they differed violently and ranged themselves into distinct schools of thought— Dinsmore
}Array in its extended use retains its implication of orderly formation; it sometimes also suggests arrangement in logical or chronological order, or as parts of a design{these doubts will be arrayed before their minds— Farrar
}More often, however, it stresses the impressive or imposing character of an opposition{several of the best legal minds were arrayed against the prosecution
}{so much prejudice of one kind or another was arrayed against it that it was not till nearly two hundred years after its discovery that saltpeter became the god of war— Encore
}Analogous words: marshal, arrange, *order
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
