air-line

[air-lahyn]

adjective

1. straight; direct; traveling a direct route.

   Some railroads advertise air-line routes between stations.

Word History and Origins

Origin of air-line¹

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

Example Sentences

Confident in his keenness of vision and in his familiarity with sea ice, he took the shorter air-line route, though its rough rubble-ice and shattered hummock-masses were sure to make greater demands on his physical strength and to require vigilance to avoid accidents.

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Tupelo is about forty miles south of Rienzi, on an air-line.

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It is not to be confused with Gordiou-kome, refounded as Juliopolis, a Bithynian town on a small tributary of the Sangarius, about 47 m. in an air-line N.W. of Gordium.

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A second branched off from South Corinth, and leading in almost an air-line to Orange, passed near the western edge of Round Lake.

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Three trails led southward from Jessup's Landing,—one in almost an air-line to Kinaquariones.

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