baseline

American  

[beys-lahyn] / ˈbeɪsˌlaɪn /

noun

1. Baseball. the area between bases base bases basis within which a base runner must keep when running from one base bases to another.

2. Tennis. the line at each end of a tennis court, parallel to the net, that marks the in-bounds limit of play.

3. (in perspective drawing) a horizontal line in the immediate foreground formed by the intersection of the ground plane and the picture plane.

4. a basic standard or level; guideline.

   to establish a baseline for future studies.

5. a specific value or values that can serve as a comparison or control.

6. Typography. the imaginary line on which the bottoms of primary letters align.

7. Surveying. triangulation1

8. Electronics. a horizontal or vertical line formed on the face of a cathode-ray tube by the sweep of the scanning dot.

9. Naval Architecture. a line on the body plan or sheer plan of a hull, representing a horizontal reference plane for vertical dimensions.

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adjective

1. basic or essential.

baseline British  

/ ˈbeɪsˌlaɪn /

noun

1. surveying a measured line through a survey area from which triangulations are made

2. an imaginary line, standard of value, etc, by which things are measured or compared

3. a line at each end of a tennis court that marks the limit of play

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Etymology

Origin of baseline

First recorded in 1740–50; base ¹ + line ¹

Example Sentences

Correcting this baseline fries previous predictions about population trends in future decades.

From The Wall Street Journal

Moments later Cronin was grabbing the kid’s shirt and leading him to the baseline, where he ordered an assistant coach to remove him from the court area and banish him to the locker room.

From Los Angeles Times

We then drilled down into periods when the Federal Reserve was raising the baseline fed-funds rate or when it was cutting the rate.

From The Wall Street Journal

Already Strong Security Setup: If you have a well-configured home network with strong passwords, updated firmware, WPA3 encryption and regularly updated devices, your baseline security may already be quite good.

From Salon

Performance: Here’s where it shines—speeds average 75-85% of baseline, which is genuinely impressive for a free service.

From Salon

Related Words

• control
• criterion
• guideline
• measure
• standard