baseline

[ beys-lahyn ]

/ ˈbeɪsˌlaɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR baseline ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Also base line.

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

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

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

a basic standard or level; guideline: to establish a baseline for future studies.

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

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

Surveying. See under triangulation(def 1).

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

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

adjective

basic or essential.

Nearby words

Origin of baseline

First recorded in 1740–50; base¹ + line¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for baseline

“There is a baseline agreement when it comes to campus rape: the current system is failing these students,” she added.
Feminism Has Gone Too Far|Lizzie Crocker|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A system to ensure that providers have a baseline competency in the areas where they choose to practice makes sense to me.
Rand Paul and the Certification Racket|Russell Saunders|August 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We can aim at an economy that makes dignity and security a baseline and lets people cut their paths from there.
We Need More Class Traitors: Solving America’s Meritocracy Problem|Jedediah Purdy|April 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Women have learned to operate with a baseline level of fear, one that dips or peaks depending on our surroundings.
Apps and Online Programs Offer New Ways to Report Street Harassment|Tessa Miller|April 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The baseline question, as it so often is in politics these days, is about emotional resistance.
Health Care's Resistors and Adapters|Michael Tomasky|March 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Anyway, he knocked it straight down the third baseline and fooled the Journals rivals, for their fielders were not on duty.
Joan of the Journal|Helen Diehl Olds
The crescent rests on a baseline formed by the slowly-proceeding line of women, children, and baggage-horses.
At Home with the Patagonians|George Chaworth Musters
Meanwhile his baseline had been extended twenty miles to the westto near Noyon.
New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, No. 1, July 1918|Various
On the 17th a baseline was laid down on the plateau, and Blake was able to commence his survey of the island.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson
With two tracers, separated on a baseline of a few million kilometers, we can plot position closely.
Evil Out of Onzar|Mark Ganes

British Dictionary definitions for baseline

baseline

/ (ˈbeɪsˌlaɪn) /

noun

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

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

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for baseline

baseline

also base-line, 1750, originally in surveying, from base (n.) + line (n.). Baseball diamond sense is from 1867. Baseline estimate in use by 1983.

baseline

noun Also base line.

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of baseline

Examples from the Web for baseline

British Dictionary definitions for baseline

baseline

noun

Word Origin and History for baseline

baseline