baseline

[beys-lahyn]

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.

adjective

1. basic or essential.

baseline

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of baseline¹

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

Example Sentences

Participants completed a baseline questionnaire describing whether they had experienced pain in the previous month that interfered with daily activities.

Read more on Science Daily

And, of course, women are endlessly scolded for refusing to marry men for reasons their critics deem unacceptable, such as expecting a baseline level of respect.

Read more on Salon

They won’t even try to reform the budget process that automatically increases spending each year in the “budget baseline.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Minister for Veterans and People, Louise Sandher-Jones, said the survey results were "wholly unacceptable", describing it as a "no holds barred baseline, to fully confront and address the root causes of this issue".

Read more on BBC

“The tariffs have brought in an extra $110 billion so far above the baseline, which clearly does not just justify $600 billion in promised tax rebates. The numbers just don’t add up,” Riedl said.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• control 
• criterion 
• guideline 
• measure 
• standard