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

In their deeply researched biography, “Irascible: The Combative Life of Douglas Cooper, Collector and Friend of Picasso,” Adrian Clark and Richard Calvocoressi do not dispute what they call the “terrible baseline” of Cooper’s personality.

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"A three-day weekend in nature has a huge impact on our virus fighting apparatus and even a month later it can be 24% above baseline."

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Anisimova had already beaten her in London, proving her mettle as one of the few players on tour who could match her power from the baseline.

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He remains a thunderclap from the baseline, but has options other than ferocious groundstrokes.

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Lots of other borrowing rates are priced off that baseline.

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Related Words

• control 
• criterion 
• guideline 
• measure 
• standard