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clothesline

American  
[klohz-lahyn, klohthz-] / ˈkloʊzˌlaɪn, ˈkloʊðz- /

noun

  1. a strong, narrow rope, cord, wire, etc., usually stretched between two poles, posts, or buildings, on which clean laundry is hung to dry.

clothesline British  
/ ˈkləʊðzˌlaɪn /

noun

  1. a piece of rope, cord, or wire on which clean washing is hung to dry or air

"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

Etymology

Origin of clothesline

First recorded in 1820–30; clothes + line 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After waters rapidly rose in West Sumatra and submerged his home, Meri Osman said he was "swept away by the current" and clung onto a clothesline until he was rescued.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2025

I use a clothesline on the balcony and a laundromat nearby in case I have an urgent need to dry things.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

If time was like a clothesline, I wanted to do it for as long as ever.

From Salon • May 22, 2024

We’d clip them to a kind of clothesline that took them down to the composing room.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2024

The once fresh green of the trees was dark and drying now and somewhere down below a clothesline peddler clanged his bell and called.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.