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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.

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

Inside the Airbnb, he was surprised to find a clothesline instead of a dryer.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025

Eleven-year-old Arakel is holding his cardboard model of a house with a retractable clothesline.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2025

“One of the things I did to myself is I didn't want the joke attached to time. If time was like a clothesline, I wanted to do it for as long as ever.”

From Salon • May 22, 2024

If a bird pooped on a clean white sheet while flying over the clothesline, that meant bad luck.

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye

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.