color line

[ kuhl-er lahyn ]

/ ˈkʌl ər ˌlaɪn /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for color line on Thesaurus.com

noun

Also called col·or bar

[kuhl-er bahr] /ˈkʌl ər ˌbɑr/ . social or political restriction or distinction based on differences of skin pigmentation, as between white and Black people.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!

In effect, this quiz will prove whether or not you have the skills to know the difference between “affect” and “effect.”

Question 1 of 7

The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

affect

effect

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Idioms about color line

draw the color line, to observe a color line.

Origin of color line

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65

Words nearby color line

colorism, colorist, colorize, color-key, colorless, color line, color of someone's money, see the, color phase, color radical, colorrhagia, colorrhaphy

How to use color line in a sentence

Who did and didn’t have air-conditioning often fell starkly along the color line, too, especially in the South.
AC Feels Great, But It’s Terrible for the Planet. Here’s How to Fix That|Eric Dean Wilson|June 30, 2021|Time
Private establishments held a firm color line, as did public transit.
COVID-19 Isn't the First Pandemic to Affect Minority Populations Differently. Here's What We Can Learn From the 1918 Flu|Emily Barone|August 7, 2020|Time
Domestically, the prime minister maintains the dubious line that he is the only man who can keep the still-fragile peace.
Cambodia’s Smoke-and-Mirrors Democracy|David Shaftel|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Even other men of color considered Revels a curious figure, for Mississippi had never had a large free black population.
The Black Man Who Replaced Jefferson Davis in the Senate|Philip Dray|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Last week I turned 40, a bittersweet occasion because I crossed the line to living longer without my mother than with her.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Similarly, a recent NPR report covered the challenges many police departments are having recruiting officers of color.
How to Solve the Policing Crisis|Keli Goff|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Completed in 1953 and composed with standard line breaks and punctuation, the book was completely ignored upon submission.
The Lost Novel of Nobel-Winner José Saramago|Charles Shafaieh|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The pink flowers are the largest while those of a yellow color are the smallest.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
In this position, the line of cavalry formed the chord of the arc described by the river, and occupied by us.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
She was growing accustomed to like shocks, but she could not keep the mounting color back from her cheeks.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
Our talk ranged from the Panhandle to the Canada line, while our horses jogged steadily southward.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Her attachment to impressionism leads this artist to many experiments in color—or, as one critic wrote, "to play with color."
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement