Line Islands

American  

[lahyn] / laɪn /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. a group of islands in the central Pacific Ocean, S of the Hawaiian Islands: eight belong to the Republic of Kiribati, three are U.S. dependencies. 193 sq. mi. (500 sq. km).

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Line Islands British  

plural noun

1. a group of coral islands in the central Pacific, including Tabuaeran, Teraina, and Kiritimati: part of Kiribati, with Palmyra and Jarvis administered by the US

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Example Sentences

The Line Islands are set to be the worst affected, with a loss of two-thirds estimated under the low-emission scenario alone.

From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026

In a well-documented case in the Line Islands of the central Pacific, an iron shipwreck sank on a healthy coral reef.

From Salon • Dec. 30, 2023

She has documented climate change through a 7,000-year period at the Northern Line Islands in the Pacific and discovered that a record-breaking marine heat wave in 2016 killed 90 percent of its reef.

From Scientific American • Feb. 3, 2023

“I saw that myself diving in the remote and unfished southern Line Islands in 2009,” he said.

From Washington Post • Sep. 14, 2016

The second mate of an island-trading schooner of which I was the supercargo, was landed at Arorai, in the Line Islands, unable to move, and suffering great agony.

From By Rock and Pool on an Austral Shore, and Other Stories by Becke, Louis