outline
Americannoun
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the line by which a figure or object is defined or bounded; contour.
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a drawing or sketch restricted to line without shading or modeling of form.
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a general sketch, account, or report, indicating only the main features, as of a book, subject, or project.
an outline of medieval history; an outline of a speech.
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outlines, the essential features or main aspects of something under discussion.
At the first meeting, we gave her only the outlines of the project.
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Printing. an ornamented type in which the outside contours of each character appear in black, with the inside left white.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a preliminary or schematic plan, draft, account, etc
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(usually plural) the important features of an argument, theory, work, etc
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the line by which an object or figure is or appears to be bounded
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a drawing or manner of drawing consisting only of external lines
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( as modifier )
an outline map
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verb
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to draw or display the outline of
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to give the main features or general idea of
Synonym Usage
See form.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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outlinesimple
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outlinessimple
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have outlinedperfect
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has outlinedperfect
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am outliningprogressive
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are outliningprogressive
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is outliningprogressive
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have been outliningperfect progressive
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has been outliningperfect progressive
Past
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outlinedsimple
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had outlinedperfect
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was outliningprogressive
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were outliningprogressive
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had been outliningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outline
Explanation
The gist, the essence, the major parts of something — that's its outline. The origins of outline come from the artistic practice of marking a line around the outer edge of a person or shape in a picture before filling it in. Only later, in the 1800s, did it come to be applied to verbal descriptions, too. Technically an outline suggests a condensed form of something, but as any high school or college student knows, course outlines have a habit of being pretty darn long. In 1919 H.G. Wells wrote a book called An Outline of History. Its length? 1,324 pages.
Vocabulary lists containing outline
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Expository Writing, List 2
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Writing - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
With pressure mounting for Europe's biggest carmaker to publicly outline its cost-saving plans, chief executive Oliver Blume told workers in the memo that the group must "act now" to safeguard its future.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
In a speech on Monday, Burnham is expected to outline his vision for devolution and the economy.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
By then, the skies had cleared enough for the faint outline of the San Gabriel Mountains to appear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
On Sunday, the US and Iran announced an outline deal to end the war.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
He flutters in the night air, the outline of his body hardly visible against the night sky.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
The proposal, which will likely be finalized later this year, outlines a set of factors for employers to consider before approving investments.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
The BBC's political correspondent Joe Pike outlines the highs and lows of his premiership.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Dicker said traders have kept losing money on long oil positions each time Trump announces he has in hand the outlines of a deal.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
The paper also outlines several recommendations intended to strengthen and improve Climate TRACE's work, helping policymakers and budget planners make better-informed decisions about reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026
And he walked on, around the edge of the lake, taking in the outlines of the beloved castle, his first kingdom, his birthright....
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
The president’s comments come as the U.S.-Iran conflict has dragged on far longer than the White House initially outlined, at more than four months and counting.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
Chief Executive Oliver Blume has nonetheless outlined an ambition to achieve a margin of between 8% and 10% by 2030—a level Volkswagen hasn’t achieved in at least two decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
He also outlined resources Lineage would provide to residents living closest to the site during that clean-up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Faced with an almost-insatiable appetite for electricity in the world's most populous nation, Modi has outlined plans to substantially scale-up nuclear power generation in coming years.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Entire trees were outlined in white-orange flame, and the forest floor writhed, alive with fire.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Market breadth and market leadership are two very different things, Stockton said, outlining that semiconductor stocks have had particularly narrow leadership.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
In partnership with the IWF, the organisation has released fresh guidance for parents outlining steps they can take to help keep their children safe online.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
The $50,000 maximum rules out many options on the market, but legislation outlining the incentive program makes a special exception for California-based companies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
The United Nations Scientific Advisory Board released a report outlining the dangers of crossing irreversible tipping points, from ice melt that would further raise sea levels to the collapse of coral reefs and Amazon decline.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
In June 1858, Wallace sent Darwin a tentative draft of his paper outlining his general theory of evolution by natural selection.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
