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.
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
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.
As The Outline saliently noted in 2019, this disposition seemed to suggest a holier-than-thou elitism.
From Slate • Feb. 12, 2026
It seems, as an article written by Angelica Jade Bastién for The Outline is titled, “America is afraid of ambitious women, even on TV.”
From Salon • Jul. 3, 2023
The plan set out in the school's Strategic Outline Business Case is for a "faithful reinstatement" of the original building and this marks the end of the first phase of a three-part project.
From BBC • Jan. 24, 2023
Outline the steps necessary to answer the question.
From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019
See that the outline is thoroughly committed to memory, and test the pupil's knowledge by calling upon him to read at sight the Blackboard Outline below.
From Outline Studies in the Old Testament for Bible Teachers by Hurlbut, Jesse Lyman
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.
