party line

[pahr-tee lahyn for 1, 2; pahr-tee lahyn for 3, 4]

See more synonyms for party line on Thesaurus.com

noun

the authorized, prescribed policies and practices of a group, especially of the Communist Party, usually followed by the members without deviation; official philosophy or credo.
the guiding policy, tenets, or practices of a political party: The judge was chosen on party lines.
a telephone line connecting the telephones of a number of subscribers by one circuit to a central office, used in some rural areas.

the boundary line separating adjoining properties.

Origin of party line

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Related formspar·ty-line, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for party line

line, platform, policy, position, bandwagon

Examples from the Web for party line

Contemporary Examples of party line

Worst of all for disaster planning, legislatures are passing election reforms on party-line votes.
How Many More Near-Election Disasters Before Congress Wakes Up?
Richard L. Hasen
October 30, 2012
When she hit her stride in the 1960s, her compositions were too intuitive, even willful, to count as party-line Minimalism.
The Maximal Minimalist
Blake Gopnik
March 29, 2012
Patricia Murphy on the party-line fight behind closed doors.
Debt-Panel Stalemate
Patricia Murphy
October 26, 2011
Boehner may choose to ram through hard-right bills on party-line votes, giving him symbolic victories and Tea Party cred.
John Boehner's Reality Check
Howard Kurtz
January 3, 2011

Historical Examples of party line

These two general classes of party-line systems may, therefore, be termed "non-selective" and "selective" systems.
Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1
Kempster Miller
The party-line problem in rural districts is somewhat different from that within urban limits.
Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1
Kempster Miller
For party-line ringing the key matter becomes somewhat more complicated.
Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1
Kempster Miller

British Dictionary definitions for party line

party line

noun

a telephone line serving two or more subscribers
the policies or dogma of a political party, to which all members are expected to subscribe
mainly US the boundary between adjoining property

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

Idioms and Phrases with party line

party line

The official policy of an organization or government, as in The current party line opposes legalized abortion in all cases. This term, dating from about 1830, was originally used for a political party's official policy but in the mid-1900s was almost exclusively applied to the rigid dicta of the Soviet Communist Party. Since then it has returned to looser use.