pure line

noun

Genetics.

1. a uniform strain of organisms that is relatively pure genetically because of continued inbreeding and artificial selection.

pure line

noun

1. a breed or strain of animals or plants in which certain characters appear in successive generations as a result of inbreeding or self-fertilization

Word History and Origins

Origin of pure line¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Overall, the aesthetic ideal practiced and promoted by Eckersberg — to render a volatile world orderly through an art of pure line — seems not to have made full sense to younger artists in his orbit who experienced history, nature and daily life as endangered and transient.

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“Everything was pure line,” he says.

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Beyond those benefits, Minneopa has become a key in building a genetically pure line of American bison in Minnesota.

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With re-election bids looming for roughly a third of all senators, the motivations to hold some ideologically pure line are no doubt present.

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My cells are no longer the pure line entities I was raised with; they are ecosystems more complex than Jamaica Bay.

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