outline
Americannoun
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outlines
plural
-
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)
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outlines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
outlined,
past participle, past
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outlining
present participle
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
-
has been outliningperfect progressive
Past
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outlinedsimple
-
had outlinedperfect
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was outliningprogressive
-
were outliningprogressive
-
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:
It’s not worth digging much into the film’s story; whether you’ve seen the first movie or just have a general outline of it, you’ll be wholly unsurprised by everything that happens in its sequel.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
They said Walmart “already has the outline of a partnership-led media strategy.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Their call came just a week before EU chief Ursula von der Leyen was to outline how the bloc intends to better protect children online from dangerous content and addictive apps.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
This call from the British Chamber of Commerce comes ahead of the chancellor's "first major speech" on Monday in which Healey will outline his vision for the economy.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
I shrug, making the outline of Dorothy Dingle’s head extra thick.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
The proposal outlines arguments made in several past lawsuits that the definition of “whole number of persons” to be counted should be more limited than in the past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The SDOB, typically produced twice monthly, outlines the worldwide availability of U.S. warships, aircraft, personnel, and weapons systems.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2026
Ford was uncharacteristically quiet in public after the Canadian government last week briefed the country’s premiers on the broad outlines of a trade deal with the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The talks in Washington came after Prime Minister Mark Carney briefed Canada's regional leaders on the outlines of a pact to stabilize bilateral trade.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
For a brief moment, I saw our avatars’ skeletons suspended inside the transparent outlines of our motionless bodies.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Tesla plans to host an inauguration event on Sept. 24 for the Nevada facility that had previously outlined a production target of 50,000 Semis per year.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
Bettencourt urged the board to scrap the current proposal and go back to the plan outlined in 2022.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
CVC Capital Partners named TPG TPG -3.30%decrease; down pointing triangle executive Todd Sisitsky and company insider Peter Rutland as co-chief executives as the buyout group outlined its leadership succession plan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
She outlined the work she’s been doing to run the organization and the plans she is implementing to secure its future.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
Once Mr. Mwila outlined our aim for this period, he sat at his desk and opened his little red book.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
A cross-party group of MPs and peers has published a report outlining human rights risks posed by AI, saying new laws are needed to "address the scale and seriousness" of such threats.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
In a paragraph outlining the evaluation process and criteria, they wrote:
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
Dr. Anca Askanase, who is working on the trial in which Bristol Myers noticed the adverse events, said she has received a letter from the company outlining details about the trial pause.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Morgan Stanley raised its price target for the stock from $434 to $499, outlining that as long as supply is tight and Dell’s execution remains strong, these “blowout” quarterly reports are poised to persist.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Here he pointed to midsky and the stars outlining the jaguar ready to pounce.
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
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.
