Word.ws English Dictionary

command-line

command-line is the alternative form of command line.

Meaning of command line

Noun

command line (plural command lines)

  1. A shell, a command line interface; usually used with the definite article.
    • I'm so used to the command line that I don't even know how to find things in the GUI.
  2. The text prompt presented to the user in a command line interface.
    • Type the following at the command line: du -s -h.
  3. A line of text that is entered at such a prompt.
    • Use the following command line to compile a file without linking: gcc -c main.c -o main.o

Verb

command-line (third-person singular simple present command-lines, present participle command-lining, simple past and past participle command-lined)

  1. (informal, transitive) To write (something) in a command line.
    • After 8 years of MacOS, and frequent CLI conversations with the u**x heavy iron up the street, I have a vision where all OS' converge towards a unix-like system where extensions are loaded and dumped on the fly as apps need, which can be command-lined for those who want, or have the GUI of your...1997 April 14, Peter Kerr, “MacOS sucks, get UNIX instead”, in comp.sys.mac.wanted (Usenet), archived from the original on 09 Dec 2025
    • Scoured the internet for additional resources, tried the Safe Mode fix, tried the Catroot2 log file deletion, tried the registry fix, started and rebooted and command-lined the crypto services about 27 times, tried all the so-called fixes on the entire microsoft website world of wonder.2003 August 13, Dave at the end of my rope, “Update.inf, Crypto Services Of Doom”, in microsoft.public.security.virus (Usenet), archived from the original on 09 Dec 2025

Forms of command-line

Noun
pluralcommand-lines
Verb
third-person singular presentcommand-lines
present participlecommand-lining
past participlecommand-lined
pastcommand-lined

Phrases with command-line

Questions about command-line

What does command-line mean?
Command-line means to write (something) in a command line.
What is command-line the alternative form of?
Command-line is the alternative form of command line.
What part of speech is command-line?
Command-line is a verb.
What is the past tense of command-line?
The past tense of command-line is command-lined.

Words near command-line in the dictionary

  1. command posts
  2. command processing overhead time
  3. command processing overhead times
  4. command responsibility
  5. command-in-chief
  6. command-line
  7. command-line interface
  8. command-line interfaces
  9. command-line interpreter
  10. command-line interpreters
  11. command-lined

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: command-line (page history and authors); command line (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “command-line.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/command-line. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.