draw a line in the sand

Verb

draw a line in the sand (third-person singular simple present draws a line in the sand, present participle drawing a line in the sand, simple past drew a line in the sand, past participle drawn a line in the sand)

1. (intransitive) To lay down a challenge; to provide a test of commitment (often one which carries a high risk) to a cause.
   • "Well," Judd said, "what's the deal. You in or out?" "I have to decide right now?" "We have a meeting with Bruce tonight and church tomorrow morning. You go with us tonight and you promise to go tomorrow, or you move out this afternoon." "The man's drawing a line in the sand for you," Lionel said....1998, Jerry B. Jenkins with Tim F. LaHaye, Through the flames
   • WILLY: It doesn't have to stick: we just need to get a court order for now - to keep Crawford from pulling the plug! With all the brain-power here, I'm sure somebody can come up with a pretext or call in a favor. Then we can tie this up in court while we arrange a state-appointed conservatorship -...2007, Daniel Pyne, Glenn Gers (scriptwriters), Fracture
2. To create a real or artificial boundary or distinction between (two places, people or things).
   • At some point you ask, "Where do we draw a line in the sand between deconstruction as desertification of God and as desertion of God?" There is no line.1999, John D. Caputo, Michael J. Scanlon, God, the Gift, and Postmodernism, page 133
   • Could it be, that way back, early in this relationship, consciously in my mind, I chose to set a boundary or to draw a line in the sand between this person and myself? This line meant that I would not allow the person to come any closer to me, or my seeming secrets, than that line in my mind.2003, Doug Geiger, Mindful Forgiveness: Experiencing the Love Factor, page 42
3. To indicate the threshold or level above which something will become unacceptable or will provoke a response; to create a boundary and imply or declare that its crossing will provoke a (negative) response.
   • “A line has been drawn in the sand” against any Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Bush said.1990 August 9, R. W. Apple Jr, quoting George W. Bush, “Bush draws ‘line’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   • Even so, the current crisis might well have been defused weeks ago, before the two leaders started exchanging threats of war, had the United States agreed to talk directly to North Korea, as our allies in the region have been pleading with us to do. Instead, the Administration drew a line in the...2003 March 5, Robert Byrd, speech, North Korea: The Rising Peril