outline
/ˈaʊtlaɪn/
outline noun: a line marking the boundary of an object figure.
Noun
outline (plural outlines)
- A line marking the boundary of an object figure.
- Synonyms:
- lineation
- The outer shape of an object or figure.
- From this point of vantage, we were able to gain an impression of the massive outlines of the main structure, and its intricate maze of girders.1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 149
- A sketch or drawing in which objects are delineated in contours without shading.
- Painters, by their outlines, colours, lights, and shadows, represent the same in their pictures.1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC
- A general description of some subject.
- A statement summarizing the important points of a text.
- A preliminary plan for a project.
- the outline of a speech
- A prose telling of a story intended to be turned into a screenplay; generally longer and more detailed than a treatment.
- A setline or trotline.
Verb
outline (third-person singular simple present outlines, present participle outlining, simple past and past participle outlined)
- To draw an outline of; to describe.
- He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood. They dated from the previous century and were coarsely printed on tinted paper, with tinsel outlining the...1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
- To summarize.
- Wikipedia items featuring books usually outline them after giving their background.
- At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
- To optimize for size by replacing repeated code fragments with function calls.
- Synonyms:
- reverse inline
outline meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
outline in Hindi
- outline, overview
- रूपरेखा rūprekhā
- outline
- अक्स aks
- to outline, draw
- आँकना ā̃knā
outline in Tamil
- திட்டவரை, கோட்டோவியம், கோட்டுச்சித்திரம், சுருக்கம், ஆகாரம், விளிம்பு
outline in Marathi
- रूपरेषा, रुपरेषा
outline in Urdu
- چوکھٹا, خاکہ, خلاصہ
More languagesFewer languages
- outline in Bengali
- আদরা, বাহি্যক সীমারেখা, দেহরেখা, পরিলেখ
- outline in Telugu
- రూపురేఖలను
- outline in Malayalam
- അതിര്, ബാഹ്യരേഖ, രേഖാരൂപം, സംക്ഷേപം
- outline in Kannada
- ರೂಪರೇಖೆ, ಬಾಹ್ಯರೇಖೆ, ಹೊರರೇಖೆ, ಸ್ಥೂಲಚಿತ್ರ
- outline in Punjabi
- ਰੂਪ ਰੇਖਾ
- outline in Nepali
- रूपरेखा, रुपरेखा
- outline in Tagalog
- balangkas
- outline in Arabic
- لَخَّصَ laḵḵaṣa, اِخْتَصَرَ iḵtaṣara
- outline in Persian
- شمای کلی
Examples of outline in a sentence
- He carefully traced the outlines of the old building before him.
- He's garbled the details, but the outline of the story is still pretty clear.
- The outcomes of this course are outlined in your syllabus.
Synonyms of outline
- lineation
- reverse inline
Forms of outline
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | outlines |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | outlines |
| present participle | outlining |
| past participle | outlined |
| past | outlined |
Origin of outline
From out + line.
Words formed from outline
Questions about outline
- What does outline mean?
- Outline means a line marking the boundary of an object figure.
- What is outline in Hindi?
- Outline in Hindi is रूपरेखा (rūprekhā), अक्स (aks), आँकना (ā̃knā). See Outline meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is outline?
- Outline can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce outline?
- Outline is pronounced /ˈaʊtlaɪn/.
- What is the plural of outline?
- The plural of outline is outlines.
Words near outline in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: outline (page history and authors); अक्स (Hindi) (page history and authors); outline (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); outline (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); outline (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); outline (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); outline (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); outline (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); outline (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); outline (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); outline (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-outline.ogg.
Cite this entry: “outline.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/outline. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.