Word.ws English Dictionary

walk the line

walk the line verb: to maintain an intermediate position between contrasting choices, opinions, etc.

Verb

walk the line (third-person singular simple present walks the line, present participle walking the line, simple past and past participle walked the line)

  1. (idiomatic) To maintain an intermediate position between contrasting choices, opinions, etc.
    • I sat at dinner, but satisfied myself with nibbling bread crusts, and witnessing the forlorn and perilous efforts of my friends to walk the line between starvation and acute indigestion.1914, Julian Hawthorne, chapter 13, in The Subterranean Brotherhood
    • I began to walk the line between work and play.27 January 1992, “It's Twyla Time Again”, in Newsweek
  2. (idiomatic) To act in a non-destructive or damaging manner, whether physically or mentally to those you hold dear and/or respect; to exercise self-control.
    • I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
      I keep my eyes wide open all the time
      I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
      Because you're mine, I walk the line.1956, Johnny Cash, “I Walk the Line”, Sun Records
  3. To mark or secure a boundary by walking along it.
    • And on a day we meet to walk the line
      And set the wall between us once again.1914, Robert Frost, Mending Wall
  4. (US, idiomatic) To participate in the procession at a graduation ceremony; to graduate.
    • A Baldwin High School student will be able to wear slacks to her graduation ceremony, under an order from the Maui School District. . . . "I'm very glad she'll be able to walk the line with her graduating class," Rosaga said.2002 May 7, Gary Kubota, “Maui girl wins right to forget the dress”, in Honolulu Star-Bulletin, archived from the original on 09 Apr 2006
    • Montano's family, including her parents, sons and fiance, Thomas Gallegos, planned to be on hand to see her walk the line and be honored by the UNM-VC Advisory Board, faculty and staff and her fellow associate degree graduates.13 May 2006, “Graduation 2006: Valedictorian seeks better life for her family”, in Valencia County News-Bulletin.com, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2007

walk the line meaning in Bengali

walk the line in Bengali

পরস্পরবিরোধী পছন্দ, আত্মনিয়ন্ত্রণ চর্চা করা, স্নাতক হওয়া

Forms of walk the line

third-person singular presentwalks the line
present participlewalking the line
past participlewalked the line
pastwalked the line

Questions about walk the line

What does walk the line mean?
Walk the line means to maintain an intermediate position between contrasting choices, opinions, etc.
What is walk the line in Bengali?
Walk the line in Bengali is পরস্পরবিরোধী পছন্দ, আত্মনিয়ন্ত্রণ চর্চা করা, স্নাতক হওয়া. See Walk the line meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is walk the line?
Walk the line is a verb.
What is the past tense of walk the line?
The past tense of walk the line is walked the line.

Words near walk the line in the dictionary

  1. walk the chalk mark
  2. walk the dog
  3. walk the floor
  4. walk the gangplank
  5. walk the hospitals
  6. walk the line
  7. walk the plank
  8. walk the streets
  9. walk the talk
  10. walk the walk
  11. walk through

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: walk the line (page history and authors); walk the line (Bengali Wiktionary) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-walk the line.ogg.

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