outline

[ out-lahyn ]
See synonyms for outline on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the line by which a figure or object is defined or bounded; contour.

  2. a drawing or sketch restricted to line without shading or modeling of form.

  1. 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.

  2. outlines, the essential features or main aspects of something under discussion: At the first meeting, we gave her only the outlines of the project.

  3. Printing. an ornamented type in which the outside contours of each character appear in black, with the inside left white.

verb (used with object),out·lined, out·lin·ing.
  1. to draw the outline of, or draw in outline, as a figure or object.

  2. to give an outline of; sketch the main features of: On the first day, the professor just outlined the course for us.

Origin of outline

1
First recorded in1655–65; out- + line1

synonym study For outline

1. See form.

Other words for outline

Other words from outline

  • pre·out·line, noun, verb (used with object), pre·out·lined, pre·out·lin·ing.
  • re·out·line, verb (used with object), re·out·lined, re·out·lin·ing.
  • well-outlined, adjective

Words Nearby outline

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use outline in a sentence

  • Frequently they are found in alveolar arrangement, retaining the original outline of the alveoli of the lung (Fig. 4, b).

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • It was the darkest hour of twilight, when there was just enough of gleam from the lurid sky, to shew the outline of objects.

  • They are usually shorter and more irregular in outline, and more frequently have irregularly broken ends.

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • It was their firm conviction that the system under which we live was, in its broad outline, a system of even justice.

  • As she left the wood she saw a big hay-stack, as firm and shapely of outline as a house, not a loose wisp anywhere.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton

British Dictionary definitions for outline

outline

/ (ˈaʊtˌlaɪn) /


noun
  1. a preliminary or schematic plan, draft, account, etc

  2. (usually plural) the important features of an argument, theory, work, etc

  1. the line by which an object or figure is or appears to be bounded

    • a drawing or manner of drawing consisting only of external lines

    • (as modifier): an outline map

verb(tr)
  1. to draw or display the outline of

  2. to give the main features or general idea of

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012