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baseline

[beys-lahyn]

noun Also, base line.

Baseball. the area between bases within which a base runner must keep when running from one base to another.

Tennis. the line at each end of a tennis court, parallel to the net, that marks the in-bounds limit of play.

(in perspective drawing) a horizontal line in the immediate foreground formed by the intersection of the ground plane and the picture plane.

a basic standard or level; guideline: to establish a baseline for future studies.

a specific value or values that can serve as a comparison or control.

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Typography. the imaginary line on which the bottoms of primary letters align.

Surveying. See under triangulation (def. 1).

Electronics. a horizontal or vertical line formed on the face of a cathode-ray tube by the sweep of the scanning dot.

Naval Architecture. a line on the body plan or sheer plan of a hull, representing a horizontal reference plane for vertical dimensions.

COLLAPSE

adjective

10.

basic or essential.

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Baseline is always a great word to know.

So is bezoar. Does it mean:

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

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Origin:
1740–50; base¹ + line¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Baseline

Example Sentences

In clinical trials, patients treated with antidepressants do show substantial improvement from baseline.

It is not clear however, whether this implies a major departure from the baseline.

But doing so required having a perfect model to establish a baseline.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

baseline (ˈbeɪsˌlaɪn)

—n
1.	surveying a measured line through a survey area from which triangulations are made
2.	an imaginary line, standard of value, etc, by which things are measured or compared
3.	a line at each end of a tennis court that marks the limit of play

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

baseline

1750, originally in surveying, from base (n.) + line (n.). Baseline estimate in use by 1983.

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary