chalk line

noun

, Building Trades.

a chalked string for making a straight line on a large surface, as a wall, by holding the string taut against the surface and snapping it to transfer the chalk.
the line so made.

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

All her life she had walked her chalk-line, and anything outside savoured of the mysterious, and terrible.

To the stiff pole and chalk-line fishermen of confirmed habits I have nothing to say.

Easton walked a trifle too solemnly straight, as if he had set himself an imaginary chalk-line to follow.

"Now, see that you walk a chalk line," the burglar said, fiercely.

The program is to pay off everything and straighten that boy out and make him walk the chalk-line.

April 18, 2024petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

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