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Draw a line   /drɔ ə laɪn/   Listen
Draw a line

verb
1.
Reasonably object (to) or set a limit (on).  Synonym: draw the line.






WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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"Draw a line" Quotes from Famous Books



... geographical point: the boundary between the "Greek" Sila which I was now leaving and the Sila Grande, the central and largest region. Beyond this last-named lies the lesser Sila, or "Sila Piccola "; and if you draw a line from Rogliano (near Cosenza) to Cotrone you will approximately strike the watershed which divides the Sila Grande from this last and most westerly of the three Sila divisions. After that comes Catanzaro and the valley of the Corace, the narrowest ...
— Old Calabria • Norman Douglas

... inexact. Under such a definition the spirit world is contrasted with the material world. But this is erroneous; there is no such contrast! Both worlds are so closely connected that it is impossible to draw a line of demarcation, separating the one from the other. We say matter ...
— Redemption and Two Other Plays • Leo Tolstoy et al

... so imperceptibly into, and are so inextricably linked on to, outside things which clearly form no part of our personality, that when we try to bring ourselves to book, and determine wherein we consist, or to draw a line as to where we begin or end, we find ourselves completely baffled. There is nothing but ...
— Life and Habit • Samuel Butler

... and it was the sense of the kingdom, that they were to remain subject to the supreme authority of Parliament;" whereby we understand your Excellency to mean, in the sense of the declaratory act of Parliament afore mentioned, in all cases whatever. And, indeed, it is difficult, if possible, to draw a line of distinction between the universal authority of Parliament over the colonies, and no authority at all. It is, therefore, necessary for us to inquire how it appears, for your Excellency has not shown it ...
— The Writings of Samuel Adams, volume II (1770 - 1773) - collected and edited by Harry Alonso Cushing • Samuel Adams

... be said concerning this curtailment. For my own part, I consider it neither right nor useful that humanity should draw a line of demarcation between civilisation of European origin and the lofty civilisations of Asia. In my view, the harmonious realisation of humanity can be secured in no other way than by the union of ...
— The Forerunners • Romain Rolland

... Penitentiary; also, halfway between the south and the southeast—south-southeast a sailor would say—the reservoir (rectangle west of "O" in "Missouri"). Having oriented your map, draw on it a line from the map position of the reservoir toward its actual position on the ground. Similarly draw a line from the map position of penitentiary toward its actual position. Prolong the two lines until they intersect. The intersection of the lines will mark the place where ...
— Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Infantry • War Department

... university, render useless the architect's and builder's plans, throw down the mechanic's tools, the artist's brush, the sculptor's chisel, the writer's pen, still the orator's tongue, make null and void the legislator's high emprise and draw a line of atrophy across the unfolding processes ...
— Why I Preach the Second Coming • Isaac Massey Haldeman

... If we draw a line on the map starting from Lens on the south and following north through Lievin, La Bassee, Fromelles, Armentieres, almost to the valley of the River Douve on the north, the whole terrain for several ...
— 1914 • John French, Viscount of Ypres

... lawyers (barristers) are probably superior to those of any other nation, and the clergy are, at least, equal. This is not, indeed, saying a great deal; but it is so difficult, in matters of religion, to temper zeal, and draw a line between emulation and fanaticism, that, perhaps, it is better that they should be a little remiss than righteous overmuch. It is not in the education of churchmen, but in the manner of paying and providing for them, that the error lies; and that ...
— An Inquiry into the Permanent Causes of the Decline and Fall of Powerful and Wealthy Nations. • William Playfair

... responding by a little flush of anger to the unlucky Curate's name. "He might understand that people like to be by themselves now and then. I am surprised that you give in to him so much as you do, William. Good-nature must stop somewhere, and I think it is always best to draw a line." ...
— The Perpetual Curate • Mrs [Margaret] Oliphant

... miracle plays, of course. If you draw a line from entrance to entrance, then at right angles to it there runs from the circumference towards the centre of the area a straight shallow trench, terminating in a spoon-shaped pit. The trench is now a mere depression not more than a foot deep, the pit three feet: but doubtless time has ...
— From a Cornish Window - A New Edition • Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

... time had arrived for living in the flower of Christian charity, instead of the husks and thorns which may have been necessary to guard it. If it were possible for some new and wonderful Pope to make this change, and draw a line between these two Christian epochs, like that between the Old and New Testaments, the world would feel inclined to prostrate itself again and for ever at the feet of Rome. In a catholic state of things like that, delighted should I be, ...
— Stories from the Italian Poets: With Lives of the Writers, Volume 1 • Leigh Hunt

... use by the blue-eyed, regardless of the color of the hair or complexion. Stein's No. 17, for the dark-eyed. Titian-haired folks use Stein's No. 21 purple for the same purpose. With this grease paint stick of the color suited to you, draw a line across the upper eyelid between the eyebrow and the eyelashes, as close as possible to the lashes. With the fingers blend this line into a shadow, making it dark close to the upper lashes. Either pencil ...
— The Art of Stage Dancing - The Story of a Beautiful and Profitable Profession • Ned Wayburn

... with a look of stern determination. "I have suffered much and idiotically—but I draw a line ...
— New Burlesques • Bret Harte

... sentence will give some idea of the sort of eloquence with which he prefaces this grave proposal to Her Majesty:—"The dispute about the proper sphere of women is idle. That men should have attempted to draw a line for their orbit, shows that God meant them for comets, and above our jurisdiction. With them the enthusiasm of poetry and the idolatry of love is the simple voice of nature." There are, indeed, many passages of this boyish composition, ...
— Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan V1 • Thomas Moore

... But in certain subordinate topics he seems to make a higher demand on our faith. He is full of more or less fanciful heresies, and labours hard to convince us either that they are true or that he seriously holds them. This is what I mean by mystification, and one fears to draw a line as to which he was probably far from clear himself. Thus, for example, he is a devout believer in physiognomy, and not only in its obvious sense; he erects it into an occult science. Lavater and Gall, he says, 'prove incontestably' that ominous signs exist in our heads. Take, for example, ...
— Hours in a Library, Volume I. (of III.) • Leslie Stephen

... STOOPING PUSH.—Draw a line on the floor. Toe it with the feet spread wide apart. Reach around outside of the legs and grasp a light dumb-bell or other object of similar weight with both hands; throw or slide it forward on the floor from ...
— Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium • Jessie H. Bancroft

... or wounding. His speech abounded with unconscious epigram. He had his beliefs and stood by them; but he was never aggressive. Cleaner speech never fell from the lips of man. I never heard him use a profanity. We once agreed between ourselves to draw a line across the salacious stories so much in vogue during our day; the wit must exceed the dirt; where the dirt exceeded the wit we ...
— Marse Henry, Complete - An Autobiography • Henry Watterson

... travelled about the seventh of a mile in a north-easterly direction and we draw a line an inch long at an angle of forty-five degrees to the right of the north and south line. From the end of that we carry a line at an angle of fifty-six and a quarter degrees to the left of the north and south line, and so on. The method is ...
— The Mystery of 31 New Inn • R. Austin Freeman

... therefore, rather taken the number of houses than that of inhabitants, it being less likely that improper practices would be adopted in regard to the former than to the latter. It had been found difficult, he continued, to draw a line which should mark where the census should be attended to, and where it was to be disregarded. Ministers had used every effort to obtain a correct account of the size and importance of the boroughs which were to be abolished; and on the ...
— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. - From George III. to Victoria • E. Farr and E. H. Nolan

... Why should a man, whose income, perhaps derived from land or funded property below L150, pay nothing, while a hard working clerk, attorney, or country surgeon, who makes L155, and is not worth a tenth part of the other's realised capital, pays income-tax? It is in vain to say you must draw a line somewhere. So you must, but you must not draw it in a way to do gross and palpable injustice,—to exempt the comparatively affluent, and oppress the industrious poor. There is a vital distinction, which it would be well if the income tax recognised, between income, ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCLXXVI. February, 1847. Vol. LXI. • Various

... the gnomon back where it was before and wait for the shadow to lessen and grow again until in the afternoon it is equal to its length in the morning, touching the circumference at the point C. Then from the points B and C describe with the compasses two arcs intersecting at D. Next draw a line from the point of intersection D through the centre of the circle to the circumference and call it E F. This line will show where ...
— Ten Books on Architecture • Vitruvius

... mission is To show how the woodman became 'Abolitionist.' Introductions, you know, like 'original sin,' Hang on, while you long for some sign of repentance In shape of the last and the welcomest sentence, So, in short, I'll cut short, draw a line, and begin. ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol III, Issue VI, June, 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... alive to everything which might affect their reputation or their interests. However innocent the institution might be in itself or however laudable its real objects, if the impression it made on the public mind was such as to draw a line of distinction between the military men of America and their fellow-citizens, he was earnest in his wishes to adopt such measures as would efface that impression. However ill founded the public prejudices might be he thought this a case in which they ought to be respected, and, if ...
— Life And Times Of Washington, Volume 2 • John Frederick Schroeder and Benson John Lossing

... "progressives" say the issue is between "Privilege" and the "People"; the Socialists, that it is between the "working class" and the "master class." An apologist for dynamite told me once that society was divided into the weak and the strong, and there are people who draw a line ...
— A Preface to Politics • Walter Lippmann

... sir,' said he. Thinks I, it would be strange if you did, for I never see one of your folks yet that could understand a hawk from a handsaw. 'Well,' says I, 'I will tell you what I mean: draw a line from Cape Sable to Cape Cansoo, right through the Province, and it will split it into two, this way;' and I cut an apple into two halves; 'now,' says I, 'the worst half, like the rotten half of the apple, belongs to Halifax, and the other and sound half belongs to St. John. Your side of the province ...
— The Clockmaker • Thomas Chandler Haliburton

... it hardly is becoming in me to answer up to a man so much older than I, or I could say more. Suppose we draw a line here for the present, sir, ...
— The Hand of Ethelberta • Thomas Hardy



Words linked to "Draw a line" :   trammel, draw the line, limit, restrain, throttle, confine, restrict, bound



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