DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Line, n.
 1. A linen thread or string; a slender, strong cord; also, a cord of any thickness; a rope; a hawser; as, a fishing line; a line for snaring birds; a clothesline; a towline.
    Who so layeth lines for to latch fowls.   --Piers Plowman.
 2. A more or less threadlike mark of pen, pencil, or graver; any long mark; as, a chalk line.
 3. The course followed by anything in motion; hence, a road or route; as, the arrow descended in a curved line; the place is remote from lines of travel.
 4. Direction; as, the line of sight or vision.
 5. A row of letters, words, etc., written or printed; esp., a row of words extending across a page or column.
 6. A short letter; a note; as, a line from a friend.
 7. Poet. A verse, or the words which form a certain number of feet, according to the measure.
    In the preceding line Ulysses speaks of Nausicaa.   --Broome.
 8. Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity.
    He is uncommonly powerful in his own line, but it is not the line of a first-rate man.   --Coleridge.
 9. Math. That which has length, but not breadth or thickness.
 10. The exterior limit of a figure, plat, or territory; boundary; contour; outline.
 Eden stretched her line
 From Auran eastward to the royal towers
 Of great Seleucia.   --Milton.
 11. A threadlike crease marking the face or the hand; hence, characteristic mark.
    Though on his brow were graven lines austere.   --Byron.
 He tipples palmistry, and dines
 On all her fortune-telling lines.   --Cleveland.
 12. Lineament; feature; figure. “The lines of my boy's face.”
 13. A straight row; a continued series or rank; as, a line of houses, or of soldiers; a line of barriers.
    Unite thy forces and attack their lines.   --Dryden.
 14. A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a given person; a family or race; as, the ascending or descending line; the line of descent; the male line; a line of kings.
 Of his lineage am I, and his offspring
 By very line, as of the stock real.   --Chaucer.
 15. A connected series of public conveyances, and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.; as, a line of stages; an express line.
 16. Geog. (a) A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented on a map. (b) The equator; -- usually called the line, or equinoctial line; as, to cross the line.
 17. A long tape, or a narrow ribbon of steel, etc., marked with subdivisions, as feet and inches, for measuring; a tapeline.
 18. Script. (a) A measuring line or cord.
    He marketh it out with a line.   --Is. xliv. 13.
 (b) That which was measured by a line, as a field or any piece of land set apart; hence, allotted place of abode.
    The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.   --Ps. xvi. 6.
 (c) Instruction; doctrine.
    Their line is gone out through all the earth.   --Ps. xix. 4.
 19. Mach. The proper relative position or adjustment of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working; as, the engine is in line or out of line.
 20. The track and roadbed of a railway; railroad.
 21. Mil. (a) A row of men who are abreast of one another, whether side by side or some distance apart; -- opposed to column. (b) The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery, etc.
 22. Fort. (a) A trench or rampart. (b) pl. Dispositions made to cover extended positions, and presenting a front in but one direction to an enemy.
 23. pl. Shipbuilding Form of a vessel as shown by the outlines of vertical, horizontal, and oblique sections.
 24. Mus. One of the straight horizontal and parallel prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are placed.
 25. Stock Exchange A number of shares taken by a jobber.
 26. Trade A series of various qualities and values of the same general class of articles; as, a full line of hosiery; a line of merinos, etc.
 27. The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, or the whole of a system of telegraph wires under one management and name.
 28. pl. The reins with which a horse is guided by his driver. [U. S.]
 29. A measure of length; one twelfth of an inch.
 Hard lines, hard lot. --C. Kingsley. [See Def. 18.]
 Line breeding Stockbreeding, breeding by a certain family line of descent, especially in the selection of the dam or mother.
 Line conch Zool., a spiral marine shell (Fasciolaria distans), of Florida and the West Indies. It is marked by narrow, dark, revolving lines.
 Line engraving. (a) Engraving in which the effects are produced by lines of different width and closeness, cut with the burin upon copper or similar material; also, a plate so engraved. (b) A picture produced by printing from such an engraving.
 Line of battle. (a) Mil. Tactics The position of troops drawn up in their usual order without any determined maneuver. (b) Naval The line or arrangement formed by vessels of war in an engagement.
 Line of battle ship. See Ship of the line, below.
 Line of beauty Fine Arts,an abstract line supposed to be beautiful in itself and absolutely; -- differently represented by different authors, often as a kind of elongated S (like the one drawn by Hogarth).
 Line of centers. Mach. (a) A line joining two centers, or fulcra, as of wheels or levers. (b) A line which determines a dead center. See Dead center, under Dead.
 Line of dip Geol., a line in the plane of a stratum, or part of a stratum, perpendicular to its intersection with a horizontal plane; the line of greatest inclination of a stratum to the horizon.
 Line of fire Mil., the direction of fire.
 Line of force Physics, any line in a space in which forces are acting, so drawn that at every point of the line its tangent is the direction of the resultant of all the forces. It cuts at right angles every equipotential surface which it meets. Specifically Magnetism, a line in proximity to a magnet so drawn that any point in it is tangential with the direction of a short compass needle held at that point. --Faraday.
 Line of life Palmistry, a line on the inside of the hand, curving about the base of the thumb, supposed to indicate, by its form or position, the length of a person's life.
 Line of lines. See Gunter's line.
 Line of march. Mil. (a) Arrangement of troops for marching. (b) Course or direction taken by an army or body of troops in marching.
 Line of operations, that portion of a theater of war which an army passes over in attaining its object. --H. W. Halleck.
 Line of sight Firearms, the line which passes through the front and rear sight, at any elevation, when they are sighted at an object.
 Line tub Naut., a tub in which the line carried by a whaleboat is coiled.
 Mason and Dixon's line, Mason-Dixon line, the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, as run before the Revolution (1764-1767) by two English astronomers named Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. In an extended sense, the line between the free and the slave States; as, below the Mason-Dixon line, i.e. in the South.
 On the line, (a) on a level with the eye of the spectator; -- said of a picture, as hung in an exhibition of pictures. (b) at risk (dependent upon success) in a contest or enterprise; as, the survival of the company is on the line in this project.
 Right line, a straight line; the shortest line that can be drawn between two points.
 Ship of the line, formerly, a ship of war large enough to have a place in the line of battle; a vessel superior to a frigate; usually, a seventy-four, or three-decker; -- called also line of battle ship or battleship. --Totten.
 To cross the line, to cross the equator, as a vessel at sea.
 To give a person line, to allow him more or less liberty until it is convenient to stop or check him, like a hooked fish that swims away with the line.
 Water line Shipbuilding, the outline of a horizontal section of a vessel, as when floating in the water.

 Point, n.
 1. That which pricks or pierces; the sharp end of anything, esp. the sharp end of a piercing instrument, as a needle or a pin.
 2. An instrument which pricks or pierces, as a sort of needle used by engravers, etchers, lace workers, and others; also, a pointed cutting tool, as a stone cutter's point; -- called also pointer.
 3. Anything which tapers to a sharp, well-defined termination. Specifically: A small promontory or cape; a tract of land extending into the water beyond the common shore line.
 4. The mark made by the end of a sharp, piercing instrument, as a needle; a prick.
 5. An indefinitely small space; a mere spot indicated or supposed. Specifically: Geom. That which has neither parts nor magnitude; that which has position, but has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, -- sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced.
 6. An indivisible portion of time; a moment; an instant; hence, the verge.
 When time's first point begun
 Made he all souls.   --Sir J. Davies.
 7. A mark of punctuation; a character used to mark the divisions of a composition, or the pauses to be observed in reading, or to point off groups of figures, etc.; a stop, as a comma, a semicolon, and esp. a period; hence, figuratively, an end, or conclusion.
    And there a point, for ended is my tale.   --Chaucer.
    Commas and points they set exactly right.   --Pope.
 8. Whatever serves to mark progress, rank, or relative position, or to indicate a transition from one state or position to another, degree; step; stage; hence, position or condition attained; as, a point of elevation, or of depression; the stock fell off five points; he won by tenpoints. “A point of precedence.” --Selden.  “Creeping on from point to point.” --Tennyson.
    A lord full fat and in good point.   --Chaucer.
 9. That which arrests attention, or indicates qualities or character; a salient feature; a characteristic; a peculiarity; hence, a particular; an item; a detail; as, the good or bad points of a man, a horse, a book, a story, etc.
    He told him, point for point, in short and plain.   --Chaucer.
    In point of religion and in point of honor.   --Bacon.
 Shalt thou dispute
 With Him the points of liberty ?   --Milton.
 10. Hence, the most prominent or important feature, as of an argument, discourse, etc.; the essential matter; esp., the proposition to be established; as, the point of an anecdote. “Here lies the point.”
    They will hardly prove his point.   --Arbuthnot.
 11. A small matter; a trifle; a least consideration; a punctilio.
    This fellow doth not stand upon points.   --Shak.
    [He] cared not for God or man a point.   --Spenser.
 12. Mus. A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time; as: (a) Anc. Mus. A dot or mark distinguishing or characterizing certain tones or styles; as, points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.; hence, a note; a tune.  “Sound the trumpet -- not a levant, or a flourish, but a point of war.” --Sir W. Scott. (b) Mod. Mus. A dot placed at the right hand of a note, to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half, as to make a whole note equal to three half notes, a half note equal to three quarter notes.
 13. Astron. A fixed conventional place for reference, or zero of reckoning, in the heavens, usually the intersection of two or more great circles of the sphere, and named specifically in each case according to the position intended; as, the equinoctial points; the solstitial points; the nodal points; vertical points, etc. See Equinoctial Nodal.
 14. Her. One of the several different parts of the escutcheon. See Escutcheon.
 15. Naut. (a) One of the points of the compass (see Points of the compass, below); also, the difference between two points of the compass; as, to fall off a point. (b) A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails. See Reef point, under Reef.
 16. Anc. Costume A a string or lace used to tie together certain parts of the dress.
 17. Lace wrought the needle; as, point de Venise; Brussels point. See Point lace, below.
 18. pl. Railways A switch. [Eng.]
 19. An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer. [Cant, U. S.]
 20. Cricket A fielder who is stationed on the off side, about twelve or fifteen yards from, and a little in advance of, the batsman.
 21. The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game; as, the dog came to a point. See Pointer.
 22. Type Making A standard unit of measure for the size of type bodies, being one twelfth of the thickness of pica type. See Point system of type, under Type.
 23. A tyne or snag of an antler.
 24. One of the spaces on a backgammon board.
 25. Fencing A movement executed with the saber or foil; as, tierce point.
 26. Med. A pointed piece of quill or bone covered at one end with vaccine matter; -- called also vaccine point.
 27.  One of the raised dots used in certain systems of printing and writing for the blind. The first practical system was that devised by Louis Braille in 1829, and still used in Europe (see Braille). Two modifications of this are current in the United States: New York point founded on three bases of equidistant points arranged in two lines (viz., : :: :::), and a later improvement, American Braille, embodying the Braille base (:::) and the New-York-point principle of using the characters of few points for the commonest letters.
 28.  In technical senses: (a) In various games, a position of a certain player, or, by extension, the player himself; as: (1) Lacrosse & Ice Hockey The position of the player of each side who stands a short distance in front of the goal keeper; also, the player himself. (2) Baseball (pl.) The position of the pitcher and catcher. (b) Hunting A spot to which a straight run is made; hence, a straight run from point to point; a cross-country run. [Colloq. Oxf. E. D.] (c) Falconry The perpendicular rising of a hawk over the place where its prey has gone into cover. (d) Act of pointing, as of the foot downward in certain dance positions.
 Note: ☞ The word point is a general term, much used in the sciences, particularly in mathematics, mechanics, perspective, and physics, but generally either in the geometrical sense, or in that of degree, or condition of change, and with some accompanying descriptive or qualifying term, under which, in the vocabulary, the specific uses are explained; as, boiling point, carbon point, dry point, freezing point, melting point, vanishing point, etc.
 At all points, in every particular, completely; perfectly. --Shak.
 At point, In point, At the point, In the point, or On the point, as near as can be; on the verge; about (see About, prep., 6); as, at the point of death; he was on the point of speaking.  “In point to fall down.” --Chaucer. “Caius Sidius Geta, at point to have been taken, recovered himself so valiantly as brought day on his side.” --Milton.
 Dead point. Mach. Same as Dead center, under Dead.
 Far point Med., in ophthalmology, the farthest point at which objects are seen distinctly. In normal eyes the nearest point at which objects are seen distinctly; either with the two eyes together (binocular near point), or with each eye separately (monocular near point).
 Nine points of the law, all but the tenth point; the greater weight of authority.
 On the point. See At point, above.
 Point lace, lace wrought with the needle, as distinguished from that made on the pillow.
 Point net, a machine-made lace imitating a kind of Brussels lace (Brussels ground).
 Point of concurrence Geom., a point common to two lines, but not a point of tangency or of intersection, as, for instance, that in which a cycloid meets its base.
 Point of contrary flexure, a point at which a curve changes its direction of curvature, or at which its convexity and concavity change sides.
 Point of order, in parliamentary practice, a question of order or propriety under the rules.
 Point of sight Persp., in a perspective drawing, the point assumed as that occupied by the eye of the spectator.
 Point of view, the relative position from which anything is seen or any subject is considered.
 Points of the compass Naut., the thirty-two points of division of the compass card in the mariner's compass; the corresponding points by which the circle of the horizon is supposed to be divided, of which the four marking the directions of east, west, north, and south, are called cardinal points, and the rest are named from their respective directions, as N. by E., N. N. E., N. E. by N., N. E., etc. See Illust. under Compass.
 Point paper, paper pricked through so as to form a stencil for transferring a design.
 Point system of type. See under Type.
 Singular point Geom., a point of a curve which possesses some property not possessed by points in general on the curve, as a cusp, a point of inflection, a node, etc.
 To carry one's point, to accomplish one's object, as in a controversy.
 To make a point of, to attach special importance to.
 To make a point, or To gain a point, accomplish that which was proposed; also, to make advance by a step, grade, or position.
 To mark a point, or To score a point, as in billiards, cricket, etc., to note down, or to make, a successful hit, run, etc.
 To strain a point, to go beyond the proper limit or rule; to stretch one's authority or conscience.
 Vowel point, in Arabic, Hebrew, and certain other Eastern and ancient languages, a mark placed above or below the consonant, or attached to it, representing the vowel, or vocal sound, which precedes or follows the consonant.

 cen·ter n.
 1. A point equally distant from the extremities of a line, figure, or body, or from all parts of the circumference of a circle; the middle point or place.
 2. The middle or central portion of anything.
 3. A principal or important point of concentration; the nucleus around which things are gathered or to which they tend; an object of attention, action, or force; as, a center of attraction.
 4. The earth. [Obs.]
 5. Those members of a legislative assembly (as in France) who support the existing government. They sit in the middle of the legislative chamber, opposite the presiding officer, between the conservatives or monarchists, who sit on the right of the speaker, and the radicals or advanced republicans who occupy the seats on his left, See Right, and Left.
 6. Arch. A temporary structure upon which the materials of a vault or arch are supported in position until the work becomes self-supporting.
 7. Mech. (a) One of the two conical steel pins, in a lathe, etc., upon which the work is held, and about which it revolves. (b) A conical recess, or indentation, in the end of a shaft or other work, to receive the point of a center, on which the work can turn, as in a lathe.
 Note: ☞ In a lathe the live center is in the spindle of the head stock; the dead center is on the tail stock. Planer centers are stocks carrying centers, when the object to be planed must be turned on its axis.
 Center of an army, the body or troops occupying the place in the line between the wings.
 Center of a curve or Center of a surface Geom. (a) A point such that every line drawn through the point and terminated by the curve or surface is bisected at the point. (b) The fixed point of reference in polar coordinates. See Coordinates.
 Center of curvature of a curve Geom., the center of that circle which has at any given point of the curve closer contact with the curve than has any other circle whatever. See Circle.
 Center of a fleet, the division or column between the van and rear, or between the weather division and the lee.
 Center of gravity Mech., that point of a body about which all its parts can be balanced, or which being supported, the whole body will remain at rest, though acted upon by gravity.
 Center of gyration Mech., that point in a rotating body at which the whole mass might be concentrated (theoretically) without altering the resistance of the intertia of the body to angular acceleration or retardation.
 Center of inertia Mech., the center of gravity of a body or system of bodies.
 Center of motion, the point which remains at rest, while all the other parts of a body move round it.
 Center of oscillation, the point at which, if the whole matter of a suspended body were collected, the time of oscillation would be the same as it is in the actual form and state of the body.
 Center of percussion, that point in a body moving about a fixed axis at which it may strike an obstacle without communicating a shock to the axis.
 Center of pressure Hydros., that point in a surface pressed by a fluid, at which, if a force equal to the whole pressure and in the same line be applied in a contrary direction, it will balance or counteract the whole pressure of the fluid.
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 Dead a.
 1. Deprived of life; -- opposed to alive and living; reduced to that state of a being in which the organs of motion and life have irrevocably ceased to perform their functions; as, a dead tree; a dead man. “The queen, my lord, is dead.”
    The crew, all except himself, were dead of hunger.   --Arbuthnot.
    Seek him with candle, bring him dead or living.   --Shak.
 2. Destitute of life; inanimate; as, dead matter.
 3. Resembling death in appearance or quality; without show of life; deathlike; as, a dead sleep.
 4. Still as death; motionless; inactive; useless; as, dead calm; a dead load or weight.
 5. So constructed as not to transmit sound; soundless; as, a dead floor.
 6. Unproductive; bringing no gain; unprofitable; as, dead capital; dead stock in trade.
 7. Lacking spirit; dull; lusterless; cheerless; as, dead eye; dead fire; dead color, etc.
 8. Monotonous or unvaried; as, a dead level or pain; a dead wall. “The ground is a dead flat.”
 9. Sure as death; unerring; fixed; complete; as, a dead shot; a dead certainty.
    I had them a dead bargain.   --Goldsmith.
 10. Bringing death; deadly.
 11. Wanting in religious spirit and vitality; as, dead faith; dead works. “Dead in trespasses.”
 12. Paint. (a) Flat; without gloss; -- said of painting which has been applied purposely to have this effect. (b) Not brilliant; not rich; thus, brown is a dead color, as compared with crimson.
 13. Law Cut off from the rights of a citizen; deprived of the power of enjoying the rights of property; as, one banished or becoming a monk is civilly dead.
 14. Mach. Not imparting motion or power; as, the dead spindle of a lathe, etc.  See Spindle.
 15. Elec. Carrying no current, or producing no useful effect; -- said of a conductor in a dynamo or motor, also of a telegraph wire which has no instrument attached and, therefore, is not in use.
 16.  Out of play; regarded as out of the game; -- said of a ball, a piece, or a player under certain conditions in cricket, baseball, checkers, and some other games.
    [In golf], a ball is said to lie dead when it lies so near the hole that the player is certain to hole it in the next stroke.    --Encyc. of Sport.
 Dead ahead Naut., directly ahead; -- said of a ship or any object, esp. of the wind when blowing from that point toward which a vessel would go.
 Dead angle Mil., an angle or space which can not be seen or defended from behind the parapet.
 Dead block, either of two wooden or iron blocks intended to serve instead of buffers at the end of a freight car.
 Dead calm Naut., no wind at all.
 Dead center, or Dead point Mach., either of two points in the orbit of a crank, at which the crank and connecting rod lie a straight line. It corresponds to the end of a stroke; as, A and B are dead centers of the crank mechanism in which the crank C drives, or is driven by, the lever L.
 Dead color Paint., a color which has no gloss upon it.
 Dead coloring Oil paint., the layer of colors, the preparation for what is to follow. In modern painting this is usually in monochrome.
 Dead door Shipbuilding, a storm shutter fitted to the outside of the quarter-gallery door.
 Dead flat Naut., the widest or midship frame.
 Dead freight Mar. Law, a sum of money paid by a person who charters a whole vessel but fails to make out a full cargo. The payment is made for the unoccupied capacity. --Abbott.
 Dead ground Mining, the portion of a vein in which there is no ore.
 Dead hand, a hand that can not alienate, as of a person civilly dead. “Serfs held in dead hand.” --Morley. See Mortmain.
 Dead head Naut., a rough block of wood used as an anchor buoy.
 Dead heat, a heat or course between two or more race horses, boats, etc., in which they come out exactly equal, so that neither wins.
 Dead horse, an expression applied to a debt for wages paid in advance. [Law]
 Dead language, a language which is no longer spoken or in common use by a people, and is known only in writings, as the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
 Dead letter. (a) A letter which, after lying for a certain fixed time uncalled for at the post office to which it was directed, is then sent to the general post office to be opened. (b) That which has lost its force or authority; as, the law has become a dead letter.
 Dead-letter office, a department of the general post office where dead letters are examined and disposed of.
 Dead level, a term applied to a flat country.
 Dead lift, (a) a direct lift, without assistance from mechanical advantage, as from levers, pulleys, etc.; hence, an extreme emergency. “(As we say) at a dead lift.” --Robynson (More's Utopia). (b) Weighlifting The lifting of a weight from the ground, without raising it to the shoulders.
 Dead line Mil., a line drawn within or around a military prison, to cross which involves for a prisoner the penalty of being instantly shot.
 Dead load Civil Engin., a constant, motionless load, as the weight of a structure, in distinction from a moving load, as a train of cars, or a variable pressure, as of wind.
 Dead march Mus., a piece of solemn music intended to be played as an accompaniment to a funeral procession.
 Dead nettle Bot., a harmless plant with leaves like a nettle (Lamium album).
 Dead oil Chem., the heavy oil obtained in the distillation of coal tar, and containing phenol, naphthalus, etc.
 Dead plate Mach., a solid covering over a part of a fire grate, to prevent the entrance of air through that part.
 Dead pledge, a mortgage. See Mortgage.
 Dead point. Mach. See Dead center.
 Dead reckoning Naut., the method of determining the place of a ship from a record kept of the courses sailed as given by compass, and the distance made on each course as found by log, with allowance for leeway, etc., without the aid of celestial observations.
 Dead rise, the transverse upward curvature of a vessel's floor.
 Dead rising, an elliptical line drawn on the sheer plan to determine the sweep of the floorheads throughout the ship's length.
 Dead-Sea apple. See under Apple.
 Dead set. See under Set.
 Dead shot. (a) An unerring marksman. (b) A shot certain to be made.
 Dead smooth, the finest cut made; -- said of files.
 Dead wall Arch., a blank wall unbroken by windows or other openings.
 Dead water Naut., the eddy water closing in under a ship's stern when sailing.
 Dead weight. (a) A heavy or oppressive burden. --Dryden. (b) Shipping A ship's lading, when it consists of heavy goods; or, the heaviest part of a ship's cargo. (c) Railroad The weight of rolling stock, the live weight being the load. --Knight.
 Dead wind Naut., a wind directly ahead, or opposed to the ship's course.
 To be dead, to die. [Obs.]
    I deme thee, thou must algate be dead.   --Chaucer.
 Syn: -- Inanimate; deceased; extinct. See Lifeless.

 dead center
      n : the position of a crank when it is in line with the
          connecting rod and not exerting torque [syn: dead centre]