outline

Etymology

From out +‎ line.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaʊtlaɪn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

outline (plural outlines)

1. A line marking the boundary of an object figure.
2. The outer shape of an object or figure.
   • 1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 149:

     From this point of vantage, we were able to gain an impression of the massive outlines of the main structure, and its intricate maze of girders.

3. A sketch or drawing in which objects are delineated in contours without shading.
   • 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:

     Painters, by their outlines, colours, lights, and shadows, represent the same in their pictures.

4. A general description of some subject.
5. A statement summarizing the important points of a text.
6. A preliminary plan for a project.

   the outline of a speech

7. (film) A prose telling of a story intended to be turned into a screenplay; generally longer and more detailed than a treatment.
8. (fishing) A setline or trotline.

Verb

outline (third-person singular simple present outlines, present participle outlining, simple past and past participle outlined)

1. (transitive) To draw an outline of.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood. They dated from the previous century and were coarsely printed on tinted paper, with tinsel outlining the design.

3. (transitive) To summarize.

   Wikipedia items featuring books usually outline them after giving their background.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.

5. (transitive, software compilation) To optimize for size by replacing repeated code fragments with function calls.

   Synonym: reverse inline

   Coordinate term: inline

Anagrams

• elution, line out, line-out, lineout