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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

step out of line en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (figuratively) To break the rules of society.
    • We have been conditioned from early childhood to be afraid; if we step out of line we will not be accepted. 2013, Chris Hamilton, On the Path to Enlightenment, Balboa Press, →ISBN, page 65:
    • If you step out of line and indulge in immoral acts, you're breaking the contract with your fellow citizens. 2012, Henry Jacoby, Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts Deeper Than Swords, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 176:
    • It starts when you're always afraid / Step out of line, the man come and take you away 1966 December, Stephen Stills, “For What It's Worth”performed by Buffalo Springfield:
    • By recalling the lynching and imagining that as the “rightful” place for black men who step out of line, Jesse, the sheriff, can collect his nerves sufficiently to confront the demonstrators 2009, Trudier Harris, The Scary Mason-Dixon Line: African American Writers and the South, LSU Press, →ISBN:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
stepping out of line Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
steps out of line Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
stepped out of line Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
stepped out of line Tense=Past lexicographic

Relateds

toe the line · cross the line · fall in line

Translations (6)

es salirse del tiesto (Translations) · de aus der Rolle fallen (Translations) · fi poiketa ruodusta (Translations) · it sgarrare (Translations) · pl wyłamać się (Translations) · pl wyłamywać się (Translations)