waterline en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From water + line.
Meanings
- A line formed by the surface of the water on the hull of a ship when she is afloat; any of a series of short lines marked on the hull to show where the waterline would be under different loadings
- A horizontal line indicating the shape of an airfoil.
-
A line showing where the water has been.
Down here along the waterline, the Enterprise has a belt of thick antitorpedo armor. It's not too promising.
1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 391:
-
The line formed by where the water level of a body of water currently is: where the water's surface currently meets the bank; it may move higher or lower depending on the weather, tide, or season.
We are walking south-west, down a gently increasing slope, with the old farm buildings of the tiny hamlet of Villemiers [in the department of Charente] visible on the other side of the valley a kilometre away. The Transon [a tributary of the river Charente] meanders in the bottom of the valley below, a lazy trickle of a stream with small muddy pools at intervals, home to numerous coypu, a South American rodent that escaped from fur-farms long ago and has found a home-from-home in the many rivers and lakes of the Charente. They are semi-aquatic, resembling beavers in all but their long, rat-like tails. They can be something of a nuisance, as they are great burrowers, creating huge holes in the banks just on the waterline, which does little harm in a stream, but can be disastrous in a man-made lake, since their burrows can puncture the dam.
2015, Dave Goulson, A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm, Picador, →ISBN, page 14:Near-synonym: water's edge
- The inner rim of the eyelid, just behind the lash line; primarily used in reference to the application of eyeliner.
- A water pipeline.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| waterlines | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
load line · section · Plimsoll line · buttock line
Deriveds
Relateds
Synonyms
Translations (21)
pl linia wodna (line on the land) · fr ligne de flottaison (line on the hull of a ship) · cmn 吃水線 /吃水线 (line on the land) · pl wodnica (line on the land) · de Wasserlinie (line on the hull of a ship) · bg ватерлиния (line on the hull of a ship) · fi vesiraja (line on the land) · de Wasserstand (line on the land) · eo akvolinio (line on the hull of a ship) · pl wodnica (line on the hull of a ship) · cmn 水線 /水线 (line on the hull of a ship) · cmn 水線 /水线 (line on the land) · ru ватерли́ния (line on the hull of a ship) · fi vesilinja (line on the hull of a ship) · pl linia wodna (line on the hull of a ship) · nl waterlijn (line on the hull of a ship) · cs čára ponoru (line on the hull of a ship) · ro linie de plutire (line on the hull of a ship) · ja 喫水線 (line on the hull of a ship) · el ίσαλος γραμμή (line on the hull of a ship) · es línea de flotación (line on the hull of a ship)