draw a line

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

draw a line (third-person singular simple present draws a line, present participle drawing a line, simple past drew a line, past participle drawn a line)

1. (idiomatic, often figurative) To delimit a boundary or border.
   • 2008: Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World, Chapter VII

     How to strike this balance —deterring China, on the one hand, accommodating its legitimate growth, on the other— is the central strategic challenge for American diplomacy. The United States can and should draw lines with China. But it should also recognize that it cannot draw lines everywhere.

   • 2012 November 20, Nina Bernstein, “Storm Bared a Lack of Options for the Homeless in New York”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Seth Diamond, commissioner of the Department of Homeless Services, drew a line between evacuees and the “traditional homeless,” arguing that court-ordered rules on shelter standards do not apply to short-term shelter from a natural disaster.

Related terms

• draw a line in the sand
• draw a line under