outline
Other forms: outlines; outlined; outlining
The gist, the essence, the major parts of something — that's its outline.
The origins of outline come from the artistic practice of marking a line around the outer edge of a person or shape in a picture before filling it in. Only later, in the 1800s, did it come to be applied to verbal descriptions, too. Technically an outline suggests a condensed form of something, but as any high school or college student knows, course outlines have a habit of being pretty darn long. In 1919 H.G. Wells wrote a book called An Outline of History. Its length? 1,324 pages.
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the line that appears to bound an object
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trace the shape of
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a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory
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a schematic or preliminary plan
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draw up an outline or sketch for something
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describe roughly or briefly or give the main points or summary of
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Vocabulary lists containing outline
A thorough survey of various textbooks, assignments, content area standards, and examinations yields the following list of words compiled by Jim Burke. You cannot expect to succeed on assignments if you do not understand the directions.
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