battle line
5
5.2
- noun
- /ˈbætəl laɪn/
:
línea divisoria
- The battle lines have pretty much been drawn; who will you serve, God or mammon?
- battle lines drawn
And we're going to start seeing some battle lines being drawn before too long.
- And we're going to start seeing some battle lines being drawn before too long.
- I, I just said, you know what, the battle lines have been drawn.
- For one, the battle lines for future conflict have been drawn.
- So I would not expect ethnically diverse UK to be where the battle lines are drawn.
- So watching these battle lines between these factions come out is very instructive in December.
- And hence we see the battle lines laid between presidential and congressional Reconstruction.
- I want to understand them because I believe that a soldier knits and said the battle line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.
- So do you feel, I feel like the battle line is very clear, it's you versus your evolutionary impulses?
Examples
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In the debate about climate change, the battle lines are clearly drawn between environmentalists and industrialists.
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As battle lines are drawn, friction becomes evident and conflict becomes endemic.
Academic text (2003) -
We're going to have our battle lines ready and this is the field where we're going to face off against the enemy.
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And we're going to start seeing some battle lines being drawn before too long.
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Here, the battle line over the future of higher education will be drawn.
Academic text (1998) -
Battle lines have been drawn, and people are aligning themselves on either side of the issue.
Blog text (14) -
To gain a better understanding of the enterprise's cultural issues, one needs to understand some of the underlying battle lines that exist in today's typical enterprise.
Academic text (1998) -
But we should also keep an ear open for voices of reason on the other side of the battle line; a war between academic cultures has its satisfactions, but dialogue is ultimately more interesting.
Academic text (2000) -
When the stronista faction began to infringe upon their "turf," so to speak, the battle lines between the two factions were drawn.
Academic text (1990) -
In the executive branch and on Capitol Hill, in the media, in academia, and elsewhere in the American body politic, the battle lines are already forming between those who recognize these realities and those who are beginning to beat the drums for a "glasnost dividend" in the shape of a sharp reduction in the U.S. government's intelligence effort and expenditures, now that the Soviet threat appears to have diminished.
Academic text (1990)
Synonyms
725
8.1
A defended position where soldiers stand during fighting
110
6.0
A strong disagreement between groups that causes tension
97
6.8
The line or area where opposing armies fight during a war
83
4.1
The area where enemy armies meet and fight
5
5.8
The place where two armies face each other and fight
1
8.1
A row of soldiers or ships arranged to fight the enemy
A clear division between two groups that shows who supports each side in a dispute
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'battle' (conflict) and 'line' (a dividing position or front), so a learner who knows both words can infer a boundary or position between opposing sides. The figurative use ('draw a battle line') is a predictable metaphorical extension and is cross-linguistically common, making the expression readily comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
Battle line is a picture from war: people imagine a clear line where two sides face each other and will fight, like two teams on opposite edges. So the phrase now often means a clear 'division' or the position someone takes in an argument or dispute.