Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🧗 A support rope 🎣 A fishing line
handline

handline

7.9
A fishing line you hold and pull by hand instead of using a rod
  • noun
  • /ˈhændˌlaɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : línea de mano
  • Using a handline, she was able to catch fish without the need for a rod.
  • handline fishing
  • handline fisheries
  • handline fishermen

Examples

  • The fisherman skillfully cast his handline into the water while waiting for a bite.

  • He carefully untangled the handline after it got caught in the rocks.

  • The most important gear around all islands is the bottom handline.

    Academic text (1993)

  • A baited hook on the end of the handline is laid against a stone, and the line is wound around it.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Most handline vessels are 6-9 m in length and are often crewed by 1-2 persons.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Annual commercial handline landings reported to HDAR increased from 45 t to almost 1,000 t between 1970 and 1981.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Bigeye tuna are an important component of the handline catch (Yuen, 1979) that is not reflected in HDAR statistics.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The small-vessel troll and handline fisheries include poorly differentiated commercial, recreational, and subsistence components.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The magnitude of the recreational-subsistence sector of the handline fishery is unquantified but important (Pooley, 1993a).

    Academic text (1993)

Synonyms

line
vshandline
∞ 1.1

A long thin rope or wire used to carry things

is a specific fishing tool used and managed by hand rather than for transport
fishing line
vshandline
11 2.0

A strong thin string used to catch fish with a hook

is for the same use but specifically handled by hand not rod
hand line
vshandline
  • Specialized
1 5.6

A fishing line that you hold and use without a rod or reel

is the same but written as a single word rather than two
fishline
vshandline
2.3

A strong thin cord used to catch fish with a fishing rod

is used in the same task but specifically handled only by hand

How Manual

handline
  • Specialized
7.9
line
∞ 1.1
trawl
  • Specialized
2 5.1

Surface Forms

handline singular
handlines plural

Morphology

handline = hand + line (transparent) = hand + line

The sense is a literal compound 'hand' + 'line' meaning a line operated by hand (as opposed to by rod or reel), which is inferable from the components.

Etymology

Handline comes from hand + line, literally a 'line' used by the hand. So a handline is a fishing line you work by hand, without a rod or reel.