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Glite Dictionary
✍️ First sentence 💸 First betting odds
opening line

opening line

15 2.8
The first line of a book or article that grabs attention
  • noun
: frase de apertura
  • The opening line of the novel captured my interest immediately.
  • the opening line of the story
  • read the opening line

And the opening line for that one is all children except one grow up.

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Examples

  • In writing workshops, teachers often emphasize the importance of a strong opening line.

  • Pay close attention to the opening lines of this article.

    Academic text (2011)

  • And the opening line for that one is all children except one grow up.

    EmilyReadsBooks

  • Then, I simply ask them: 'Which is the best opening line to a story?'

    Blog text (4)

  • "Yeah, not a bad opening line for a movie."

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The secret seems to be to make sure your opening lines are on topic.

    Blog text (21)

  • Does anyone know here the opening line of the Iliad?

  • Momaday's awareness of the connection between self and place is demonstrated by the novel's opening lines:

    Academic text (1998)

  • From the opening lines, John personalizes his telling, inserting elements to connect the narrative to his life.

    Academic text (2017)

  • From the opening line, she warns and reassures, "Many things about the story are puzzling."

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

lead-in
vsopening line
  • Literature
14 4.9

A short introduction before the main part of a talk or story

is a single first sentence aimed to attract attention rather than a longer introduction
incipit
vsopening line
  • Literature
1 9.9

The opening words of a text that are used as its title

is more focused on grabbing the reader's attention than merely marking the start
catchy hook
vsopening line
1 3.5

An opening line or idea that quickly gets people's attention

is the first sentence that may just introduce the piece rather than grab attention

How Attention-Grabbing

opening line
15 2.8
hook
33 3.4
grabber
  • Literature
6 3.8
lead-in
  • Literature
14 4.9

Surface Forms

opening line singular
opening lines plural

Morphology

opening + line

Although 'opening' clearly conveys 'initial' or 'first', the sense of 'line' required for the MWE (betting odds/point spread) is a specialized, domain-specific meaning not captured by the provided ordinary sense of 'line' (a short message) and not obvious to a B1 learner. Most learners would interpret 'opening line' as the first sentence or a literal line rather than initial betting odds, so the idiomatic betting sense cannot be derived from the constituents without prior exposure.

Etymology

Opening line comes from the image of a door opening, because the very first line of a book or speech 'opens' the story and must grab the reader's attention.