thin blue line
1
7.4
- noun
- UK
:
línea azul delgada
- As the thin blue line stood firm, the crowd felt a sense of safety amidst the unrest.
Examples
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Many people support the thin blue line movement.
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Debates about the thin blue line often arise during discussions about police funding.
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He believes that the thin blue line keeps communities safe from disorder.
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The community painted a thin blue line outside the police station as a show of support.
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The thin blue line represents the bravery of police officers.
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The thin blue line symbolizes the police officers who protect society from chaos.
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In times of crisis, police are seen as the thin blue line between order and anarchy.
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The words 'thin' (narrow), 'blue' (color often associated with police uniforms), and 'line' (a boundary) give some literal clues that this refers to a narrow boundary related to police, but the full idiomatic meaning—police as the symbolic barrier between order and chaos and a sign of solidarity—is culturally specific and not directly predictable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows the constituents might guess a literal small blue line but would probably not infer the sociopolitical symbolism without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrase thin blue line may come from the image of a narrow line of police in blue uniforms standing like a thin barrier between people and disorder. So it now means 'the police keep order' and shows 'police unity'.