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line item

line item

12 3.5
A single entry in a budget or bill that shows how much money it is and what it is for
  • noun
  • /ˈlaɪn ˈaɪtəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : partida
  • Why on earth, you might ask, is there a line item in the proposal for message development?
  • line item in the budget
  • specific line items
  • total of line items

And then at the bottom of the first page there's a line item and it said assignment fee.

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Examples

  • Financial statements usually contain line items that extend to several lines.

    Academic text (2005)
  • President Clinton should use the line-item veto to strike this item from the new law.

    Academic text (1996)
  • What were some of the line items that quickly helped people to select out?

  • That was line item number two.

  • The plan should include these costs even if the line item is outside of the school library budget.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Interest rate payments are now the third biggest line item that the government has that's going to keep growing.

  • And then at the bottom of the first page there's a line item and it said assignment fee.

  • Ninety-one percent of the respondents presented bad debt expense as a separate line item in the income statement.

    Academic text (1993)
  • They're going to be the biggest line item payroll on your P&L, your largest investment, in other words, and they're also going to be the greatest source of pain.

  • The budget report lists each expense, clearly showing each line item for better tracking.

Synonyms

accounting entry
vsline item
  • Specialized
1 3.2

A record in a company's books that shows money going in or out

focuses on allocated amounts or descriptions in budgets and bills rather than transactions
ledger entry
vsline item
  • Specialized
5.2

A written record in a company's books that shows one financial transaction

lists allocated amounts separately in budgets or bills rather than transaction details

How Comprehensive

aggregate
17 5.8
roll-up
  • Specialized
5.0
subtotal
1 3.8
line item
  • Specialized
12 3.5

Surface Forms

line item singular
line items plural
line-items plural
line-item singular

Morphology

line + item

The meaning 'an individual entry in a list or budget' is directly derivable from combining 'line' (a row or division in a document) with 'item' (a distinct unit in a list). This noun-noun composition follows regular English compounding patterns and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The noun line item comes from old lists and bills where each charge was written on its own line as a separate item. So a line item means 'an individual entry' in a bill or budget, listed separately.