line of battle
1
8.1
- noun
- Archaic
:
línea de batalla
- By sunrise we were ordered forward in line of battle.
- form a line of battle
- army in a line of battle
- front line of battle
Examples
-
As the range closes, Jarvis orders his ships to form a single line of battle to cut between the two Spanish formations.
-
They formed a line of battle with the best squadrons on each flank.
-
As the lines of battle roll forward, rise and strike.
-
Other companies form a line of battle.
Fiction book (1992) -
The other day, we had a general inspection; the regiment was drawn up in line of battle and at order arms.
Blog text (18) -
It was a line of battle in front of us.
Blog text (12) -
He pointed toward the oncoming line of battle behind the colored skirmishers.
Fiction book (1992) -
Appier ordered his men to form a line of battle as they prepared for the attack.
-
As the range closes, Jarvis orders his ships to form a line of battle to cut between the two enemy formations.
-
They formed a line of battle with the best squadrons on each flank before engaging in combat.
Synonyms
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
5.0
A line where opposing armies stand and fight
1
5.8
A line where soldiers shoot at the enemy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'line' + 'of' + 'battle' denotes a line formed for battle, so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer it. This follows a common noun-of-noun construction that exists cross-linguistically (e.g., Spanish 'línea de batalla'), making the expression readily understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The noun line of battle comes from the way soldiers or old sailing ships would form a long line with their guns all facing the enemy in battle. That's why the phrase means a 'line formed to attack or receive an attack'.