baseline

noun, often attributive base·line \ ˈbās-ˌlīn \

|Updated on: 14 Jun 2018

Definition of baseline

1 : a line serving as a basis; especially : one of known measure or position used (as in surveying or navigation) to calculate or locate something

2 a : either of the lines on a baseball field that lead from home plate to first base and third base and are extended into the outfield as foul lines

b : basepath

3 : a boundary line at either end of a court (as in tennis or basketball)

4 : a usually initial set of critical observations or data used for comparison or a control

5 : a starting point

the baseline of this discussion

See baseline defined for English-language learners

See baseline defined for kids

Examples of baseline in a Sentence

The experiment is meant only to provide a baseline for other studies.
any year or event we use as the baseline for the Renaissance is going to be at least somewhat arbitrary

Recent Examples of baseline from the Web

He was certainly pressured by distance, as well as from the spin and power of Nadal’s cross-court forehand, and his own court position deep behind the baseline.

— craig o’shannessy, New York Times, "Why the Forced Error Does Not Get Its Due in Tennis," 8 June 2018
Costa, who wrote up her findings in the Syracuse New Times, explained that during the cycles, UFO sightings rise to a peak, decline back toward the baseline, and then rise to initiate a new cycle.

— chris ciaccia, Fox News, "UFOs are getting harder to spot, research claims," 7 June 2018
Andy is so good at the net, and Josh is fantastic on the baseline.

— sam dodge, latimes.com, "Newport Harbor’s tennis duo of Andy Myers and Josh Watkins advances to CIF round of 16," 1 June 2018
Trinkle had a match point in the 10th game, but Lemonds dropped in a shot just inside the baseline to keep the match going.

— lewis bagley, Indianapolis Star, "Carmel will face Brownsburg in girls tennis state semifinal," 1 June 2018
Instead, Nick Coomes popped a bunt in the air, Beau Jordan grounded out to move the runners and Jake Slaughter hit a line drive down the third baseline that could have won the game if not for an incredible play by Jonathan India.

— brody miller, NOLA.com, "What's next for LSU baseball? Everything you need to know after latest SEC Tournament win," 25 May 2018
In the median special election since April 1, Democrats have been outperforming the partisan baseline by only about half a point.

— harry enten, CNN, "Recent special elections suggest Democrats may not ride a wave in November," 24 May 2018
They were parked along the baselines of a ballfield in Jupiter, Fla., where Junis, then a senior in high school, spun his biting curveball to some of the best players in the country.

— maria torres, kansascity, "Before he became the Royals' best starter, Jakob Junis wanted to hit and go to college | The Kansas City Star," 23 May 2018
Thompson moved back toward the left wing, caught a cross-court pass from Andre Iguodala, ran toward Draymond Green in the corner, dropped the ball to him and quickly cut along the baseline.

— ron kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle, "How the Warriors mastered the art of moving without the ball," 10 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'baseline.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of baseline

circa 1556

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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baseline Synonyms

BASELINE Defined for English Language Learners

baseline

noun

Definition of baseline for English Language Learners

: information that is used as a starting point by which to compare other information
: a line at either end of the playing area in games like basketball and tennis
baseball : either one of the lines that lead from home plate to first base and third base