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Definition of battle line
1 : a line along which a battle is fought
2 : a line defining the positions of opposing groups in a conflict or controversy
—usually used in pluralbattle lines were drawn over economic policies
Examples of battle line in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web Nowhere was the battle line drawn as heavily as in western Sonoma County, where Guerneville on the Russian River had been evacuated while nearby Healdsburg had not.
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Sam Whiting, SFChronicle.com, "Firefighters battling Bay Area blazes brace for new lightning round as LNU, SCU fires grow to historic proportions," 23 Aug. 2020 The battle lines have changed little since the offensive began, with both sides dug in and shelling one another in the southern reaches of the capital.
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Samy Magdy, BostonGlobe.com, "UN says death toll from Libya fighting passes 1,000," 9 July 2019 The political infighting among the bloc’s leaders and ministers, roughly tracking the battle lines of previous crises that cast northern members against southern ones, is threatening to spawn another wave of euroskepticism and populism.
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New York Times, "E.U. Backs Half-Trillion Euro Stimulus, but Balks at Pooling Debt," 9 Apr. 2020 The battle lines are familiar: north versus south, richer nations versus poorer ones.
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New York Times, "A Deeply Divided E.U. Moves to Shore Up Economies Reeling From Virus," 23 Apr. 2020 The battle lines were simple: Hoda was an American girl in the suburban South whose parents wanted to raise her like a proper old-country Yemeni.
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Saul Elbein, The New Republic, "Hoda Muthana left the U.S. to join ISIS. Now she wants to return home to stand trial, but the Trump administration won’t let her. She is a test case for the future of birthright citizenship.," 23 Mar. 2020 The events underscore how efforts to contain the virus have divided millions of Americans along familiar political battle lines.
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John Fritze, USA TODAY, "'We're winging this.' Coronavirus protests tout independence as national groups eye election," 24 Apr. 2020 France and co-writer/editor Tyler H. Walk trace these institutional battle lines with compelling rigor, but the heart of the film, in all senses, is with the survivors retrieved by Isteev, Baranova and their colleagues.
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NBC News, "'Welcome to Chechnya' documents Russian region's anti-gay purge," 29 Jan. 2020 The battle lines haven't really changed since the dispute began last January.
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David Jesse, Detroit Free Press, "Wayne State University board conducts routine business, which is news," 31 Jan. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'battle line.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for battle line
The first known use of battle line was in 1751
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