color line
noun
variants
US color line
or British colour line
plural color lines
: a set of societal or legal barriers that segregates people of color from white people (as by restricting social interaction or requiring separate facilities) and prevents people of color from exercising the same rights and accessing the same opportunities as white people
—usually used with the
His father … had grown up in California with Jackie Robinson, who broke the color line in Major League Baseball.—
Maureen O'Donnell
Maureen O'Donnellcalled also color bar
Examples of color line in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Invoking Pettis Norman’s name might summon recollections of Jimmie Lee Kirkpatrick, who transferred from Second Ward High School to Myers Park to break the city’s color line and whose football prowess later led to the desegregation of the Shrine Bowl.
—Charlotte Observer, 14 July 2025
To drive home the pain and poignancy of that, the album cover featured a photo of Jeffreys as a child dressed in his baseball uniform to attend the historic game in which Jackie Robinson broke the color line.
—Jim Farber, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2025
This followed the September 2024 launch of Credo Skincare, an in-house facial skin care line by the clean beauty retailer, which also operates an in-house color line, Exa Beauty, from 2020.
—Noor Lobad, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019
Few others crossed the color line to consider Simpson in such company.
—Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
They were stuck behind the color line because of all these mechanisms of exclusion and housing markets.
—Tax Notes Staff, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
When the two separated in 1897, Fleet changed the family’s last name to Greene and, along with her five children, crossed the color line.
—Deborah W. Parker, The Conversation, 31 Jan. 2025
The novel tested theories about assimilation and the color line.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2025
How the Black Press Helped Integrate Baseball In the 1930s and ’40s, Black newspapers like the Pittsburgh Courier used their platform to help break the sport’s color line.
—JSTOR Daily, 20 Feb. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Charlotte Observer, 14 July 2025
To drive home the pain and poignancy of that, the album cover featured a photo of Jeffreys as a child dressed in his baseball uniform to attend the historic game in which Jackie Robinson broke the color line.
—Jim Farber, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2025
This followed the September 2024 launch of Credo Skincare, an in-house facial skin care line by the clean beauty retailer, which also operates an in-house color line, Exa Beauty, from 2020.
—Noor Lobad, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019
Few others crossed the color line to consider Simpson in such company.
—Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
They were stuck behind the color line because of all these mechanisms of exclusion and housing markets.
—Tax Notes Staff, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
When the two separated in 1897, Fleet changed the family’s last name to Greene and, along with her five children, crossed the color line.
—Deborah W. Parker, The Conversation, 31 Jan. 2025
The novel tested theories about assimilation and the color line.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2025
How the Black Press Helped Integrate Baseball In the 1930s and ’40s, Black newspapers like the Pittsburgh Courier used their platform to help break the sport’s color line.
—JSTOR Daily, 20 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Color line.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/color%20line. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share