1
as in tracing
to draw or make apparent the outline of
she carefully outlined the tree before she started drawing in the leaves
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in summarizing
to make into a short statement of the main points (as of a report)
outlined the important points in the introduction
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of outlining
Thomas Tuchel, head coach of the England men’s national team, stands before his players in a meeting room in the spring of 2025, outlining the goal for the country’s 2026 World Cup campaign.
—
Rustin Dodd, New York Times, 17 June 2026
The policy says students within Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools retain First Amendment rights while also outlining circumstances the school can restrict speech deemed disruptive.
—Zaire Breedlove, Charlotte Observer, 17 June 2026
Prosecutors allege investigators recovered writings outlining extremist beliefs and planning materials related to the plot.
—Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026
While outlining the platform’s growth across the APAC region, Purini said localization would start in Taiwan this summer followed by Korea later in the year.
—Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 16 June 2026
On Friday, Levine Cava released a memo outlining various possibilities for a fuel operation on the port property itself, which sits on Dodge Island, Fisher Island’s neighbor.
—Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 15 June 2026
Just ahead of Computex 2026, Intel announced its Arc G Series chips, outlining a new platform designed specifically for use in PC gaming handhelds.
—Matthew Buzzi, PC Magazine, 14 June 2026
The initiative’s website also features a World Cup section, outlining proper soccer terminology, tips for getting around the Northland and weekly watch parties hosted or promoted by Go North KC.
—Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 11 June 2026
This also requires outlining clear roles, data-sharing agreements and performance metrics that all stakeholders understand and support.
—Miki Kapoor, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
Rustin Dodd, New York Times, 17 June 2026
The policy says students within Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools retain First Amendment rights while also outlining circumstances the school can restrict speech deemed disruptive.
—Zaire Breedlove, Charlotte Observer, 17 June 2026
Prosecutors allege investigators recovered writings outlining extremist beliefs and planning materials related to the plot.
—Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026
While outlining the platform’s growth across the APAC region, Purini said localization would start in Taiwan this summer followed by Korea later in the year.
—Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 16 June 2026
On Friday, Levine Cava released a memo outlining various possibilities for a fuel operation on the port property itself, which sits on Dodge Island, Fisher Island’s neighbor.
—Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 15 June 2026
Just ahead of Computex 2026, Intel announced its Arc G Series chips, outlining a new platform designed specifically for use in PC gaming handhelds.
—Matthew Buzzi, PC Magazine, 14 June 2026
The initiative’s website also features a World Cup section, outlining proper soccer terminology, tips for getting around the Northland and weekly watch parties hosted or promoted by Go North KC.
—Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 11 June 2026
This also requires outlining clear roles, data-sharing agreements and performance metrics that all stakeholders understand and support.
—Miki Kapoor, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outlining
Verb
-
Whatever romance Rodrigo is tracing the history of apparently did not end in cheating or any other horrible behavior that would lead her back toward the kind of recriminatory rockers that were among the previous albums’ highlights.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
12 June 2026
-
The village of Juaben is home to the Aston Villa supporters’ group The Ghana Lions, with their fandom tracing back to a love of the club’s former Republic of Ireland international defender Paul McGrath.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
10 June 2026
Verb
-
Tasks such as reviewing documents, summarizing materials, reconciling reports, and preparing educational materials can increasingly be streamlined with AI tools.—
Andy Busser,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
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Larger teams of coding agents also spent more time summarizing each other’s ideas and less time actually using the robots, and the coding agents sometimes failed to make full use of available compute resources when launching parallel training sessions.—
Jeremy Hsu,
ArsTechnica,
17 June 2026
Verb
-
Both came to the Nats in the aforementioned — and franchise-defining — trade away of Soto in 2022.—
Barry Svrluga,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
-
Digital sovereignty is quickly becoming a defining pursuit for countries trying to build strategic autonomy.—
Aidan Gomez,
Fortune,
17 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Outlining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outlining. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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