Meaning & use
a lineup
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Meanings
nouncountable
A group of people or things arranged in a row or listed together for a particular purpose.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a lineup, two lineups, the lineup.
Patterns
- a lineup of someone/something
- the lineup for something
The festival announced a lineup of twenty bands for the summer.
There was a long lineup of speakers at the conference.
The coach wrote a lineup of eleven players on the board.
nouncountable
A row of people, including a suspect, shown to a witness so the witness can try to identify someone.
Grammar: Countable and usually used with the: the police put him in a lineup.
Patterns
- in a lineup
- put someone in a lineup
- pick someone out of a lineup
The witness picked the wrong man out of a lineup.
Police placed the suspect in a lineup behind a glass screen.
She was asked to attend a lineup at the station.
nouncountablesport
The set of players chosen to play in a game, or the list of these players.
Grammar: Countable; common in sports reporting, often with starting or team.
Patterns
- the starting lineup
- name a lineup
- a strong lineup
The manager made three changes to the starting lineup.
Their lineup looks weak without the captain.
He was left out of the lineup for Saturday's match.
nouncountable
The schedule of programs or performers offered by a television channel, radio station, or venue.
Grammar: Countable; often followed by for or of.
Patterns
- the lineup for something
- a lineup of programs
- on the lineup
The channel's fall lineup includes two new dramas.
Comedy is back on the lineup this season.
The theater's lineup for October is mostly musicals.
Word forms
| plural | lineups |
|---|
Common combinations
- a strong lineup
- The festival has a strong lineup this year.
- the starting lineup
- The starting lineup was announced an hour before kickoff.
- announce a lineup
- Organizers will announce the lineup in April.
- in a lineup
- The suspect stood in a lineup with four other men.
- a lineup of speakers
- We have a great lineup of speakers for the seminar.
Synonyms and how they differ
- row
- Use row for a simple line of things placed side by side; a lineup usually suggests a chosen or organized group.
- roster
- Roster is common in sports and business for a list of names; a lineup focuses on who is actually taking part.
- schedule
- Schedule fits a list of times or events, while a lineup is the set of performers or programs itself.
Word family
- line up phrasal verb
- To form a row or to arrange people or things in a row.
- lineup card noun
- A card listing the players in a team's lineup, used in baseball.
Commonly confused: a lineup or line-up? a lineup or line up?
a lineup vs line-up
This is the same word with a hyphen, used more in British English; the meaning does not change.
a lineup vs line up
The two-word form is a verb: fans line up outside the door. The one-word form is the noun: a long lineup.
Practice
The police asked the witness to see whether she could identify the man ______.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is "in a lineup" — a person stands in a row of people. "On a lineup" and "at a lineup" are not used for this situation, and "into a lineup" suggests movement, not position.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a lineup”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.