Meaning & use
Cline
Last updated
A gradual, continuous change in a characteristic across a geographic range or along a scale.
See it in a sentence
Biologists observed a cline in body size among the frog populations from north to south.
Linguists describe a cline between formal and casual speech registers.
A note on using this word
Coined by biologist Julian Huxley in 1938, from Greek klinein, meaning 'to lean' or 'slope.'
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Cline”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.