Meaning & use
liner
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Meanings
nouncountable
A large passenger ship, or sometimes a large plane, that travels on a set route, especially across oceans.
Grammar: Often found in ocean liner or cruise liner.
Patterns
- a liner to somewhere
- travel on a liner
The liner left Southampton for New York at noon.
My grandparents crossed the Atlantic on a luxury liner.
A massive cruise liner docked in the harbor.
nouncountable
A layer of material put inside something to protect it, keep it clean or hold its contents.
Grammar: Often with a noun in front: bin liner, jacket liner.
Patterns
- a liner for something
Put a plastic liner in the trash can before you use it.
The coat has a warm, removable liner.
A cracked liner let water leak out of the pond.
nouncountable or uncountable
A cosmetic used to draw a line around the eyes or lips.
Grammar: Usually part of a compound: eyeliner, lip liner.
Patterns
- liner around something
She applied black liner along her upper eyelids.
A dark lip liner makes the color look sharper.
He bought a waterproof liner for the summer festival.
Word forms
| plural | liners |
|---|
Common combinations
- ocean liner
- The ocean liner took eight days to cross the Atlantic.
- cruise liner
- The cruise liner stopped at three islands.
- bin liner
- Please change the bin liner when it is full.
- eye liner
- She wore bold eye liner to the concert.
- liner notes
- The liner notes explained how the album was recorded.
- removable liner
- The jacket has a removable liner for warm days.
Synonyms and how they differ
- steamship
- Steamship is an older word for a ship driven by steam power, while liner names any large passenger vessel on a regular route.
- cruise ship
- Cruise ship is a vessel designed for pleasure trips, whereas a liner traditionally focused on transport between ports.
- lining
- Lining refers to the inside layer already attached to an item, while liner can also be a separate removable layer.
- insert
- Insert is any piece placed inside something, and a liner is specifically a protective or covering layer.
Word family
Commonly confused: liner or linen?
liner vs linen
Linen is a fabric made from flax, whereas a liner is a layer inside something or a large ship.
Practice
The family boarded a ___ in Miami and spent two weeks sailing around the Caribbean.
Choose one answer.
A cruise liner is a large passenger ship. The other options are liners too but are inside things or makeup.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “liner”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.