Meaning & use
lineup
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The group of players or performers taking part in a game or show.
Grammar: Countable: a lineup, the lineups.
Patterns
- the starting lineup
- a lineup of something
The coach announced the starting lineup for tonight's game.
The festival lineup includes several famous bands.
Their lineup has changed since last season.
nouncountable
A police procedure in which a witness looks at several people to try to identify a suspect.
Grammar: Countable: often 'a police lineup' or 'an identification lineup'.
Patterns
- in a lineup
- a police lineup
The witness picked the suspect out of a lineup.
He was asked to stand in a lineup at the police station.
The lineup included five men of similar height.
Word forms
| plural | lineups |
|---|
Common combinations
- starting lineup
- The starting lineup was posted on the board.
- star-studded lineup
- The concert had a star-studded lineup.
- police lineup
- She identified him in a police lineup.
- lineup card
- The manager filled out the lineup card before the game.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- line up phrasal verb
- To form a line or to arrange things in a line.
Commonly confused: lineup or line up?
lineup vs line up
As a verb, 'line up' is two words: 'Please line up by the door.' The noun is one word: 'the lineup'.
Practice
The coach wrote the ______ on the board before the match.
Choose one answer.
The noun is spelled 'lineup' as one word in American English. 'Line up' is the verb, 'lining up' is the -ing form, and 'line-up' with a hyphen is a British variant but less common in US usage.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lineup”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.