Meaning & use
time line
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Meanings
nouncountable
A line or chart showing events in the order they happened, marked at their dates.
Grammar: Plural is time lines: the class made two time lines.
Patterns
- a time line of something
The students drew a time line of the Roman Empire.
The museum displays a time line of the town's history.
Her time line shows the main events of the war.
nouncountablebusiness
A plan that lists tasks with the dates or periods when each should be done.
Grammar: Often used in work contexts: set a time line for the project.
Patterns
- a time line for something
The manager set a time line for the new website.
Our time line has the launch in June.
The builders gave us a realistic time line.
Word forms
| plural | time lines |
|---|
Common combinations
- draw a time line
- Please draw a time line of your own life.
- set a time line
- We need to set a time line for the move.
- project time line
- The project time line was too tight.
- follow a time line
- The report follows a time line from 1900 to today.
Synonyms and how they differ
- schedule
- A schedule lists future times for tasks, while a time line can also show past events.
- chronology
- Chronology is formal and stresses the order of events, not a visual line.
- deadline
- A deadline is one final date, whereas a time line covers a span of dates.
- timetable
- A timetable is a table of set times, especially for travel or classes.
Word family
Commonly confused: time line or deadline?
time line vs deadline
A deadline is the last day for finishing something, not the whole sequence of dates.
Practice
The teacher asked the class to make a ____ of the main events of the war.
Choose one answer.
A time line shows events in order. A time zone is a region with the same clock time, so it does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “time line”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.