Webster's English Dictionary

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outline

1. out.line \'au.t-.li-n\ n 1a: a line that marks the outer limits of an 
   object or figure : BOUNDA RY 1b: CONTOUR, SHAPE  2a: a style of drawing in 
   which contours are marked without shading  2b: a sketch in outline  3a: a 
   summary of a written work  3b: SYNOPSIS  4: a preliminary account of a 
   project : PLAN  5: a fishing line set out overnight : TROTLINE s to a line 
   marking the outer limits or edges of a body or mass; CONTOUR stresses the 
   quality of an outline or a bounding surface as being smooth, jagged, 
   curving, or sharply angled; PROFILE suggests a varied and sharply defined 
   outline against a lighter background; SILHOUETTE suggests a shape esp. of a 
   head or figure with all detail blacked out in shadow leaving only the 
   outline clearly defined SYN syn CONTOUR, PROFILE, SILHOUETTE: OUTLINE 
   applie 
2. outline vt 1: to draw the outline of  2: to indicate the principal 
   features or different parts of