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You are here: Home / Language / Where does the expression “to draw the line” come from and What does it mean?

Where does the expression “to draw the line” come from and What does it mean?

March 26, 2020 by Karen Hill

The expression “to draw the line” means: To reach one’s limit; especially, to fix a definite limit of procedure beyond which one refuses to go.

Although now figurative, the line that was drawn was originally actual.

It was the cut of a plowshare across the field to indicate the limit of one’s holding, back in the sixteenth century.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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