clothesline meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

clothesline

noun

UK /ˈkləʊðzlaɪn/ · US /ˈkloʊðzlaɪn/

Etymology From clothes + line.

A rope or cord tied up outdoors to hang clothes on so they can dry.

Hang this towel out on the clothesline for me.

A structure with multiple cords for the same purpose, such as a Hills hoist.

Canada, US, Informal The act of knocking a person over by striking his or her upper body or neck with one's arm, as if he or she had run into a low clothesline.

Related terms: clotheshorse, clothes peg

clothesline

verb

Etymology From clothes + line.

Australia, Canada, US, Informal To knock (a person) over by striking them across the neck or upper body with an outstretched arm, mimicking the motion of running into a low clothesline.

The referee called a personal foul, when he clotheslined the running back.
One beast jams out its arm, as if to clothesline me, jagged claws poised to take my head off at the neck. I let my feet fall from under me, throwing my legs forward, praying for some momentum, ducking and sliding, a mad limbo to freedom.2014, Jonathan Wood, No Hero, Titan Books, →ISBN:

1 more example

"I turned around and the next thing I was taken out by this big guy. I'm not sure if he punched me or clothes-lined me," he said.2014 February 21, “Ear-bite actor Clive Mantle was like 'big monster', court told”, in BBC News: