up-line

up-line (plural up-lines)

1. Alternative spelling of up line
   • 1906, Edith Nesbit, The Railway Children, Chapter 4: The engine-burglar,

     Then when the next train came in and stopped, Bobbie went across the metals of the up-line and stood beside the engine. She had never been so close to an engine before. It looked much larger and harder than she had expected, and it made her feel very small indeed, and, somehow, very soft--as if she could very, very easily be hurt rather badly.

   • 1842, Francis Whishaw, The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland Practically Described and Illustrated:

     The number of down-trains daily is fifty-one, and up-trains fifty; the ropes, therefore, travel 155.25 miles on the up-line, and 158.35 miles on the down-line, or altogether 313.60 miles daily.

up-line (not comparable)

1. Describing a higher level in a hierarchical management structure
   • 2005 Human Capital: Symposium on Designing & Managing Market-Based & More Performance-Oriented Pay

     These managers then discuss their decisions with other first-line managers and managers at the next level — the up-line managers — to ensure the assessments and justifications are consistent across groups.

• down-line

• Lupien, line up, line-up, lineup, lupine, pinule, unpile