Baseline Meaning
/ˈbeɪslaɪn/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA line that is a base for measurement or for construction.
nounA datum used as the basis for calculation or for comparison.
Sentence Examples
Miss Williams is challenging the call on the left baseline. The ball was called in.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Doctors measure a child's growth against a healthy ____ for their age.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The researchers gathered ____ data before they started the experiment.
Word Origin & History
From base + line.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Currently, about fifty million square miles of land on the planet are ice-free, and this is the baseline that's generally used for calculating human impacts."
— 2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Picador, →ISBN, page 176:
"Finally, the test was baselined by evaluating the best and poorest catalysts of their respective types by this protocol."
— 1993, M.M. Mitchell et al., “Residual Feed Cracking Catalysts”, in Magee & Mitchell, editors, Fluid Catalytic Cracking, →ISBN, page 320:
"To ensure Lojban remains stable while people learn it, the language definition is being closely controlled; the grammar and core vocabulary have already been baselined (frozen) for several years."
— 2025 October 14 (last accessed), “Chapter 1. Questions and Answers on Lojban”, in lojban.org:
"By the time Maggie, who is eight years younger than Manuela, started playing, baselining was no longer enough to win points, so she learned to move around the court more …"
— 2002, Susan Orlean, The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, →ISBN, page 260:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Doctors measure a child's growth against a healthy ____ for their age.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The researchers gathered ____ data before they started the experiment.