Outlining

/ˈaʊtlaɪnɪŋ/

verbBeginner📊CommonLiterature
2 meanings2 questions

Definitions

2 meanings
1

To describe the main facts or points of something.

/ˈaʊtlaɪnɪŋ/

verbneutralBeginner
Literature

To give a summary or main points of something

She spent the afternoon outlining the chapters of her book.

💡 Simply: Imagine you're telling your friend about a movie. Outlining means giving them the main parts of the story, like the beginning, middle, and end, but not all the small stuff.

👶 For kids: To tell the most important parts of a story or plan.

More Examples

2

Before the presentation, he outlined his main points.

3

The teacher instructed the students to outline the story.

How It's Used

Education

"Students often outline their essays before writing the full draft."

Business

"The project manager outlined the key objectives during the kickoff meeting."

2

The process of creating a structured overview.

/ˈaʊtlaɪnɪŋ/

nounneutralmedium
Literature

The act of making an outline

Outlining is a crucial step in the writing process.

💡 Simply: The step of creating a structure for a report or story.

👶 For kids: Making the plan for a story or project.

More Examples

2

She found outlining helpful in organizing her ideas.

3

The outlining of the project kept the team on track.

How It's Used

Writing

"The outlining process helps organize the writer's thoughts."

Tip:Think of outlining as the process of preparing a skeletal structure.

Synonyms & Antonyms

From "outline" + "-ing". "Outline" itself derives from "out" + "line", originating in the 17th century.

The word "outline" and its derivative forms have been used since the 17th century to depict a summary or a preliminary sketch of something.

Memory tip

Think of drawing an outline - you're showing the essential shape without all the details.

Word Origin

LanguageMiddle English
Original meaning

"The act of forming the shape or structure of a concept or idea."

outline a planoutline a presentationoutline an essaythe outlining process

Common misspellings

outlingoutlinningoutlinng

Usage

40%Spoken
60%Written