Meanings
noundotted line (plural dotted lines)
plural dotted lines
- A line made up of dots or dashes, often used to indicate where one is supposed to sign a contract.
To the uninitiated, this might sound absurd, with images of chickens signing above the dotted line.
2024 November 22, Stephanie Hanes, Melanie Stetson Freeman, “Moody chickens? Playful bumblebees? Science decodes the rich inner lives of animals.”, in The Christian Science Monitor
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 虛線 /虚线
- 虛線 /虚线 (xūxiàn)line made up of dots or dashes
Finnish pisteviiva
- pisteviivaline made up of dots or dashes
French pointillé
- pointilléline made up of dots or dashes
German gepunktete Linie
- gepunktete Linieline made up of dots or dashes
Hebrew קו מקווקו
- קו מקווקו (kav mekuvkav)line made up of dots or dashes
Irish líne poncanna
- líne poncannaline made up of dots or dashes
Russian пункти́р, пункти́рная ли́ния
- пункти́р (punktír)line made up of dots or dashes
- пункти́рная ли́ния (punktírnaja línija)line made up of dots or dashes
Cite this entry
APA
dotted line. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dotted%20line
MLA
“dotted line.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dotted%20line. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dotted line,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dotted%20line.
Source: dotted line on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.