get someone in a line

verb

To hoax or entrap somebody, so as to get some sport out of them.

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Meanings

verbget someone in a line (third-person singular simple present gets someone in a line, present participle getting someone in a line, simple past got someone in a line, past participle got someone in a line or gotten someone in a line)

present singular third person gets someone in a line · participle present getting someone in a line · past got someone in a line · participle past got someone in a line · participle past gotten someone in a line

  1. archaicslangTo hoax or entrap somebody, so as to get some sport out of them.

    He's got the gibbet in his face now. Gad! you have choked him there. Yes, she's got him in a line.

    1826, The Universal Songster, Or Museum of Mirth
    1 more example

    I am afraid they have got me in a line.* In addition to the rest of my troubles, I find this shifting ships and fitting out messes attended with an enormous expense. […] * A common phrase among the seamen at Bitche, meaning to allure or entice.

    The Naval Chronicle, Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects (volume 33, page 281)
Cite this entry
APA

get someone in a line. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20someone%20in%20a%20line

MLA

“get someone in a line.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20someone%20in%20a%20line. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get someone in a line,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20someone%20in%20a%20line.

Source: get someone in a line on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.