Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BASELINE

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pronounce BASELINE: Say it "BASE line." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: As we check out the word baseline today, here's a fun fact: the word base has 7 distinct uses as a noun, 4 as a verb, and 1 as an adjective, some of those having as many as 40 distinct sub-uses, at least the way the OED catalogs them. We're not gonna cover all the bases. Instead, we'll just quickly connect baseline to a couple other base-y words and a couple other line-y words. See if you can recall them: 1. To ____line people or things is to make them stop participating, or to give them a less-important role, as if you're putting them outside the field of play. (Not to be confused with clotheslining. Red Rover is vicious.) 2. To __line___ something is to describe it in detail (or, more literally, to draw an outline of it). 3. To _bas_ someone is to degrade them, or drag down their reputation or sense of self-respect. 4. In____-base____ things are so detailed, so specific, or so technical that they're interesting or understandable only to people on the inside of whatever little world those things are in, e.g., the little world of lexicography, or America's favorite pastime. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: Like you'd expect, "baseline" has specific meanings in many fields, like arts, sports, and surveying. In general, a baseline is a basic starting point, or a certain basic starting value, often the literal kind that you can draw on a graph. (See the graph below.) This point or value is useful for comparisons later on, as things are changing, growing, and hopefully improving. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Most often a noun, the countable kind: "It served as a baseline." Also an adjective: "These are my baseline skills." Other forms:  Just the plural, "baselines." how to use it: Pick the word "baseline" when you want a formal, scientific or businesslike tone. I love this word. I think it's worth our attention because it invites us to think clearly and specifically. It lets us imagine time as steady movement along an x-axis, our starting point (our baseline) as a straight steady parallel line, and our progress as interesting squiggly movement above (and maybe below) that baseline. So, as you're mentally charting your improvement--in physical fitness, language learning, skiing the K-12, making sales at work, or anything else--"baseline" encourages you to make useful comparisons to yourself, not to anyone else. And noticing your progress in this way can build your self-efficacy, inspiring you to keep at it.  Thanks, Monique! She gets baselines. You might talk about people finding, determining, or establishing a baseline. Or about people using a baseline, making reference to a baseline, or measuring progress against a baseline. If you don't mind sounding a little too scientific, you can talk about people experiencing certain things or being able to do certain things "at baseline." Or, talk about baseline values, scores, numbers, skills, abilities, achievements, etc. examples: "'I'm so glad you're getting yourself back to normal!' she chirruped, as though she knows what my baseline is."     — Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train, 2015 "The order directs agencies to identify which federal workers earn less than $15 per hour and craft policies to promote that wage level as a baseline."    — Josh Boak, Associated Press, 22 January 2021 has this page helped you understand "baseline"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "baseline" without saying "starting point" or "point of comparison." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "At baseline, I couldn't even _____. Now, I can _____." Example: "At baseline, I couldn't even mash one finger down on two frets at a time. Now, I can swap quickly between some of the common multi-fret chords." If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is Crossword Clues: Movie Titles!  Use the movie title as a clue to come up with a word we've studied. For example, if the clue is "The Great Escape. 6 letters. _ E C _ M _," then the answer is "DECAMP," a word meaning "to get the heck out of there." To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy! Try this one today: As Good As It Gets. 11 letters.  S _ _ V _ _ _ A B _ _. review this word: 1. A near opposite of BASELINE is A. RANDOM. B. COMPLEX. C. CONSUMMATE. 2. In their article "New Report Finds Americans Most Interested In Science When Moon Looks Different Than Usual," The Onion joked that our "interest in how the universe works _____ baseline levels" when the moon goes back to normal. A. drops back to B. sizzles down to C. billows back to Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. A Answer to the game question:  SERVICEABLE a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.