between the lines
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.89 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
prep_phrase
By implication or way of inference; indirectly.
Example Sentences
- "The lines give us the letters, but we have to look ‘between the lines’ for the spirit and the intention."
- "Chinese have to live this critical assessment. If they read about it at all, it's between the lines."
- "Much of gay history over the years and centuries has been written between the lines. Few openly gay publications existed before the 1970's and the grapevine was "juicy" indeed. Jargon, gestures, oft-changing codewords, dress, color, and other devices have always been employed by gays and lesbians in order to make their presence known to their kin."
- "You would always have a sense, wouldn’t you, of what was at least being said between the lines and have a good idea as to how long the pause was going to be."
Etymology
Probably from glosses and commentaries which were written between the lines and provided the reader with additional information not explicitly stated in the text.