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  • cline
    cline
    noun
    the gradual change in certain characteristics exhibited by members of a series of adjacent populations of organisms of the same species.
  • Cline
    Cline
    noun
    Patsy Virginia Patterson Hensley, 1932–63, U.S. country singer.
  • -cline
    -cline
    combining form
    indicating a slope

cline

1 American  
[klahyn] / klaɪn /

noun

  1. Biology. the gradual change in certain characteristics exhibited by members of a series of adjacent populations of organisms of the same species.

  2. Linguistics. (in systemic linguistics) a scale of continuous gradation; continuum.


Cline 2 American  
[klahyn] / klaɪn /

noun

  1. Patsy Virginia Patterson Hensley, 1932–63, U.S. country singer.


-cline 1 British  

combining form

  1. indicating a slope

    anticline

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cline 2 British  
/ klaɪn /

noun

  1. a continuous variation in form between members of a species having a wide variable geographical or ecological range

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cline 3 British  
/ klaɪn /

noun

  1. Patsy , original name Virginia Patterson Hensley . 1932–63, US country singer; her bestselling records include "Walking After Midnight", "I Fall to Pieces", and "Leavin' On Your Mind"

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cline Scientific  
/ klīn /
  1. A gradual change in an inherited characteristic across the geographic range of a species, usually correlated with an environmental transition such as altitude, temperature, or moisture. For example, the body size in a species of warm-blooded animals tends to be larger in cooler climates (a latitudinal cline), while the flowering time of a plant may tend to be later at higher altitudes (an altitudinal cline). In species in which the gene flow between adjacent populations is high, the cline is typically smooth, whereas in populations with restricted gene flow the cline usually occurs as a series of relatively abrupt changes from one group to the next.


Other Word Forms

  • -clinal combining form
  • clinal adjective
  • clinally adverb

Etymology

Origin of cline

1935–40; < Greek klī́nein to lean 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

If there is gene flow between the populations, the individuals will likely show gradual differences in phenotype along the cline.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

A cline is a change in ecological conditions over a geographic distance.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Van Tuyl and Pereltsvaig make much of the fact that the global cline in phonemic diversity does not hold within all continents.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 9, 2012

Therefore, the observation of an Africa-based phoneme inventory cline does not generalize to other linguistic characteristics of a similar kind.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 9, 2012

There are exceptions to this cline in both species.

From Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus Baiomys by Packard, Robert L.