lineup

A lineup is not only about sports. You might hear about the starting lineup for a baseball team, meaning the players chosen to begin the game. But the word can also mean an ordered group or list in many other settings. For example, a festival lineup is the list of bands or singers who will perform, and a company's product lineup is the set of models it is offering.

You may also hear about a police lineup, where a witness looks at a group of people to see whether they can identify a suspect. In each case, the idea is the same: people or things are placed together in an ordered way for a clear purpose.

A lineup is an ordered arrangement of people or things, usually brought together for a particular purpose. Many people first meet the word in sports, where the starting lineup is the group of players chosen to begin a game. This is still one of the most common uses, but the word is also widely used in entertainment, business, and police work.

At a music festival, the lineup tells you which bands or singers are performing, and sometimes in what order they will appear. In business, a product lineup means the range of items or models a company is selling, such as this year's cars or phones. In police work, a lineup is a group of people shown to a witness so the witness can try to identify a suspect.

The word keeps the basic idea of things being set out in a line or in a planned group. That is why it works for athletes ready to play, performers scheduled for a show, or products presented as part of a brand's offering. It usually suggests choice and organization rather than a random collection.

You can also see the word used more loosely for any arranged set that people want to notice or compare. A fashion show may present a lineup of new looks, and a publisher may reveal a fall lineup of books. Across these uses, the main idea stays steady: a set of people or things placed together in a meaningful, organized way.