Line up or lineup?
line up is a verb meaning “To align; to put in alignment; to put in correct adjustment for smooth running”; lineup is a noun meaning “A physical or photographic queue of people allegedly involved in a crime…”. Use line up as a verb and lineup as a noun (line up is also a noun: “A haircut where the front region of a person's hair is…”). line up is written as two words and lineup as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between line up and lineup?
| line up | lineup | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun | noun |
| Meaning | To align; to put in alignment; to put in correct adjustment for smooth running To put things in a line A haircut where the front region of a person's hair is shaved to form a crisp line between their hair and the shaved region, sometimes coordinated to create a… | USA physical or photographic queue of people allegedly involved in a crime, allowing a witness to identify them A list of trains that are expected to cross over a specified section of track during a specified time period |
| Example | A number of famous actors and musicians have been lined up for the celebrations | Near-synonym: rogues' gallery |
| Forms | none | lineups |
| Pronunciation | /laɪnˈʌp/ /lɑenˈɐp/ /laɪnˈɐp/ | /ˈlaɪn.ʌp/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 11 times per million words |
Sources: line up and lineup in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of line up and lineup
line up
- 1
To align; to put in alignment; to put in correct adjustment for smooth running
- 2
A haircut where the front region of a person's hair is shaved to form a crisp line between their hair and the shaved region, sometimes coordinated to create a smooth transition between their hair and…
- 3
Alternative spelling of lineup
- 4
To put things in a line
- 5
colloquialTo shape cocaine powder into one or more lines
- 6
To get into a line; especially, so as to wait one's turn
- 7
To start a game in a certain position on the playing field
- 8
To make arrangements for an event
A number of famous actors and musicians have been lined up for the celebrations
lineup
- 1
USA physical or photographic queue of people allegedly involved in a crime, allowing a witness to identify them
Near-synonym: rogues' gallery
- 2
A list of trains that are expected to cross over a specified section of track during a specified time period
- 3
CanadaA line of people or vehicles, in which the individual at the front end is dealt with first, the one behind is dealt with next, and so on, and in which newcomers join at the end; a queue
- 4
An ordered list
- 5
Collectively, the members of a team
The manager fielded his strongest lineup for the game against United
- 6
The batting order
- 7
The order in which race-cars are positioned at the start of a race, based on qualifying times
- 8
The set of product options available from a particular manufacturer or under a particular brand name
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, line up or lineup?
line up is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; lineup 11 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search line up vs lineup?
“line up vs lineup” is searched about 90 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“lineup vs line up”, “line up or lineup”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.