byline

IPA/ˈbaɪlaɪn/
KK[bˈaɪlˌaɪn]IPA/ˈbaɪlaɪn/

byline — noun

  • bylinesingular
  • bylinesplural

1. a short printed line, usually placed just above or below the headline, that name

1.nounC1
Definition

a short printed line, usually placed just above or below the headline, that names the journalist who wrote the article you are reading.

Example

Maya was thrilled to see her first byline in the Sunday paper.

byline + see/get for first publication

The editor removed the byline because two reporters had shared the work equally.

byline as removable credit

Common collocations
  • share a byline
  • earn a byline
  • remove the byline
  • front-page byline
  • byline credit
Synonyms
  • credit line

    broader term covering film, photo, or article credits

  • attribution

    more formal; can refer to any source acknowledgement, not just article authorship

Antonyms
  • anonymous

    describes an article published without a byline

Grammar Patterns

byline + by + author's name

Usage Note

Subject is usually a publication, editor, or writer; the article itself is the place where the byline sits. Often paired with verbs like 'get', 'earn', 'share', or 'remove'.

Common Mistakes

I wrote three bylines last month.
I had three bylines last month.
a byline is the credit line, not the article itself; you don't write the byline, you earn one.

2. in football (soccer), the painted boundary line at either short end of the pitch

2.nounC1
Definition

in football (soccer), the painted boundary line at either short end of the pitch, running from one corner flag through the goal area to the other corner flag.

Example

Salah raced down the wing and crossed the ball just before reaching the byline.

reach/get to the byline

The winger kept the ball in play with his toe right on the byline.

on the byline (location)

Common collocations
  • reach the byline
  • cross from the byline
  • over the byline
  • near the byline
Synonyms
  • goal line

    more common in American English and in laws-of-the-game texts

  • end line

    American sports commentary term

Antonyms
  • touchline

    the long side line of the pitch, not the short end

Grammar Patterns

the byline + of/at + part of pitch

Usage Note

Mostly British football commentary; American writers usually say 'end line' or 'goal line'. Distinguish from sense 1 (newspaper credit) by the surrounding sport vocabulary (winger, cross, corner flag).

Common Mistakes

The defender ran along the byline near the halfway line.
The defender ran along the touchline near the halfway line.
the byline runs across each end of the pitch; the long side is the touchline.

byline — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name a printed acknowledgement, but they sit in different parts of a publication. A 'byline' is specifically the short line of type at the top of a single article that names its writer (and sometimes their location or role). A 'credit line' is broader: it covers photo credits, film credits, and any short attribution beside a piece of work. 'Attribution' is the most formal and abstract — it is the act or fact of naming a source, used in academic and editorial style guides. A 'masthead', by contrast, is the box that lists the whole publication's editors and staff, not the author of one piece. So a freelance writer chases bylines on individual stories, while the editor-in-chief's name appears on the masthead.

byline ↗credit lineattribution ↗masthead

Common collocations

Nouns

  • byline credit
  • front-page byline
  • byline policy
  • byline strike

Adverbs

Phrases

  • share a byline
  • earn a byline
  • remove the byline
  • fight for a byline

Prepositions

  • under (a name)
  • by (a writer)
  • on (the front page)

Etymology

Old EnglishModern English

Formed in early 20th-century American newspaper offices from the preposition 'by' (as in 'by Jane Smith') plus 'line', literally the line of type that begins 'By...'. The football sense emerged separately in British sports writing, where 'by' carries its older spatial meaning of 'beside' or 'at the end of', marking the line that runs by the goal.