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# borderline

adjective (borderline); noun (a borderline, borderlines)

«borderline» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (adjective) Only just on one side of a line between two groups or results, so it is hard to decide which: a borderline pass. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/borderline/#m1)
2. (noun) A line that marks a border. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/borderline/#m2)
3. (medicine) Close to being an illness or problem but not quite. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/borderline/#m3)

### In the lessons

In school, a borderline mark is just at the pass mark, so the teacher must decide. In everyday life, «that's borderline rude» means almost rude. In health, «borderline high blood pressure».

### Examples

- His test score was borderline, so he might need to retake it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/borderline/#x1)
- That joke was borderline mean. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/borderline/#x2)
- She was a borderline case for the team. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/borderline/#x3)
- The doctor said Grandad's sugar levels are borderline. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/borderline/#x4)
- Draw a borderline between the two fields. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/borderline/#x5)

### Note

In maths terms, borderline means very close to the cut-off number: if the pass mark is 50 and you get 49 or 51, that's borderline. One word.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «borderline» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/borderline/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«borderline» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/borderline.html) on Mova free.