Definitions of the term "line" from a range of encyclopedias.

Just discovered an interview about poetry with Robert Bly where he mentiones the use of dictonaries as a start for a poem. I use it at the start of a project to get an overview of the area. Especially etymological ones.

Bly, interviewed by Peter Johnson says:
"RB: Ponge is a Frenchman! He' s not a good example of a poet writing out of the unconscious because he didn't believe in the unconscious! I was amazed when I found that out. He offers the French dictionary instead of the unconscious! We could say that when he wants to escape reason, he turns to the dictionary because it carefully preserves the ancient, biological, mysterious history of every word. By following the tracks left by a word, we can go backward in time. Freud used a dream for that, but Ponge with his intellect is just as clever."
http://www.poems.com/blyinter.htm