laid on the line

Hardly any conversions were effected, but the Ossetans, to a certain extent, acknowledged the supremacy of Russia: this satisfied the real purpose of the mission, for the first stone was thereby laid on the line which was to become the great channel of communication between Russia and her Asiatic provinces.

But, possibly unwittingly, Guardiola had laid on the line to his players what was at stake in the Bernabéu.

I tried the case on my art of crossexamination, but next time a full-scale hearing will be laid on the line.

All this was officially and publicly laid on the line in Peking last March 5, on the first anniversary of Stalin's death, by Vice Premier Chen Yun.

The importance of what the U.S. laid on the line would be measured in the end by what the rest of the world was ready to accept.