What does "payline" mean?

A line of symbols on a slot machine (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) that can win a jackpot.

Payline

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A line of symbols on a slot machine (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) that can win a jackpot.
"This means that to win anything, you must line up a winning combination on that center payline and on that line only."
2
A criterion score used by an organization that gives grants to determine which applications are good enough to be given money.
"When an Institute indicates a particular percentile payline, it means that Applications with an equal or better (lower) percentile will generally be funded."
3
The minimum salary associated with a pay grade.
"A modification, using larger intergrade differentials between the lower grades and with differentials gradually decreasing in size as the payline moved upward through higher grades, solved both problems-⁠-providing more nearly competitive rates at GS-5 and GS-7 and a GS-18 rate which was much lower and more reasonable in the Federal context."
4
The planned limit of an excavation, beyond which a contractor is not paid for any excavation work.
"The specifications provided for a circular payline 24 feet in diameter — 6 inches beyond the minimum clearance diameter of 23 feet."
5
A line in a paysheet, corresponding to a single paycheck.
"The payline number (LINE#) represents a single employee on a paysheet. Paylines are created during the paysheet creation process. One line is set up per employee, unless more are required."

"This means that to win anything, you must line up a winning combination on that center payline and on that line only."

From pay + line.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.