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on-line Turned on and connected. For example, printers are on-line when they are ready to receive data from the computer. You can also turn a printer off-line. While the printer is off-line, you can perform certain tasks such as advancing the paper, but you cannot send data to it. Most printers have an on-line button you can press to turn the machine on- or off-line.

Users are considered on-line when they are connected to a computer service through a modem. That is, they are actually on the line.

Increasingly, the term is being spelled as one word, online.