next in line
Soon to advance
Next in line describes whoever will be served, considered, or elevated after the current person.
At a deli counter, whoever is next in line gets called forward.
In succession contexts, it refers to whoever inherits a position: The vice president is next in line for the presidency.
The phrase implies an ordered queue, whether literal or figurative.
- crown princeMale successor to throne
- inheritorOne who receives bequests
- heirOne who receives legacy
- waiting listRecord of hopeful applicants
- take a numberEnter a waiting sequence
deputy · successor · fill someone's shoes · second-in-command · chain of command · backup · pecking order · dauphin · royal succession · turn · heir apparent · ranking · queue · on deck · batter's box · hierarchy · precedence · vice president
- heirsheir apparent, heir presumptive, heiress, heirs, inheritor
- Royal Heirsheir apparent, heir presumptive, crown prince, crown princess, royal heir
- successionheir apparent, heir presumptive, primogeniture, successor, predecessor
- successorsheir apparent, heir presumptive, crown prince, crown princess, dauphin
- taking turnsalternate, alternating, wait, waiting, rotation
- royal successionthrone, succession, order of succession, succession order, crown succession
succession status
next in linepassed over
Bypassed for selection
skipped · disinherited · incumbent · out of the running · reigning