The baseline is the most important of the several horizontal reference lines a font defines. Most uppercase and lowercase letters and numerals sit on it, and it's the line used when aligning icons and text side by side (`align-items: baseline`).
CSS's `vertical-align: baseline` (the default for inline elements) aligns to exactly this line. If an icon next to button text looks slightly off, it's usually centered in its box instead of aligned to the baseline.
Descenders — the parts of g, j, p, q, y that dip below the baseline — are the counterpart to ascenders, the parts of b, d, h, l, k that rise above cap height.
When to use
When placing an icon next to text, aligning to this line with `vertical-align` or flex `align-items: baseline` removes that "floating" look.