How do I use the lines of a file as arguments of a command?

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If your shell is bash (amongst others), a shortcut for $(cat afile) is $(< afile), so you’d write:

mycommand "$(< file.txt)"

Documented in the bash man page in the ‘Command Substitution’ section.

Alterately, have your command read from stdin, so: mycommand < file.txt

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