pipeline

American  

[pahyp-lahyn] / ˈpaɪpˌlaɪn /

noun

• pipelines
  plural

1. a long tubular conduit or series of pipes, often underground, with pumps and valves for flow control, used to transport crude oil, natural gas, water, etc., especially over great distances.

2. a route, channel, or process along which something passes or is provided at a steady rate; means, system, or flow of supply or supplies.

   Freighters and cargo planes are a pipeline for overseas goods.

3. a channel of information, especially one that is direct, privileged, or confidential; inside source; reliable contact.

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verb (used with object)

• pipelines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pipelined,
  past participle,  past
• pipelining
  present participle

1. to convey by or as if by pipeline.

   to pipeline oil from the far north to ice-free ports; to pipeline graduates into the top jobs.

idioms

1. in the pipeline,

   1. Informal. in the process of being developed, provided, or completed; in the works; under way.

   2. Government Informal. (of funds) authorized but not spent.

pipeline British  

/ ˈpaɪpˌlaɪn /

noun

1. a long pipe, esp underground, used to transport oil, natural gas, etc, over long distances

2. a medium of communication, esp a private one

3. in the process of being completed, delivered, or produced

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verb

1. to convey by pipeline

2. to supply with a pipeline

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pipelines
  plural

Participles

• pipelining
  present
• pipelined
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pipeline
  simple
• pipelines
  simple
• have pipelined
  perfect
• has pipelined
  perfect
• am pipelining
  progressive
• are pipelining
  progressive
• is pipelining
  progressive
• have been pipelining
  perfect progressive
• has been pipelining
  perfect progressive

Past

• pipelined
  simple
• had pipelined
  perfect
• was pipelining
  progressive
• were pipelining
  progressive
• had been pipelining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pipeline
  simple
• will have pipelined
  perfect
• will be pipelining
  progressive
• will have been pipelining
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of pipeline

First recorded in 1855–60; pipe ¹ + line ¹

Explanation

A pipeline is a series of pipes that liquid or gas flows through. A pipeline can also be a channel for other things, even ideas. The Internet is an information pipeline. No digging required! While oil and natural gas often go through a pipeline, other substances are also transported this way, including water used for irrigation and even, in some cases, beer. You can use pipeline when you talk about other quick-moving things, like a source of goods, or even spoken communication. You could call the big companies in your city a kind of “job pipeline.” If you have an idea for a community pool in the pipeline, go ahead and hire the lifeguards!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pipeline pipelines pipelined pipelining

Based on the known pipeline of copper mine projects, the International Energy Agency forecasts that primary copper supply—excluding scrap—could be 25% lower than demand by 2035.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Oil and natural-gas pipeline operator Energy Transfer agreed to buy Vaquero Midstream for about $2.63 billion in cash and stock.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Blow says he is sceptical of AI, which was "not part of the pipeline at all" for Order of the Sinking Star, even though he recognises it as an "advancement" and an "interesting technology".

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Litman and other Run for Something staffers first began noticing that candidates in their pipeline were identifying themselves as renters around 2023.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

On Saturday evening, May 7, 1892, McElroy loaded a special train with pipes, picks, shovels, and three hundred men and set off for Waukesha to dig his pipeline under cover of darkness.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Oil exporting countries in the Gulf have also responded to Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz by exporting more crude oil overland via pipelines.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Under Canada’s constitution, the federal government must hold adequate consultations with indigenous people whose territory will be impacted by projects such as pipelines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Fierce opposition and the country's lengthy and complex projects review process has contributed in the past some past pipelines projects being cancelled.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

“The status quo of our officer pipelines is pretty good, but the future will be even better by embedding continuous military discipline and leadership development into new institutions,” Hegseth said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

For instance, during the War, after the pipelines were blown up, he and his classmates had ferried water up to the girls’ dorm, each leaving his bucket at the door of a particular resident.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

The glass-bottom boats that take tourists out to marvel at the Gulf of Aqaba's coral formations rock in the swells of supertankers bringing Persian Gulf oil into Eilat to be. pipelined to the Mediterranean.

From Time Magazine Archive

It could be pipelined to Murmansk, liquefied and shipped to the U.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

Blackford Oakes, Yale '51, is pipelined by the old-boy network straight into the CIA.

From Time Magazine Archive

On a pipelined machine, this can take a while. :stale pointer bug: /n./

From The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0, 24 Jul 1996 by Eric S. Raymond

On a pipelined machine, this can take a while.

From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Guy L. Steele

“We’re pipelining our deployment playbook across several cities simultaneously now.”

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 31, 2023

Related Words

• agenda
• almanac
• card
• chronology
• diary
• docket
• journal
• lineup
• list
• program
• table
• timetable