pipeline

American  

[pahyp-lahyn] / ˈpaɪpˌlaɪn /

noun

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.

---

verb (used with object)

pipelined, pipelining

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

---

verb

1. to convey by pipeline

2. to supply with a pipeline

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

These schools weren’t quite a direct pipeline into the American armed services, but their implicit promise was to cultivate gentlemen, if not always literal officers.

From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026

Young said the separation movement has likely played a role in Carney’s efforts to strike a deal with Smith—unveiled last week—on a new pipeline connecting the Alberta energy patch to the Pacific Coast.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Xu also created a computational analysis pipeline that combined all these layers of information into detailed gene regulatory networks.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2026

Four months ago, Polis’ office acknowledged as much, noting how two major disaster relief requests were denied and a bill that would have allowed the state to complete a clean water pipeline project was vetoed.

From Slate • May 21, 2026

Civil rights groups have also developed litigation and important coalitions related to the school-to-prison pipeline, inadequate indigent defense, and juvenile justice reform, to name a few.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

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