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

Fatboy Slim will perform an exclusive DJ set at The Pipeline in Brighton, external, where the capacity is just 60 people; while grime legend D Double E plays a warehouse gig at Nottingham's Brickworks.

From BBC • Jun. 25, 2026

Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline and a smaller Emirati pipeline are helping Gulf producers bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 13, 2026

It was a particularly rapid movement up the Iron Pipeline, the name for the trafficking channel from southern states with lax gun laws to northern states with stricter ones.

From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026

Saudi Aramco’s quarterly profit rose 25% to $32.5 billion, with its East-West Pipeline mitigating global energy shocks.

From Barron's • May 11, 2026

By 2000, the DEA had directly trained more than 25,000 officers in forty-eight states in Pipeline tactics and helped to develop training programs for countless municipal and state law enforcement agencies.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

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