pipelinenoun/ˈpaɪpˌlaɪn/

• 1

  A conduit made of pipes used to convey water, gas or petroleum, etc.

  • Meronyms: pipe, piping, pipework
  • An oil pipeline has been opened from the Caspian Sea.
• 2

  A channel (either physical or logical) by which information is transmitted sequentially (that is, the first information in is the first information out).

  • 3D images are rendered using the graphics pipeline.
• 3

  A system or process through which something is conducted.

  • A new version of the software is in the pipeline, but has not been rolled out.
  • April 19 2002, Scott Tobias, AV Club Fightvillehttp://www.avclub.com/articles/fightville,72589/ The gym’s proprietor, “Crazy” Tim Credeur, heads up the Gladiator Academy, which serves as a pipeline for amateur MMA fighters to move up the ranks, though few of them do.
• 4

  A widely observed pattern of development in personal interests, circumstances, or opinions.

  • Many who grew up in foster homes in the county have fallen victim to the foster-care-to-homelessness pipeline.
  • I recently had a peer reviewer demand that I refer to the so-called “Fortnite to alt-right pipeline” as though games automatically turn players into right-wing extremists.
• 5

  A continuous, contributing source of benefits, talent, or innovation.

• 6

  hobbieslifestylesportsThe inside of a wave that a surfer is riding, when the wave has started closing over it.

pipelineverb/ˈpaɪpˌlaɪn/

• 1

  computingengineeringmathematicsTo design (a microchip etc.) so that processing takes place in efficient stages, the output of each stage being fed as input to the next.

• 2

  To convey by a system of pipes.

• 3

  To lay a system of pipes through.