pipeline

pipeline — noun

1. a connected set of pipes, often buried beneath the ground, that moves oil, gas,

1.nounB2
Definition

a connected set of pipes, often buried beneath the ground, that moves oil, gas, or water across great distances from one place to another.

Example

Engineers in Alaska are repairing a pipeline that carries oil from the wells to the coast.

pipeline + that-clause describing what it carries

A new gas pipeline will run from Norway under the sea to ports in northern Germany.

pipeline from X to Y for source and destination

Common collocations
  • oil pipeline
  • gas pipeline
  • water pipeline
  • lay a pipeline
  • burst pipeline
  • underground pipeline
Synonyms
  • duct

    shorter, often inside a building, for air or fluids

  • conduit

    more formal; covers tubes for fluids, cables, or wires

  • main

    a large public pipe carrying water or gas under streets

Grammar Patterns

pipeline from X to Y

pipeline carries/transports + [substance]

Usage Note

Often modified by the substance it carries (oil pipeline, gas pipeline, water pipeline). Frequently the subject of verbs of construction (build, lay, run) or failure (burst, leak, rupture).

Common Mistakes

They built a pipeline to send electricity to the city.
They built power lines to send electricity to the city.
pipelines carry liquids or gas, not electricity; use 'power line' or 'cable' for electricity.
Idioms

in the pipeline

idiom

being prepared, planned, or worked on now, with the goal of being finished or made available soon.

The studio said three more action movies are in the pipeline for next year.

Sarah told the team that a salary review is already in the pipeline.

Word family

  • pipe
    nounA2
  • pipe
    verbB2
  • piping
    nounC1
  • piped
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name a tube or channel, but they differ in scale, content, and register. A pipeline is the largest in scope: a long industrial line, often stretching hundreds of kilometres, that carries oil, gas, or water between regions or countries. A duct is much shorter and usually sits inside a building or vehicle, moving air, smoke, or fluids — for example, the heating ducts in a house. A conduit is the most formal word; it can describe any protected channel for liquids, cables, or wires, and is common in engineering and legal writing. A main is specifically a public utility pipe under a street that supplies water or gas to homes — you would call a plumber when a water main bursts, but you would call a national news team when a gas pipeline ruptures.

pipeline ↗ductconduitmain ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • oil pipeline
  • gas pipeline
  • water pipeline
  • pipeline project
  • pipeline route

Phrases

  • lay a pipeline
  • build a pipeline
  • burst pipeline
  • leak in the pipeline

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld EnglishAmerican English

Formed in late nineteenth-century American English by joining 'pipe' (Old English pīpe, a hollow tube, borrowed from Latin pīpa) with 'line' (a row or continuous length). The compound first described the long oil-carrying tubes built across Pennsylvania in the 1860s and 1870s. By the early twentieth century, the figurative sense — something on its way, as in 'in the pipeline' — had spread from oil-industry slang into general business and everyday speech.