through line

noun

variants or throughline

ˈthrü-ˌlīn 

or less commonly through-line

: a common or consistent element or theme shared by items in a series or by parts of a whole

But Kent's latest nonetheless reveals a fascinating through line in her work, which centers on, as she puts it, "disrespect for the feminine"—and the inciting power of female rage.

—Rachel Handler

Vang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, and came to the United States in the late 1980s. For him and his family, food was the throughline keeping them connected to their culture, wherever they were.

—Sharyn Jackson

Perverse moments like these are a throughline in Decker's work. The Texas native specializes in "bad" desires—awkward wants that tend to go unexpressed, or which otherwise seem too compromising to confess even to oneself.

—K. Austin Collins

Unlike Tokyo's great shopping thoroughfares, which have a certain logical through-line (if not aesthetic, at least socioeconomic), Osaka's arcades are mismatched, high-low jumbles of retail diversions.

—Simon Dumenco

Examples of through line in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

An emotional through line is the Apollo 1 incident in 1967, when three astronauts were killed in a cabin fire during a launch test. —Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 14 July 2024

The installation of the custom look designed by Jonathan Anderson for Loewe at the Costume Institute One of the major through lines of the exhibition is the reinterpretation of historical garments from the archives. —Irene Kim, Vogue, 28 June 2024

This lack of a narrative through line leaves the writers scrambling for stakes. —Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 29 June 2024

These weave a through line that’s a testimony to Kennedy Onassis’ resilience. —Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above