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

Two decades later, that fickle through line carries on. —Douglas Robson, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2026

Advertisement Opportunism is the through line. —Bobby Ghosh, Time, 5 Mar. 2026

Craft was the through line of the week, approached with experimentation in fabric and silhouette. —Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 2 Mar. 2026

The through line of our editors’ favorites? —Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for through line

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• byline
• canine