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

The will-they-won't-they dynamic has remained a through line of the long-running series, bringing a personal element to the crime show. —Madison E. Goldberg, People.com, 31 July 2025

Bowmore, Aston Martin Collaboration Takes A Final Lap Limited edition offerings have been a particularly important through line that’s connected the brands. —John Kell, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025

The through line of the exhibit is photography—mostly by Varda herself. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 15 July 2025

Ugly play has also been a through line, with these Yankees recently repeating the mistakes that their predecessors made in the field and on the bases. —Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 1 July 2025

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