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 through line is the author’s refusal to look at the Brotherhood from the outside in; Riley isn’t some voyeur watching a house on a summer night just after the lights come on. —Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2025

Similarly to WandaVision, Selon was able to play with costuming the characters in different genres for each of the trials on the road, while keeping consistent through lines of color and accessories. —Ryan Fleming, Deadline, 19 Aug. 2025

One through line between the films and the series are the headdresses, veils and hair jewelry. —Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025

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

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