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 in all this is an austere aesthetic of unembarrassed domination that is also somehow insecure in its flashiness. —James Folta, Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2025

The through line of my project this year has been to listen to as many children as possible, especially on topics often dominated by adults. —Rachel Wegner, Nashville Tennessean, 7 Dec. 2025

Snakeskin, meanwhile, has become one of the clearest through lines of late-year footwear. —Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 6 Dec. 2025

The color palette for Victor’s story was black and white, with a through line of a specific red that Del Toro calls pigeon blood. —Ryan Fleming, Deadline, 4 Dec. 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