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

In the last 15 months, the Southland has seen a trio of extreme weather events, and UC climate scientist Daniel Swain says there’s one clear through line connecting them all. —Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2026

Quinn suggests sourcing brooches with some kind of cohesion, whether that be color, style, shape, or another through line. —Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 20 Mar. 2026

From knee-length dresses and skirts to longer tops that mimicked the drop-waist effect, the through line was impossible to miss. —Amanda Le, InStyle, 11 Mar. 2026

But, certainly, many of the proxy conflicts that Iran and these states have got involved in, from Syria to Lebanon, have had this through line. —Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 11 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