pipelines

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of pipeline.

   Three major pipelines connect the inland fields to refineries on the gulf.

   Aging pipelines require constant monitoring to prevent leaks.

   Note

   The plural covers every meaning of the singular, from steel conduits that carry water, gas or petroleum to figurative channels through which talent, benefits or innovation keep flowing. Surfers have their own use for the hollow inside a wave as it closes over the rider. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb. A number or determiner in front, as in three pipelines or the pipelines, marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of pipeline.

   The processor pipelines instructions to improve overall throughput.

   The platform pipelines incoming data through several cleaning steps automatically.

   Note

   Every use of the verb is transitive, so this form always takes an object: a processor pipelines instructions, a crew pipelines a stretch of ground. In engineering it means designing a chip so that each stage's output feeds the next. In plainer use it means conveying something by pipes, or laying pipes through a place. It needs a singular subject; with they or a plural subject, the form is pipeline.

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