pipeline

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A conduit of pipe, especially one used for the conveyance of water, gas, or petroleum products.
2. n. A direct channel by which information is privately transmitted.
3. n. A system through which something is conducted, especially as a means of supply: "Farther down the pipeline are three other approaches to vaccine development” ( Boston Globe).
4. v. To convey by or as if by a system of pipes.
5. v. To lay a system of pipes through.

Wiktionary

1. n. a conduit made of pipes used to convey water, gas or petroleum etc
2. n. a channel (either physical or logical) by which information is transmitted sequentially (that is, the first information in is the first information out).
3. n. a system through which something is conducted
4. n. surfing : The inside of a wave that a surfer is riding, when wave has started closing over.
5. v. transitive To convey something by a system of pipes
6. v. transitive To lay a system of pipes through something
7. v. computing, transitive To design (a microchip etc.) so that processing takes place in efficient stages, the output of each stage being fed as input to the next.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. A line of pipe with pumping machinery and apparatus for conveying liquids, gases, or finely divided solids, such as petroleum or natural gas, between distant points.
2. fig. an information channel direct from the source.
3. the set of stages and processes from the invention or design of a product to its ultimate use, production, or commercial sale. Used commonly in the phrase in the pipeline, i. e. still in preparation or under development.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a pipe used to transport liquids or gases
2. n. gossip spread by spoken communication