A pipeline is a system or process that moves something from one point or stage to another in an organized, continuous flow.
Physical pipeline
In its original sense, a pipeline is a long tube, usually made of metal or plastic and often buried underground, used to transport liquids or gases such as oil, natural gas, or water over long distances. These systems include pumps, valves, and control devices to keep the material moving safely and efficiently from source to destination.
Process or workflow pipeline
More generally, “pipeline” is used metaphorically to mean a series of stages that work items pass through, such as leads in a sales pipeline or tasks in a project pipeline. In this sense, a pipeline is a structured, often visual workflow that helps track progress from start to finish and manage resources at each step.
Computing and data pipeline
In computing, a pipeline is a chain of processing steps where the output of one step becomes the input to the next, often allowing different steps to run in parallel. This idea appears in CPU instruction pipelines, data processing pipelines, and graphics pipelines, all designed to improve performance by keeping multiple operations in progress at once.
