pipeline

1. (figurative) A system or process through which something is conducted.Examples: "A new version of the software is in the pipeline, but has not been rolled out."; "April 19 2002, Scott Tobias, AV Club Fightvillehttp://www.avclub.com/articles/fightville,72589/ The gym’s proprietor, “Crazy” Tim Credeur, heads up the Gladiator Academy, which serves as a pipeline for amateur MMA fighters to move up the ranks, though few of them do."; "History education has also been considered as a pipeline that connects learners with 'their roots', thereby imbuing in them an awareness of their identity."figuratively

2. (figurative) A widely observed pattern of development in personal interests, circumstances, or opinions.Examples: "Many who grew up in foster homes in the county have fallen victim to the foster-care-to-homelessness pipeline."; "I recently had a peer reviewer demand that I refer to the so-called “Fortnite to alt-right pipeline” as though games automatically turn players into right-wing extremists."; "Belew’s book offers a comprehensive history of the military-to-extremism pipeline in America since the Vietnam War, arguing that the ‘potent sense of betrayal’ felt by some white military personnel contributed to the rise of an over-trained and over-armed anti-government militia movement with a distinctly violent racist agenda."figuratively

3. (figuratively) A continuous, contributing source of benefits, talent, or innovation.figuratively

4. (surfing) The inside of a wave that a surfer is riding, when the wave has started closing over it.