lose the thread

Then, something would distract him, and he’d lose the thread.

“If I can fill in some of those words via captions and subtitles, then it helps me continue to understand the conversation and not lose the thread.”

The reporters by then were beginning to lose the thread.

The problem is if they dump the puck, lose a battle or lose the thread of the play, as they often have, the offense doesn’t create much.

As the clock ticked toward midnight and then long after, Mr. McCarthy sometimes seemed to lose the thread, spouting what sounded like a Mad Libs of Republican attacks.