bottleneck

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   The narrow portion that forms the pouring spout of a bottle

   The narrow portion that forms the pouring spout of a bottle; the neck of a bottle.

2. 2

   In traffic, any narrowing of the road, especially resulting in a delay.

3. 3

   The part of a process that is too slow or cumbersome.

   • It is easy to create entries; processing the paperwork is the bottleneck.
   • The bottleneck in this computer program is the inefficient sorting process; we should replace it with a faster one.
4. ›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To slow by causing a bottleneck.

      • The merge bottlenecked the traffic every morning.
   2. 5

      To form a bottleneck.

      • The traffic bottlenecked at the merge every morning.

The neighborhood