bottleneck

[ bot-l-nek ]
See synonyms for: bottleneckbottleneckedbottlenecking on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a narrow entrance or passageway.

  2. a place or stage in a process at which progress is impeded.

  1. Also called slide guitar. a method of guitar playing that produces a gliding sound by pressing a metal bar or glass tube against the strings.

verb (used with object)
  1. to hamper or confine by or as if by a bottleneck.

verb (used without object)
  1. to become hindered by or as if by a bottleneck.

Origin of bottleneck

1
First recorded in 1895–1900; bottle1 + neck

Words Nearby bottleneck

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bottleneck in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bottleneck

bottleneck

/ (ˈbɒtəlˌnɛk) /


noun
    • a narrow stretch of road or a junction at which traffic is or may be held up

    • the hold up

  1. something that holds up progress, esp of a manufacturing process

  1. music

    • the broken-off neck of a bottle placed over a finger and used to produce a buzzing effect in a style of guitar-playing originally part of the American blues tradition

    • the style of guitar playing using a bottleneck

verb
  1. (tr) US to be or cause an obstruction in

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for bottleneck

bottleneck

[ bŏtl-nĕk′ ]


  1. An abrupt and severe reduction in the number of individuals during the history of a species, resulting in the loss of diversity from the gene pool. The generations following the bottleneck are more genetically homogenous than would otherwise be expected. Bottlenecks often occur in consequence of a catastrophic event.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for bottleneck

bottleneck

The point at which an industry or economic system has to slow its growth because one or more of its components cannot keep up with demand.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.