bottleneck

American  

[bot-l-nek] / ˈbɒt lˌnɛk /

noun

• bottlenecks
  plural

1. a narrow entrance or passageway.

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

3. 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.

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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.

bottleneck British  

/ ˈbɒtəlˌnɛk /

noun

1. 1. a narrow stretch of road or a junction at which traffic is or may be held up

   2. the hold up

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

3. music

   1. 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

   2. the style of guitar playing using a bottleneck

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verb

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

bottleneck Scientific  

/ bŏt′l-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.

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bottleneck Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bottlenecks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bottleneck

First recorded in 1895–1900; bottle ¹ + neck

Explanation

A bottleneck is a type of traffic jam, when cars get stuck or slowed down in a narrow part of the roadway. You might leave work two hours later than usual to avoid a bottleneck. Anything that gets stalled in a narrow area, whether it's auto traffic or pedestrians, can be called a bottleneck. Information can also get stuck in a kind of bottleneck, if the system itself creates a delay. The term comes from the shape of an actual bottleneck, or the narrow neck or mouth of a bottle.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bottleneck bottlenecks

They see a bottleneck and ask whether it is short term or long term.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Radiotherapy is another bottleneck crying out for staff and kit.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

She said the bottleneck in recovery is not the city’s permitting process but instead insurance companies unwilling to pay survivors and banks that are reluctant to finance rebuilding.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Comment from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk aren’t only about disruption, they are about a bottleneck to AI growth.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

Unfortunately, this had the effect of making the bridge into a bottleneck where the road narrowed back to two lanes.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Moving data between them requires it to be translated before it can be processed, which can create bottlenecks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

"The munitions expenditure on OEF has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply," the report said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

Rising demand, workforce shortages and diagnostic bottlenecks have all played a part.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

"Instead of evolving, there are all these wild populations that are dying off, declining or going through genetic bottlenecks," Bishop said.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

The sabotage targets had been carefully selected to pinpoint areas that, when attacked, would create bottlenecks in the American war industry.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Related Words

• barrier
• blockage
• congestion
• hindrance
• impediment
• snag
• traffic jam