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

The bottleneck in the disposal of white goods has led to fears of increased flytipping as the government starts a major crackdown on illegal waste dumps.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

"Debinding has been the bottleneck in the process," said Minary, corresponding author of the article.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026

The 101 has long been a bottleneck nightmare as it approaches Santa Barbara and the yearslong project to widen the freeway has only made it worse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

The gauge at the bottleneck of Kaub reached record lows in August, with vessels potentially forced to carry substantially less cargo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

I could almost hear the sighs of relief from the bottleneck behind me as I turned left onto the deadend asphalt road.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

"We'll be facing gridlock and bottlenecks all over again," the business owner, in his sixties, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

In time, this can result in higher transport costs and supply bottlenecks, Wolters said.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

However, some research suggests that severe population bottlenecks may accelerate the development of structural variants.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

Access to skilled labor and other bottlenecks are already capping the pace of construction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Unfortunately, the nanoseconds used up in a simple computer operation do add up to lengthy bottlenecks on intractable problems, many of which would require millennia to solve in general.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Related Words

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