flat spot

noun

1. engineering a region of poor acceleration over a narrow range of throttle openings, caused by a weak mixture in the carburettor

2. any narrow region of poor performance in a mechanical device

Example Sentences

As 30-mph wind gusts howled across a flat spot known as “the notch” halfway up Mt.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After getting separated from the pair, he had expected to run into the them at “the notch,” a small, flat spot in the route where climbers often stop to rest — and breathe a deep sigh of relief — after descending a breathtakingly vertical stretch of the mountain known as “the final 400.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

His one-stop will be opposite to everyone else, he doesn't want to start locking up because he could pick up a flat spot and compromise your performance for that long run.

Read more on BBC

“Not really sure why, there wasn’t a flat spot or anything, but unfortunately that made it unusable today. So we couldn’t use that set today, and I knew that meant the two middle stints on black, I was going to have to drive the wheels off.”

Read more on Washington Times

After about 3½ hours scrambling over boulders, trudging up slopes covered in loose gravel and bushwhacking through dense brush, they reached a flat spot at 8,400 feet.

Read more on Los Angeles Times