queuing theory

noun

a theory that deals with providing a service on a waiting line, or queue, especially when the demand for it is irregular and describable by probability distributions, as processing phone calls arriving at a telephone exchange or collecting highway tolls from drivers at tollbooths.

Origin of queuing theory

First recorded in 1950–55

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for queuing theory

queuing theory

noun

a mathematical approach to the rate at which components queue to be processed by a machine, instructions are accessed by a computer, orders need to be serviced, etc, to achieve the optimum flow

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