vapor lock

American  

noun

1. an obstruction to the flow of fuel to a gasoline engine, caused by the formation of bubbles in the gasoline as a result of overheating.

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Example Sentences

The first fuel truck they sent out to the plane had a vapor lock.

From Los Angeles Times

It's like a vapor lock for his brain.

From Salon

Watching this latest incidence of Johnsonian vapor lock, a couple of thoughts came to mind:

From Salon

It creates a massive vapor lock, as it were, in mammalian fuel lines: The body is prevented from turning what it eats into a source of usable energy.

From Literature

When faced with such an oversupply of choice, our little lizard brains go straight to vapor lock.

From Time