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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.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It's like a vapor lock for his brain.

From Salon • Jun. 13, 2022

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

From Time • May 28, 2010

It's something more pernicious: the vapor lock that seems to have seized Toyota's mythologized corporate culture and turned one of the most admired companies in the world into a bunch of flailing gearheads.

From Time • Feb. 11, 2010

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

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 1996

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 "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer