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bottleneck 1 of 3

noun

Definition of bottlenecknext
as in jam
a crowded mass (as of cars) that impedes or blocks movement a bottleneck inevitably forms at the start of a construction zone when the highway narrows from three to two lanes

Synonyms & Similar Words

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bottleneck

2 of 3

adjective

as in linear

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

bottleneck

3 of 3

verb

as in to dam

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bottleneck
Noun
On Sunrise Highway, also known as New York State Route 27, in Suffolk County, where three lanes merge into two in Patchogue, the bottlenecks are year-round. — Carolyn Gusoff, CBS News, 15 Sep. 2026 Persistent bottlenecks include the complexity and daunting list of materials and the recruitment of skilled labor to build them. — Steven Beynon, ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026
Verb
The demand for slots skyrocketed and the auction prices ballooned in recent weeks as a standoff between the Iran and the United States over access to the strait kept traffic bottlenecked. — Alma Solís, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2026 Yet, sparse computations on the CPU are often bottlenecked by the indirect lookups used to find nonzero data. — Olivia Hsu, IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bottleneck
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bottleneck
  1. jam
  2. linear
  3. dam
  4. congestion
  5. compressed
  6. clog
  7. tight
  8. hinder
Noun
  • Wednesday evening’s Office Hours, a weekly jazz jam hosted at Vine Street Brewing, has turned a typically slow night in the service industry into one of their busiest nights of the week.
    — Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Order one with jam and butter, or go savory and get a biscuit topped with vegetarian gravy or stuffed with bacon, lettuce and tomato.
    — Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of jam
Adjective
  • In non-linear lyric forms, the following collections braid love’s ruthless endings with its tenderest beginnings.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
  • As with linear ratings for broadcast and cable shows, Nielsen won’t publicly offer up daily streaming numbers.
    — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of linear
Verb
  • Mormon Flat, which dams Canyon Lake, was constructed in 1925, and is one of SRP’s oldest dams.
    — Sarah Henry, AZCentral.com, 18 Sep. 2026
  • According to the Louisville Zoo, after many Kentucky and Indiana streams were dammed decades ago, water health has declined at the expense of local ecosystems, putting pressure on the struggling salamanders.
    — Ruby Grisin, Louisville Courier Journal, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of dam
Noun
  • View gallery - 12 images Replacing short car trips with an electric scooter is one of the quickest ways to trim daily commuting costs, avoid traffic congestion, and skip the search for parking.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Public addresses City Council about I-77 NCDOT plans to add toll lanes to an 11-mile stretch of I-77 from uptown to the South Carolina border in an effort to ease congestion.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of congestion
Adjective
  • Minimalist fiction is characterized by direct, highly compressed, densely allusive language.
    — Anna Mebel, JSTOR Daily, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Many new comedies these days suffer from a compressed run that offers little room to riff and experiment.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of compressed
Verb
  • And in Red Oak, Texas, where Villegas lives, construction workers' cars clog the roads for miles before dawn.
    — Norah O'Donnell, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2026
  • In extreme situations, the flies can clog radiators, causing cars to overheat.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of clog
Adjective
  • But she is locked in a tight race against Tejano musician Bobby Pulido.
    — Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Over a tight five-day timeline — as Marnus and Ilse finish school ahead of the December holidays, and the family prepares for their summer vacation — these various tensions impact one another in tacit but perhaps terminal ways.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of tight
Verb
  • The researchers said as warming winters bring more precipitation as rain and less as snow, that could hinder efforts to replenish groundwater.
    — Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
  • However, in a person with PCD, those threadlike structures can beat abnormally, hindering airway clearance and contributing to recurrent respiratory infections.
    — Molly Finlay, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of hinder

Browse Nearby Words

bottle-feeds
bottleneck
bottlenecked
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bottleneck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bottleneck. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

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