plural bottlenecks
1
a
: a narrow route
b
: a point of traffic congestion
2
a
: someone or something that slows or halts free movement and progress
working to streamline production and eliminate bottlenecks
b
: impasse
They reached a bottleneck in the negotiations.
c
: a dramatic reduction in the size of a population (as of a species) that results in a decrease in genetic variation
3
or bottleneck guitar
: a style of guitar playing in which glissando effects are produced by sliding an object (such as a knife blade or the neck of a bottle) along the strings
bottlenecked; bottlenecking; bottlenecks
: to slow or halt by causing a bottleneck
Synonyms
Examples of bottleneck in a Sentence
Noun
Bridge construction has created a bottleneck on the southern part of Main Street.
All decisions must be approved by the committee, and this is where the company runs into bottlenecks.
Recent Examples on the Web
Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 20 May 2013
To compare pre- and post-bottleneck genetic diversity, the researchers sequenced DNA from 1,000-year-old penguin bones on the island.
—Sarah Zhang, Discover Magazine, 22 Feb. 2012
The Enquirer, 19 Apr. 2024
Due to these bottlenecks and fluctuating immigration patterns, the EB-5 program became less popular.
—Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
The long delays are believed to be due in part to ongoing construction projects in Tijuana that have created traffic bottlenecks entering the city.
—Alexandra Mendoza, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2024
In a vivid demonstration of that risk, the coronavirus pandemic caused huge bottlenecks in chip deliveries around the world, and contributed to higher consumer goods prices.
—Sam Fossum, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
Sometimes parts of those interconnections are converted to fiber-optic links for great bandwidth, but converting signals back and forth between optical and electrical creates a communications bottleneck.
—Will Knight, WIRED, 4 Apr. 2024
This could include flow studies to pinpoint process bottlenecks, for instance.
—Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Israeli authorities insist that the bottlenecks are a result of failures by the United Nations and NGOs, while critics accuse Israel of using food as a tool to pressure Gaza’s population and Hamas.
—Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
The most intense bottlenecks appeared to be in the path of totality, where spectators will be able to view the full eclipse.
—John Bacon, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024
Adrian Rodriguez, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
Michael O’Leary, who has helmed the European low-cost airline for three decades, said in Poland that Boeing, first and foremost, needs to resolve the issues that have bottlenecked the expansion of Ryanair’s services, Reuters reports.
—Rocio Fabbro, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
New GPUs had to fit on modules that were the same physical size as older ones, that could be cooled using the same heatsink and fan as the old one, and that wouldn't be bottlenecked by whatever PCI Express version the CPU was using.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 23 Mar. 2023
Apprenticeship training hold a great deal of promise, but its expansion is bottlenecked due to a lack of funding, awareness, and availability.
—Shalin Jyotishi, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024
Underground areas give you fewer cover spots, more opportunities for bottlenecking enemies, and a chance to find out that certain mercs are claustrophobic.
—Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 20 July 2023
The year is 1957, and this the first time in the film that the swarm of Ferraris, Maseratis and Alfa Romeos has been bottlenecked into a city.
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 29 Dec. 2023
Via the use of generative AI, the public at large can finally get ready access to mental health advisement at a low cost, whenever needed or desired, and no longer be bottlenecked by having to access human therapists that are sparsely available or pricey to utilize.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023
If supplies are bottlenecked long enough, the energy transition could be delayed.
—Jim Krane, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2023
Adjective
The impact of the pre-bottleneck period is attenuated, because much of the population was simply not genetically sampled.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 20 May 2013
To compare pre- and post-bottleneck genetic diversity, the researchers sequenced DNA from 1,000-year-old penguin bones on the island.
—Sarah Zhang, Discover Magazine, 22 Feb. 2012
Noun
This may give way to a bottleneck between the Norwood Lateral and the Red Bank Expressway on I-71 north.
—The Enquirer, 19 Apr. 2024
Due to these bottlenecks and fluctuating immigration patterns, the EB-5 program became less popular.
—Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
The long delays are believed to be due in part to ongoing construction projects in Tijuana that have created traffic bottlenecks entering the city.
—Alexandra Mendoza, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2024
In a vivid demonstration of that risk, the coronavirus pandemic caused huge bottlenecks in chip deliveries around the world, and contributed to higher consumer goods prices.
—Sam Fossum, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
Sometimes parts of those interconnections are converted to fiber-optic links for great bandwidth, but converting signals back and forth between optical and electrical creates a communications bottleneck.
—Will Knight, WIRED, 4 Apr. 2024
This could include flow studies to pinpoint process bottlenecks, for instance.
—Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Israeli authorities insist that the bottlenecks are a result of failures by the United Nations and NGOs, while critics accuse Israel of using food as a tool to pressure Gaza’s population and Hamas.
—Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
The most intense bottlenecks appeared to be in the path of totality, where spectators will be able to view the full eclipse.
—John Bacon, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024
Verb
Today, the 10 miles of the corridor between Sears Point and Mare Island bottlenecks to one lane in each direction.
—Adrian Rodriguez, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
Michael O’Leary, who has helmed the European low-cost airline for three decades, said in Poland that Boeing, first and foremost, needs to resolve the issues that have bottlenecked the expansion of Ryanair’s services, Reuters reports.
—Rocio Fabbro, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
New GPUs had to fit on modules that were the same physical size as older ones, that could be cooled using the same heatsink and fan as the old one, and that wouldn't be bottlenecked by whatever PCI Express version the CPU was using.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 23 Mar. 2023
Apprenticeship training hold a great deal of promise, but its expansion is bottlenecked due to a lack of funding, awareness, and availability.
—Shalin Jyotishi, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024
Underground areas give you fewer cover spots, more opportunities for bottlenecking enemies, and a chance to find out that certain mercs are claustrophobic.
—Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 20 July 2023
The year is 1957, and this the first time in the film that the swarm of Ferraris, Maseratis and Alfa Romeos has been bottlenecked into a city.
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 29 Dec. 2023
Via the use of generative AI, the public at large can finally get ready access to mental health advisement at a low cost, whenever needed or desired, and no longer be bottlenecked by having to access human therapists that are sparsely available or pricey to utilize.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023
If supplies are bottlenecked long enough, the energy transition could be delayed.
—Jim Krane, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bottleneck.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near bottleneck
Cite this Entry
“Bottleneck.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bottleneck. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.
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