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bottleneck

The definition of a bottleneck is the neck and mouth of a bottle, or an area where things become congested, caught or blocked, or a situation that causes a delay.

(noun)

The mouth of your Coke bottle that you drink from and the part of the bottle leading right up to the mouth of the bottle is an example of a bottleneck.
An area where five lanes of heavy traffic converge into one is an example of a bottleneck.
The unavailability of parts for a product is an example of something that would create a bottleneck in output.

See bottleneck in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

the neck of a bottle
any place, as a narrow road, where traffic is slowed up or halted
any point at which movement or progress is slowed up because much must be funneled through it: a bottleneck in production

adjective

designating or of a style of playing blues guitar in which notes and chords are formed by stopping a string or strings with a broken-off glass bottleneck, knife blade, etc.

transitive verb

to act as a bottleneck in

See bottleneck in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

a. A narrow or obstructed section, as of a highway or a pipeline.
b. A point or an area of traffic congestion.
A hindrance to progress or production.
The narrow part of a bottle near the top.
Music A style of guitar playing in which an object, such as a piece of glass or metal, is passed across the strings to achieve a gliding sound.

transitive verb bot·tle·necked, bot·tle·neck·ing, bot·tle·necks

To slow down or impede by creating an obstruction.

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