Bottleneck

Definitions

1. The narrow portion that forms the pouring spout of a bottle; the neck of a bottle.
2. A portion of a bottleneck placed on the finger and used as a guitar slide.
3. In traffic, any narrowing of the road, especially resulting in a delay.
   figuratively
4. The part of a process that is too slow or cumbersome.
   broadly

Equivalents

Examples

“"Permissive" working allows more than one train⟳ to be in a block⟳ section at one time but trains must be run⟳ at low speed⟳ in order⟳ to stop⟳ on sight behind the train⟳ in front. Such working is often authorised to allow⟳ freight trains to "bunch" together to await a path through a bottleneck instead of being strung out over several block⟳ sections, as would be necessary if absolute working were in force⟳.”

“At one time, Reading was regarded as a notorious bottleneck in the rail network, almost incapable of managing the number⟳ of services that needed to pass⟳ through the station each day. [...] A road widening scheme at Cow Lane has also allowed two-way traffic to run⟳ beneath the railway for the first time, helping to remove⟳ a notorious road traffic bottleneck in the town.”

“It is easy to create⟳ entries; processing the paperwork is the bottleneck.”

“The bottleneck in this computer program⟳ is the inefficient sorting process⟳; we should replace⟳ it with a faster one.”

CEFR level