I. ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun
1.
a. : a narrow entrance or passageway
entering the harbor through the bottleneck formed by the reefs
b. : a narrow stretch of road : narrow route
widened streets are gradually taking the place of the city's bottlenecks
c. : a point of traffic obstruction or congestion
at five o'clock in the afternoon the downtown streets are a series of bottlenecks
2.
a. : a condition or situation that obstructs, slows down, or halts free movement and progress
breaking the twin bottlenecks of ignorance and prejudice
b. : the state of blocked activity resulting from a bottleneck : state of checked, frustrated, or paralyzed action : impasse
lack of outside sympathy and understanding leaves the group in an apparently inescapable bottleneck
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
: to obstruct, slow down, or halt by or as if by causing or being a bottleneck : produce a bottleneck in : throttle , check , frustrate , paralyze
their stupidity bottlenecked all freedom of expression
intransitive verb
1. : to be or cause a bottleneck
obstructing progress by constant bottlenecking
2. : to become obstructed or checked by or as if by a bottleneck
production of material has bottlenecked
3. : to become narrow or confined like a bottleneck
supply routes run along the rivers, bottlenecking in some spots — Newsweek
III. adjective
or bottlenecked ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷
1.
a. : shaped like or suggesting the neck and shoulders of a bottle
bottleneck gun cartridges
b. : narrow or confined like a bottleneck
bottleneck streets
2. : obstructed or checked by or as if by a bottleneck
progress has unfortunately entered a bottleneck phase
IV. noun
or bottleneck guitar
: a style of guitar playing in which an object (as a metal bar or the neck of a bottle) is pressed against the strings for a glissando effect