WordValebottleneck
a point where flow is restricted, slowing everything
In more detail
1. (noun) the narrow part of a bottle that the neck forms
2. (noun) a person, place, or thing that slows down progress or prevents something from moving forward
Examples
- 1. The wine was poured carefully through the bottleneck.
- 2. The lack of workers has become a bottleneck in our production process.
How to use bottleneck
The primary modern use is metaphorical, referring to a limiting factor that slows or restricts progress in a system, process, or workflow. It is commonly used in business, manufacturing, logistics, and computing contexts. The literal sense (the narrow part of a bottle) remains valid but is rarely emphasized in contemporary English.
Common phrases
- a major bottleneck
- create a bottleneck
- eliminate bottlenecks
- supply chain bottleneck
- production bottleneck
Synonyms
constraint · obstruction · hindrance · chokepoint · blockage
Word family
bottleneck (verb)
A common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse bottleneck with the cause of a problem rather than the point where the problem manifests; a bottleneck is where flow is restricted, not necessarily the root cause upstream.
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