bottleneck

bottleneck
    n 1: a narrowing that reduces the flow through a channel [syn:
         {constriction}, {bottleneck}, {chokepoint}]
    2: the narrow part of a bottle near the top
    v 1: slow down or impede by creating an obstruction; "His
         laziness has bottlenecked our efforts to reform the system"
    2: become narrow, like a bottleneck; "Right by the bridge, the
       road bottlenecks"
    

Bottleneck \Bot"tle*neck`\
   1. a location or situation in which otherwise rapid progress
      is impeded.
      [PJC]

   2. a point at which road traffic slows due to congestion or
      narrowing of the roadway.
      [PJC]

   3. an impasse.
      [PJC]

   4. a narrowing.

   Syn: constriction.
        [WordNet 1.5]
    

bottleneck \bottleneck\ v. t.
   same as {obstruct}; as, his laziness has bottlenecked our
   efforts to reform the system.
   [WordNet 1.5]
    

bottleneck \bottleneck\ v. i.
   to become narrower as one approaches a point; -- said of
   roads; as, right by the bridge, the road bottlenecks.
   [WordNet 1.5]
    

119 Moby Thesaurus words for "bottleneck":
      abbreviation, approach, astriction, astringency, asymptote, bar,
      barrier, blank wall, blind alley, blind gut, block, blockade,
      blockage, canal, catch, cecum, cervix, channel, choking,
      choking off, circumscription, clog, coarctation, collision course,
      compactedness, compaction, compression, compressure,
      concentralization, concentration, concourse, concurrence,
      condensation, confluence, conflux, congestion, congress,
      consolidation, constipation, constriction, constringency,
      contraction, contracture, convergence, converging, cordon,
      costiveness, crossing, cul-de-sac, curtailment, curtain, dead end,
      decrease, defile, determent, deterrent, difficulty, diminuendo,
      drawback, embolism, embolus, focalization, focus, funnel, gorge,
      hang-up, hazard, hitch, hourglass, hourglass figure, hub, hurdle,
      impasse, impediment, infarct, infarction, isthmus, jam, joker,
      knitting, meeting, mutual approach, narrow, narrow place,
      narrowing, narrowing gap, narrows, neck, objection, obstacle,
      obstipation, obstruction, obstructive, one small difficulty, pass,
      puckering, pursing, radius, reduction, rub, sealing off,
      shortening, snag, solidification, spokes, stop, stoppage, strait,
      stranglement, strangulation, striction, stricture, stumbling block,
      stumbling stone, systole, tangent, throat, wasp waist, wrinkling