Deadlock

//ˈdɛdlɑk// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A standstill resulting from the opposition of two evenly matched forces; a stalemate or impasse. countable, uncountable

    "The negotiation ended in deadlock, with neither party willing to compromise on the price."

  2. 2
    a situation in which no progress can be made or no advancement is possible wordnet
  3. 3
    An inability to continue due to two programs or devices each requiring a response from the other before completing an operation. countable, uncountable

    "If synchronization is always performed in least-first order with respect to object tags, then situations can never arise in which one thread has the synchronization lock for x while waiting for y and another has the lock for y while waiting for x. Instead, they will both obtain the locks in the same order, thus avoiding this form of deadlock."

  4. 4
    Synonym of deadbolt (“type of lock”). countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To cause or come to a deadlock. intransitive

    "A suspect was arrested on November 30 and charged with attempted murder. The evidence against him consisted of two jailhouse informers and an eyewitness who picked him out of a lineup after having identified a different man in an initial photo array. A jury ultimately convicted the suspect of assault after deadlocking twice in three days of deliberation."

  2. 2
    To bring to a state of deadlock. transitive

    "Since we cannot solve this problem completely, it may sometimes be better to use explicit locks and risk deadlock if a thread exits unexpectedly. It may be better to have a deadlocked system than to have a corrupted system."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From dead + lock.

Etymology 2

From dead + lock.

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