Deadlock

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  deadlock \dead"lock`\, n.
     1. A lock which is not self-latching, but requires a key to
        throw the bolt forward.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A counteraction of things, which produces an entire


        stoppage; a complete obstruction of action.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Things are at a deadlock.             --London
                                                    Times.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The Board is much more likely to be at a deadlock of
              two to two.                           --The Century.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  deadlock
       n : a situation in which no progress can be made or no
           advancement is possible; "reached an impasse on the
           negotiations" [syn: {dead end}, {impasse}, {stalemate}, {standstill}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  83 Moby Thesaurus words for "deadlock":
     Tweedledum and Tweedledee, arrest, bell, blind alley, block, box,
     brake, bring to, bring up short, cessation, check, checkmate,
     condition, corner, cul-de-sac, cut short, cutoff, dam, dead end,
     dead heat, dead set, dead stand, dead stop, dead-end street,
     dilemma, draw, draw rein, dying down, ebb, ebbing, end, endgame,
     ending, even break, extremity, fair shake, final whistle, freeze,
     full stop, grinding halt, gun, halt, hole, impasse, knotted score,
     lock, lockout, neck-and-neck race, photo finish, plight, posture,
     predicament, pull up, put paid to, quandary, sit-down strike,
     situation, slow down, stalemate, stall, stand, stand-off, standoff,
     standstill, state, stay, stem, stem the tide, stillstand, stop,
     stop cold, stop dead, stop short, stoppage, strike, stymie,
     subsidence, the same, tie, walkout, wane, waning, work stoppage
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  deadlock n. 1. [techspeak] A situation wherein two or more processes
     are unable to proceed because each is waiting for one of the others to
     do something. A common example is a program communicating to a server,
     which may find itself waiting for output from the server before sending
     anything more to it, while the server is similarly waiting for more
     input from the controlling program before outputting anything. (It is
     reported that this particular flavor of deadlock is sometimes called a
     `starvation deadlock', though the term `starvation' is more properly
     used for situations where a program can never run simply because it
     never gets high enough priority. Another common flavor is
     `constipation', in which each process is trying to send stuff to the
     other but all buffers are full because nobody is reading anything.) See
     {deadly embrace}. 2. Also used of deadlock-like interactions between
     humans, as when two people meet in a narrow corridor, and each tries to
     be polite by moving aside to let the other pass, but they end up swaying
     from side to side without making any progress because they always move
     the same way at the same time.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  deadlock
       
           A situation where two or more
          {processes} are unable to proceed because each is waiting for
          one of the others to do something.
       
          A common example is a program waiting for output from a server
          while the server is waiting for more input from the
          controlling program before outputting anything.  It is
          reported that this particular flavour of deadlock is sometimes
          called a "starvation deadlock", though the term "starvation"
          is more properly used for situations where a program can never
          run simply because it never gets high enough priority.
       
          Another common flavour is "constipation", in which each
          process is trying to send stuff to the other but all buffers
          are full because nobody is reading anything).  See {deadly
          embrace}.
       
          Another example, common in {database} programming, is two
          processes that are sharing some resource (e.g. read access to
          a {table}) but then both decide to wait for exclusive
          (e.g. write) access.
       
          The term "deadly embrace" is mostly synonymous, though usually
          used only when exactly two processes are involved.  This is
          the more popular term in Europe, while {deadlock} predominates
          in the United States.
       
          Compare: {livelock}.  See also {safety property}, {liveness
          property}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (2000-07-26)