While 'bottleneck' implies a slowdown, in some contexts it might be necessary or planned for. The toll gate acts as a bottleneck to regulate traffic flow.
Pro Tip 2/3
Identify and Solve
'Bottleneck' is commonly used to identify issues to solve in business and engineering. Our project review will focus on finding the bottleneck steps.
Pro Tip 3/3
Metaphorical Use
It is often used metaphorically to describe any narrow point or restriction in a system. The approval process was a bureaucratic bottleneck.