The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

deadlock
    n 1: a situation in which no progress can be made or no
         advancement is possible; "reached an impasse on the
         negotiations" [syn: deadlock, dead end, impasse,
         stalemate, standstill]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

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



The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

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.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

deadlock
deadly embrace

    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)