Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Deadlock \Dead"lock`\, n.
   1. A lock which is not self-latching, but requires a key to
      throw the bolt forward.

   2. A counteraction of things, which produces an entire
      stoppage; a complete obstruction of action.

            Things are at a deadlock.             --London
                                                  Times.

            The Board is much more likely to be at a deadlock of
            two to two.                           --The Century.

Source : WordNet®

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}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

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)