Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

livelock
     
         /li:v'lok/ When two or more processes continuously
        change their state in response to changes in the other
        process(es) without doing any useful work.
     
        This is similar to {deadlock} in that no progress is made but
        differs in that neither process is blocked or waiting for
        anything.
     
        A human example of livelock would be two people who meet
        face-to-face in a corridor and each moves 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.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1998-07-05)