stalling

Stalling is the act or condition of delaying progress or causing a system to stop functioning. In everyday language it refers to deliberate delays; in technical contexts it denotes a loss of function caused by overload, misconfiguration, or other limiting conditions.

Aviation: a stall is an aerodynamics phenomenon where the wing's angle of attack exceeds a critical value, causing a sudden loss of lift and a descent. It can result from excessive pitch, high weight, or turbulence. Recovery involves lowering the nose to reduce angle of attack, restoring airspeed, and applying power.

Engines and vehicles: an engine stall occurs when an internal-combustion engine stops running or cannot sustain idle, often due to fuel starvation, ignition problems, or an improper air–fuel mixture. Recovery typically requires restoring proper RPM, ensuring fuel supply and ignition, and clearing the load or reducing the demand on the engine.

Electrical and mechanical systems: in electric motors, stalling is a condition where the rotor cannot turn, causing high current and heat; safety protections limit damage. In computing and process control, a stall describes a period when a process cannot progress due to contention, deadlock, or buffering delays.

Social and strategic use: stalling can describe deliberate delays in negotiations or decision making, used to gain time, avoid commitments, or apply pressure. Ethical assessments of stalling vary with intent and context.