stagnation

noun

1. (uncountable)The state of being stagnant; (countable) an instance of this.

   “Factors known to encourage the growth of harmful bacteria inside cooling systems include the stagnation of the water.”

   “[S]ometimes at the Bottom of the Deep vvaters there ſeem'd to be a ſtagnation of the Sea for a great depth, ſo that till ſuch a height they [divers] could riſe directly upvvards, but that at other heights they vvould be carried avvay by the leſſe deep-vvaters; ſo as to be found vvhen they came to emerge a great vvay off from that point of the ſurface vvhich vvas perpendicular to that place at the Bottom, vvhence they began to aſcend.”

   “If the water runneth, it holdeth clear, sweet, and fresh; but stagnation turneth it into a noisome puddle: […]”

   “The heat was excessive, and unaccountable; not the slightest breath of wind moved in the heavens, or below; no clouds to be seen, and the stars were obscured by a sort of mist: there appeared a total stagnation in the elements.”

   “[A]n actual progress of the blood in the pulmonary vessels is brought about [by potassium iodide], a phenomenon explaining the incontested superiority of iodine in all dyspnoeas, which have their origin in a disturbed state of the chemism of respiration, as well as in those of a nervous, arithmatic or cardiacal nature, the latter being connected with blood stagnations in the pulmonary vessels.”

2. (figuratively, uncountable)The state of being stagnant; (countable) an instance of this.

   “The general concern about industrial stagnation inspired an overhaul of the patent system.”

   “I am now in the sixty-fifth year of my age, and having been the greater part of my days a man of pleasure, the decay of my faculties is a stagnation of my life.”

   “Yes, I have a case. After a month of trivialities and stagnation the wheels move once more.”

3. (figuratively, uncountable)The state of being stagnant; (countable) an instance of this.

   “[T]he Credit Cycle, though guilty of disastrous excesses and grave crimes, has a part to play in a progressive society, and […] an attempt to check it altogether might produce stagnation as well as stability.”