When you're stuck, you can't move forward or make progress. A car gets stuck in mud when its wheels spin but can't grip the ground. A drawer gets stuck when it won't slide open no matter how hard you pull. Your shoelace gets stuck in a knot you can't untangle.

The word also describes being trapped in a situation you can't escape. You might feel stuck waiting in the principal's office with nothing to do, or stuck on a math problem that seems impossible to solve. When your little brother keeps following you around and won't leave you alone, you might say you're stuck with him for the afternoon.

Stuck can also mean being unable to think of something you need. When you're stuck trying to remember someone's name, it feels like the information is right there in your brain but you just can't reach it. Writers sometimes get stuck in the middle of a story, unsure what should happen next.

The feeling of being stuck is usually temporary. That math problem eventually clicks. The car gets pulled out of the mud. The writer figures out the next scene. Sometimes getting unstuck just takes patience, and sometimes it takes trying a completely different approach.