cycle crunch

cycle crunch n.  A situation wherein the number of people
   trying to use a computer simultaneously has reached the point where
   no one can get enough cycles because they are spread too thin and
   the system has probably begun to {thrash}.  This scenario is an
   inevitable result of Parkinson's Law applied to timesharing.
   Usually the only solution is to buy more computer.  Happily, this
   has rapidly become easier since the mid-1980s, so much so that the
   very term `cycle crunch' now has a faintly archaic flavor; most
   hackers now use workstations or personal computers as opposed to
   traditional timesharing systems.