1. adj. [Drilling]

Referring to the varying degrees of inability to move or remove the drillstring from the wellbore. At one extreme, it might be possible to rotate the pipe or lower it back into the wellbore, or it might refer to an inability to move the drillstring vertically in the well, though rotation might be possible. At the other extreme, it reflects the inability to move the drillstring in any manner. Usually, even if the stuck condition starts with the possibility of limited pipe rotation or vertical movement, it will degrade to the inability to move the pipe at all.

See: stuck pipe