Final answer:
A deadlock can be broken by aborting processes to break circular wait or preempting resources from deadlocked processes.
Step-by-step explanation:
A deadlock can be broken by:
- Abort one or more processes to break the circular wait: In this approach, one or more processes involved in the deadlock are terminated, allowing the remaining processes to proceed. By doing so, the circular wait condition is eliminated, and the deadlock is broken.
- Preempt some resources from one or more of the deadlocked processes: Here, the operating system forcibly takes away some resources from one or more of the deadlocked processes, making them available to other processes. This action can break the deadlock and allow the system to make progress.