Her research was going through a sticky patch.

她的研究工作正处于一个艰难的阶段。

youdao

Is today's softness just a sticky patch, or is the global recovery beginning to melt away?

而今的经济不景气是暂时的困难还是全球经济复苏正开始瓦解？

youdao

Don't worry, we've done well in the past, and we shall do well again. At the moment we've struck a sticky patch.

别担心，我们过去干得不错，将来也会干得好，只是目前暂时遇到困难。

youdao

The launch coincided with a sticky patch for Vancl, which had to lay off staff in China after an aborted IPO in 2011.

FORBES: Territorial Rows No Obstacle To Chinese Internet Companies In Vietnam

Just as important, WaMu will hope that the deal will enable it to pull away from the sticky patch it has been in for a year or so.

ECONOMIST: Washington Mutual goes shopping