I’m trying easier answer for newbies as i am:
1) run :
SHOW PROCESSLIST
if you get something like:
+----+-----------------+-----------------+--------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Id | User | Host | db | Command | Time | State | Info |
+----+-----------------+-----------------+--------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| 4 | event_scheduler | localhost | NULL | Daemon | 580410103 | Waiting on empty queue | NULL |
| 13 | root | localhost:50627 | airbnb | Sleep | 10344 | | NULL |
| 17 | root | localhost:50877 | NULL | Query | 2356 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `airbnb`.`characteristics` |
| 18 | root | localhost:50878 | airbnb | Query | 2366 | Waiting for table metadata lock | DROP TABLE `airbnb`.`characteristics` |
| 21 | root | localhost:51281 | airbnb | Query | 2305 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `airbnb`.`bed_type` |
| 22 | root | localhost:51282 | airbnb | Query | 2301 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW INDEXES FROM `airbnb`.`characteristics` |
| 23 | root | localhost:51290 | airbnb | Query | 2270 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `airbnb`.`property_type` |
| 24 | root | localhost:51296 | airbnb | Query | 2240 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW INDEXES FROM `airbnb`.`property_type` |
| 26 | root | localhost:51303 | NULL | Query | 2212 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `airbnb`.`characteristics` |
| 27 | root | localhost:51304 | NULL | Query | 2218 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `airbnb`.`bed_type` |
| 29 | root | localhost:51306 | NULL | Query | 2176 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW INDEXES FROM `airbnb`.`characteristics` |
| 30 | root | localhost:51308 | NULL | Query | 2122 | Waiting for table metadata lock | DROP TABLE `airbnb`.`characteristics` |
| 34 | root | localhost:51312 | NULL | Query | 2063 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `airbnb`.`characteristics` |
| 35 | root | localhost:51313 | NULL | Query | 2066 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `airbnb`.`bed_type` |
| 39 | root | localhost:51338 | NULL | Query | 2004 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `airbnb`.`characteristics` |
| 40 | root | localhost:51339 | NULL | Query | 2008 | Waiting for table metadata lock | SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `airbnb`.`bed_type` |
| 45 | root | localhost | airbnb | Field List | 997 | Waiting for table metadata lock | |
| 46 | root | localhost | airbnb | Field List | 798 | Waiting for table metadata lock | |
| 53 | root | localhost | airbnb | Query | 0 | starting | SHOW PROCESSLIST |
+----+-----------------+-----------------+--------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
with State : waiting for table metadata lock (as mentioned in official answer)
2) KILL 13 (13 coresponding to the Id).
If it’s indeed a deadlock, all the following processes will continue normally.