The sem_wait function locks the semaphore referenced by sem by performing a semaphore lock operation on it. If the semaphore value is zero, the sem_wait function blocks until it either locks the semaphore or is interrupted by a signal. The sem_wait and sem_trywait functions help ensure that the resource associated with the semaphore cannot be accessed by other processes. The semaphore remains locked until the process unlocks it with a call to the sem_post function. Use the sem_wait function instead of the sem_trywait function if the process should wait for access to the semaphore.