deadlock
Americannoun
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deadlocks
plural
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a state in which progress is impossible, as in a dispute, produced by the counteraction of opposing forces; standstill; stalemate.
The union and management reached a deadlock over fringe benefits.
-
a maximum-security cell for the solitary confinement of a prisoner.
verb (used with or without object)
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deadlocks,
present (3rd person singular)
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deadlocked,
past participle, past
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deadlocking
present participle
noun
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a state of affairs in which further action between two opposing forces is impossible; stalemate
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a tie between opposite sides in a contest
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a lock having a bolt that can be opened only with a key
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deadlocksimple
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deadlockssimple
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have deadlockedperfect
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has deadlockedperfect
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am deadlockingprogressive
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are deadlockingprogressive
-
is deadlockingprogressive
-
have been deadlockingperfect progressive
-
has been deadlockingperfect progressive
Past
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deadlockedsimple
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had deadlockedperfect
-
was deadlockingprogressive
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were deadlockingprogressive
-
had been deadlockingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deadlock
Explanation
Use the noun deadlock to describe a standstill, as when two people or sides cannot move beyond a disagreement. Deadlock can also mean a game that results in an unbreakable tie or a stalemate, like when you are in a five-hour thumb-wrestling match with no winner. You can easily remember the meaning of this compound word, by thinking about its two word parts — dead + lock. The first appearance of deadlock was in The Critic, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan: “I have them all at a deadlock, for every one of them is afraid to let go first.”
Vocabulary lists containing deadlock
Never Let Me Go
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Vocabulary from Vladimir Putin's Speech on Crimea
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The War to End All Wars
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On-again, off-again negotiations through mediators Qatar and Pakistan have so far failed to break the diplomatic deadlock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Tuesday's vote could well end in deadlock, with neither government nor opposition able to form a majority without the support of Arab parties, which polls project could win enough seats to be kingmakers.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, flew to Tehran on Tuesday followed by a delegation of Qatari diplomats in an effort to break the deadlock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
"This deadlock is not new, and it risks costing us valuable time in our response to climate change," the French envoy said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Anticipating a deadlock on that topic, Archie changed directions.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
“We have resolved most of the deadlocks during the talks with Mr. Biden and we have decided to hold more talks in line with the positive agenda.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
Maryland lost its only games against Iowa and Rutgers, so those are deadlocks to be avoided.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2023
One reason our discovery is exciting is because it hints at ways to work through specific political deadlocks.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 1, 2023
Amid the deadlocks over the U.N. role in Ukraine, broader reform ideas have gained steam, including support for increasing the number of permanent Security Council members.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 6, 2022
Objections to the Method of Choice by the Legislature.—One of the practical objections to the original method of choosing senators was that it frequently led to long and stubborn contests which sometimes ended in deadlocks.
From Government in the United States National, State and Local by James Wilford Garner
The outlook for reviving the deadlocked talks remains bleak.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever tendered his resignation to King Philippe on Monday over deadlocked budget talks, but the monarch deferred his decision until after a new meeting Friday.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
The jury was deadlocked on a third woman’s accusations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Earlier this month, a Massachusetts jury deadlocked on the seventh day of deliberations in the high-profile murder case of Lindsay Clancy, resulting in a mistrial.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The convention was deadlocked at the end of the first day.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
A previous trial against Atkins earlier this year ended with jurors acquitting him of first-degree murder and deadlocking on a second-degree murder charge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
The jury in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs will keep deliberating after reaching a partial verdict, but deadlocking on the most serious charge faced by the hip-hop mogul.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2025
Jurors deliberated for several days, deadlocking more than once, prompting the judge to urge them to continue deliberating to reach a unanimous verdict.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2023
The jury wound up acquitting the men of many charges and deadlocking on the murder charge, leading to a mistrial.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 21, 2019
One day during afternoon rec, when I was deadlocking all the cells, he called me back to his.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
