logjam
Americannoun
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an immovable pileup or tangle of logs, as in a river, causing a blockage.
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any blockage or massive accumulation.
a logjam of bills before Congress.
Etymology
Origin of logjam
Explanation
A logjam is just what it sounds like: a bunch of logs all jammed together, blocking the flow of water in a river or stream. You can also call other kinds of blockages logjams — like a traffic logjam that develops due to rubbernecking drivers trying to check out a crash. Logjams change the way water flows in a river, sometimes creating new channels and pools from the overflow of water. This can be good for spawning fish, but sometimes a logjam causes flooding and other problems. This has given rise to the figurative logjam, a problem that stops or blocks progress: "The disagreement caused a logjam in Congress until the President stepped in."
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.
The AI race has started a scramble for electricity that has created a logjam to connect to the power grid.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The bigger the logjam gets, the harder it will be to raise new funds, reducing the fee income private-equity firms rely on, a cycle that can spiral.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
There could be a logjam in the top order when Jacob Bethell returns to fitness, so all of Cox, Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence and Jamie Smith will want to ensure they are not squeezed out.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Passing the bill would also start to relieve a logjam of legislation that Congress is seeking to dispose of before its August recess and the November midterm elections.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Hastie was evidently determined to break the racial logjam in the War Department, yet unlike many civil rights advocates he seemed willing to pay the price of slow progress to obtain lasting improvement.
From Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 by Morris J. MacGregor
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
