deadlock
Americannoun
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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.
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a maximum-security cell for the solitary confinement of a prisoner.
verb (used with or without object)
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
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have deadlockedperfect
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has deadlockedperfect 3rd person singular
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am deadlockingprogressive 1st person singular
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is deadlockingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been deadlockingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are deadlockingprogressive
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deadlockingparticiple
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have been deadlockingperfect progressive
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deadlockssingular 3rd person
Past
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had deadlockedperfect
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had been deadlockingperfect progressive
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were deadlockingprogressive plural
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was deadlockingprogressive singular
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deadlockedparticiple
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deadlockedsimple
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 Egypt Game
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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.
While Pastef's majority in the National Assembly can censure the government, in the event of a deadlock the president can resort to "exceptional powers" to govern by decree for three months, noted Diallo.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
Some jurors said the difficulty of determining criminal intent—not the potential sentence—led to the deadlock.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
The deal is designed to break the deadlock in the conflict and set talks back in motion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026
For those who were not fans of the existing ways to break a deadlock, the final straw came four months later.
From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026
He lay in bed, only a few seconds from deep sleep, caught in a deadlock of impulses, unable to rise to the land of the living.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
Definitions 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.
