gridlock

[grid-lok]

noun

1. the stoppage of free vehicular movement in an urban area because key intersections are blocked by traffic.

2. the blocking of an intersection by vehicular traffic entering the intersection but unable to pass through it.

3. any situation in which nothing can move or proceed in any direction.

   a financial gridlock due to high interest rates.

gridlock

/ ˈɡrɪdˌlɒk /

noun

1. obstruction of urban traffic caused by queues of vehicles forming across junctions and causing further queues to form in the intersecting streets

2. a point in a dispute at which no agreement can be reached; deadlock

   political gridlock

verb

1. (tr) (of traffic) to block or obstruct (an area)

Other Word Forms

• gridlocked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gridlock¹

An Americanism dating back to 1975–80; grid + lock ¹

Example Sentences

France's Emmanuel Macron was on Friday due to pick a head of government tasked with pulling the country out of a political gridlock, in a move that staves off fresh elections for now.

Read more on Barron's

He’d come into office promising a “profound break” with the gridlock of the recent past.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Many analysts question the effectiveness of the UN in resolving conflict these days, pointing in particular to gridlock in the Security Council and the body's unresponsive bureaucracy.

Read more on BBC

Now the Gaza war, and questions over who will govern Gaza afterwards, have forced that political gridlock into open confrontation, as Netanyahu's far-right allies push hard for annexation.

Read more on BBC

Thousands of commuters in one of India's wealthiest suburbs were stuck on roads for six to eight hours due to rain-triggered traffic gridlock on Monday.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• bottleneck 
• congestion 
• impasse 
• logjam